"Walid Raad" is the first comprehensive American survey of contemporary artist Walid Raad (b. 1967, Lebanon), featuring work in photography, video, sculpture, and performance from the last 25 years. Exhibited at MoMA in New York City, the exhibition will come to a close on January 31, 2016.
Walid Raad work is dedicated to exploring the veracity of photographic and video documents in the public realm, along with the role of memory and narrative within discourses of conflict and the construction of histories of art in the Arab world. His art is informed by his upbringing in Lebanon during the civil war (1975–91) and by the socioeconomic and military policies that have shaped the Middle East in the past few decades, according to MoMA.
"Walid Raad" focuses on two of the artist’s long-term projects: The Atlas Group (1989–2004) and Scratching on things I could disavow (2007–ongoing). Under the auspices of The Atlas Group, of which Raad is the only member, a 15-year project unfolded that explores the contemporary history of Lebanon through fictionalized photographs, videotapes, notebooks, and lectures that related to real events and authentic research in audio, film, and photographic archives in Lebanon and elsewhere.
Raad’s recent work addresses the Middle East region at large. Through his current and ongoing project, Scratching on things I could disavow, Raad examines the recent emergence in the Arab world of new infrastructure for the visual arts—art fairs, biennials, museums, and galleries—alongside the geopolitical, economic, and military conflicts that have consumed the region.
The survey show contains another aspect besides the exhibited art on view: a live lecture-performance entitled Walkthrough. Led by Raad, the 55-minute performance unfolds on five platform stages, which held on the floor and located in a different space within the art museum. The artworks on the stages function as props, with art playing a unique part in the lecture-performance project, according to the art museum.
Tickets are required for Walkthrough with advance tickets recommended. A limited number of same-day performance tickets will be available at the museum on a first-come, first-served basis. Performances will be given on Sundays (January 17, 24 & 31) at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; on Mondays (January 18 & 25) at 4 p.m.; and on Thursdays (January 21 & 28) at 4 p.m.
After "Walid Raad" closes at MoMA, it travels to ICA Boston where it will be exhibited February 24 - May 30, 2016.
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BASIC FACTS: "Walid Raad" remains on view through January 31, 2016 at the Museum of Modern Art. MoMA is located at 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019. www.moma.org.
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