CLOSING TODAY: Francis Alys, "A Story of Deception"

Francis Alÿs. Untitled, from When Faith Moves Mountains. 2002. Color photograph. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2011 Francis Alÿs

Closing at MoMA today is the Francis Alys exhibition, A Story of Deception.

MoMA writes:


Francis Alÿs (Belgian, b. 1959) uses poetic and allegorical methods to address social and political issues, such as national borders, localism and globalism, areas of conflict and community, and the benefits and detriments of progress. The artist's personal, ambulatory explorations of cities—documented extensively in a variety of mediums—form the basis of his practice, which in the past decade has produced a complex and diverse body of work encompassing video, painting, performance, drawing, and photography...


For more information please visit www.moma.org.


Catch the show.


Image courtesy of www.moma.org

CLOSING SOON: Fathi Hassan, "Transformation"

Fathi Hassan, Transformation, mixed media on canvas

In three days the exhibition "Transformation" by Egyptian born artist Fathi Hassan will close.  The Skoto Gallery, where the show is being held, writes of the exhibition: 

Fathi Hassan’s new works continues his exploration of representational possibilities of language inspired by texts from the Arabic calligraphy, firmly rooted in a framework of references that reflect his Nubian heritage and willingness to embrace a continuum of cultural precedents and influences. Although the texts in his work have no instantly legible meanings or available definitions, it nevertheless serves as specific link between the ambiguities that exist in the writing of images and the images of writing and aims to give voice to the lost traditions of his homeland. He explores the tension between contained energy and boundless space, though he pays tribute to oral traditions, unwritten history and identity, he still manages to avoid a mere evocation of the past or a lost homeland in his work, the visual resonance is undeniable, attesting to the resilience and undying spirit of a people.

For more information please visit the gallery's website at http://www.skotogallery.com or call 212.352.8058.

Skoto Gallery, 529 W 20th Street b/t 10th and 11th Avenues

See you there!

Image courtesy of www.skotogallery.com

NOW IN NEW YORK: antinormanybody: Experimental Video and Portraiture

The Kleio Gallery on the Lower East Side specializes in contemporary art from the Middle East.  Until August 10th you can see antinormanybody: Experimental Video and Portraiture, their newest exhibition of early and mid career artists, curated by Barrak Alzaid.

From the gallery's website:
Rather than consider the body as a fixed object of study, this exhibition draws on experimental video and portraiture to explore the radical potentiality of bodily presentation. Each of the short films or pieces in this series offers up alternative paradigms for embodiment and the affinity or contact between bodies by disrupting environments or revealing the body's haunting traces. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of talks and artist interventions.Artists included are Negar Behbahani, Mirak Jamal, Raed Yassin, Fatima Al Qaidiri, Lyndsy Welgos, Monira Al Qadiri, and Marwa Arsanios, and will be accompanied by a series of talks and artist interventions.


For more information please visit the gallery's website at http://www.kleioprojects.com/


See you there!

THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK: HRW FILM FESTIVAL

Until June 30th, The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival will be living at Lincoln Center.  Please visit the website for tickets, times, and information on the films. 


From http://www.hrw.org/en/iff/new-york:

• 

  12 Angry Lebanese (New York Premiere)

  For nearly a year and a half, 45 prison inmates in Lebanon’s largest prison found themselves working together to present their version of Reginald Rose’s play 12 Angry Men, which they rename 12 Angry Lebanese.

  DIRECTOR:

  Zeina Daccache

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2009

  RUNNING TIME:

  78m
• 

  Better This World (New York Premiere)

  A dramatic story of idealism, loyalty, crime, and betrayal, Better This World goes to the heart of the “war on terror” and its impact on civil liberties and political dissent in the United States after 9/11.

  DIRECTOR:

  Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2011

  RUNNING TIME:

  93m
• 

  Familia (US Premiere)

  A poignant and powerful documentary, Familia sensitively observes one matriarch's decision to go to work as a hotel maid in Spain and the impact that choice has on her extended family in Peru.

  DIRECTOR:

  Mikael Wiström and Alberto Herskovits

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2010

  RUNNING TIME:

  82m
• 

  Granito: How to Nail a Dictator (New York Premiere) Opening Night Film & Reception

  Part political thriller, part memoir, Granito takes us through a haunting tale of genocide and justice that spans four decades, two films, and filmmaker Pamela Yates’s own career.

  DIRECTOR:

  Pamela Yates, Peter Kinoy and Paco de Onis

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2011

  RUNNING TIME:

  100m
• 

  If a Tree Falls (New York Premiere)

  How far would you go to create change? In December 2005 Daniel McGowan, a prominent New York City social justice organizer, was arrested by federal agents in a nationwide sweep of activists linked to crimes by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF)—a group the FBI has called America's "number one domestic terrorism threat."

  DIRECTOR:

  Marshall Curry (director) and Sam Cullman (co-director)

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2011

  RUNNING TIME:

  85m
• 

  Impunity (New York Premiere)

  What is the cost of truth for families immobilised by Colombia’s violent past? In 2005, Colombia started gathering evidence about the horrific violence being carried out by illegal paramilitias in a highly controversial Justice and Peace process.

  DIRECTOR:

  Juan José Lozano and Hollman Morris

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2010

  RUNNING TIME:

  85m
• 

  La Toma (The Siege) (US Premiere)

  When the wife of Carlos Rodriguez said goodbye to her husband as he left for work at the Palace of Justice on November 6, 1985 – she never imagined the next time she would see him would be on a video tape decades later, being escorted by Colombian soldiers at gunpoint out of the building.

  DIRECTOR:

  Angus Gibson and Miguel Salazar

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2011

  RUNNING TIME:

  88m
• 

  Life, Above All (New York Premiere) Closing Night Film & Reception

  Life, Above All reinvents the coming-of-age story when a young girl must maintain the facade of a normal life amidst utter instability.

  DIRECTOR:

  Oliver Schmitz

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2010

  RUNNING TIME:

  105m
• 

  Lost Angels (New York Premiere)

  Meet the residents of Los Angeles’ Skid Row as they prove to the world – you don’t need a roof over your head to build a community.

  DIRECTOR:

  Thomas Napper

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2010

  RUNNING TIME:

  77m
• 

  Love Crimes of Kabul (US Premiere)

  Jailed for running away from home to escape abuse, for allegations of adultery, and other “moral crimes,” the women of Afghanistan’s Badum Bagh prison band together to fight for their freedom.

  DIRECTOR:

  Tanaz Eshaghian

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2011

  RUNNING TIME:

  71m
• 

  Sing Your Song (Festival Centerpiece)

  With remarkable intimacy, visual style, and musical panache, Susanne Rostock’s documentary, Sing Your Song, surveys the inspiring life of singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte.

  DIRECTOR:

  Susanne Rostock

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2011

  RUNNING TIME:

  104m
• 

  The Green Wave (New York Premiere)

  The Green Wave is an artistic portrait of modern political rebellion, an exposé of government-sanctioned violence, and a vision of hope that continued resistance may galvanize a new future not just for Iran but for the region as a whole.

  DIRECTOR:

  Ali Samadi Ahadi

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2010

  RUNNING TIME:

  80m
• 

  The Price of Sex (New York Premiere)

  The Price of Sex is an unprecedented inquiry into a dark side of immigration: the underground criminal network of human trafficking and the experiences of Eastern European women forced into prostitution abroad.

  DIRECTOR:

  Mimi Chakarova

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2011

  RUNNING TIME:

  73m
• 

  The Team (New York Premiere)

  Can one TV show save a nation? Patrick Reed’s remarkable film brings us behind the scenes of an innovative television series which aims to ease tribal tensions and set the stage for open dialogue and understanding.

  DIRECTOR:

  Patrick Reed

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2011

  RUNNING TIME:

  80m
• 

  The Whistleblower - Benefit Film and Reception

  An American police officer's expectations of helping to rebuild a devastated country are dashed when she uncovers a dangerous reality of corruption, cover-up and intrigue amid a world of private contractors and multinational diplomatic doubletalk.

  DIRECTOR:

  Larysa Kondracki

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2011

  RUNNING TIME:

  118m
• 

  This is My Land... Hebron (North American Premiere)

  Hebron is the largest city in the occupied West Bank, home to 160,000 Palestinians. It is also home to one of the first Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the only one right in the heart of a Palestinian city.

  DIRECTOR:

  Giulia Amati and Stephen Natanson

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2010

  RUNNING TIME:

  75m
• 

  Tim Hetherington: No Boundaries

  In Diary, a highly personal and experimental film that expressed the subjective experience of his work, Tim Hetherington turns the camera inward after more than a decade reporting. A panel of friends and collaborators will discuss his work and legacy.

  DIRECTOR:

  Tim Hetherington

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2010

  RUNNING TIME:

  20m (film) 60m (Discussion)
• 

  When the Mountains Tremble

  In the early 1980s, death squads roamed the Guatemalan countryside in a war against the unarmed indigenous population that went largely unreported in the international media. A unique group of filmmakers threw themselves into the task of bringing the crisis to the world’s attention.

  DIRECTOR:

  Directed by Pamela Yates and Newton Thomas Sigel, Produced and Edited by Peter Kinoy

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  1983

  RUNNING TIME:

  83m
• 

  You Don't Like the Truth - 4 Days Inside Guantanamo (NY Premiere)

  You Don’t Like the Truth – 4 Days Inside Guantanamo is a stunning documentary based on security camera footage from an encounter in Guantanamo Bay between a team of Canadian intelligence agents and Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, then a 16-year-old detainee.

  DIRECTOR:

  Luc Côté and Patricio Henríquez

  YEAR OF PRODUCTION:

  2010

  RUNNING TIME:

  99m

Opening Tomorrow: Ghazal Sotoudeh, "Notes from Afghanistan"

Tomorrow the Mourlot Gallery will open the exhibition "Notes from Afghanistan". 

[Image: Ghazal Sotoudeh "Blue Porcelain" (2008) 40 x 60 in.]


The gallery writes:

"Two years spent in Afghanistan as a humanitarian worker, Ghazal attempts through poems and images to give voice to her encounters. Twenty portraits of civilians tell of their country, their hopes, their wars and their smiles. Through these photos Ghazal hopes to remind us of the fact: Afghanistan is the country of the Afghans, not of the Taliban."


For more information, please visit http://www.galeriemourlot.com/

TONIGHT IN NEW YORK: Asia Society Double Header

Tonight at the Asia Society, NYC:



"6:30-8pm Maziar Bahari, author of Then They Came for Me.


When journalist, playwright and filmmaker Maziar Bahari left London in June 2009 to cover Iran's presidential election, he assured his pregnant fiancée, Paola, that he'd be back in just a few days, a week at most. Little did he know that he would spend the next 118 days in a six-by-twelve feet prison in Tehran's notorious Evin prison.

Now, in a riveting, heart-wrenching memoir, Then They Came for Me, Bahari provides an in-depth account of the days leading up to the fiercely contested election and the clashes between Iranian citizens and government police that followed. He also describes Iran's tumultuous recent history-from the overthrow of the long-ruling Shah to the Khomeini era, which severed relations with the West, to the current regime under Supreme Leader Ali Khameini. Bahari also brings readers up to the present describing the recent turmoil in the Middle East and the possibility of a democratic, independent government in Iran. In conversation with editor and author Jon Meacham...




7-9pm Unburdened: A New Play by Rehan Ansari


Unburdened is set in the time around President Obama's inauguration when Robin, a journalist from Toronto, goes to Karachi. Robin becomes consumed with our inability to truly comprehend what it is to live inside a war. He glimpses our enemy's point of view: We see an argument for militancy that has a global audience. We observe Robin's struggles through his partner Katherine's eyes as he feverishly communicates with her over the phone and Skype. In Karachi Robin stays with Attiya and Saad, his elderly aunt and uncle who have lived with a terrible secret over the course of their 60-year relationship that began amidst the Partition of India. Robin also meets Nazia, a young Pakistani musician. Robin's time in Pakistan brings a dramatic focus to Robin and Katherine's mixed heritage family history (his mother is Pakistani, her father is Jewish).


Rehan is a Brooklyn-based writer. A Karachi native and a graduate of Vassar College, Rehan was a working journalist in New York during 9/11 and in Mumbai during the attacks in 2008. He travelled to Pakistan in the aftermath of both, and Unburdened is based on his experiences.


Rehan's work has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, The Globe & Mail, and as a columnist for Mid-day Mumbai. He has been Editor Independent Press Association-New York, and Foreign Editor Daily News & Analysis in Mumbai. His play Damme This is the Oriental Scene for You! (adapted from the writings of G.V. Desani) had a three-week run at Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto. He is at work on a novel.


Reading followed by a Q & A."


Information courtesy of www.asiasociety.org


See you there.

Closed in Beirut, Coming to NYC: A Journey Through Time and Place

This week in Beirut the World Press Photo Exhibition closed amid protests.  The exhibition, which had been up since May 12th, was supposed to have closed on June 1st.  Included in the exhibition was a piece called A Journey Through Time and Place, by Amit Sha'al.  Local patrons objected to the inclusion of an Israeli photographer and called for his work to be removed from the exhibition.  World Press Photo, rather than censor the exhibition, decided to close it altogether.

A Journey Through Time and Place depicts decades old photos set against contemporary scenes, in a juxtaposing/superimposing scene.  The photographer placed his arm on a tripod to steady his hand and make sure the image framed properly.

The World Press Photo exhibition will come to New York in August 5-28, and will be on display at the UN General Assembly Visitors' Lobby.

For more information on this project, please visit http://www.worldpressphoto.org/.