STUDIOCUR ART | PARIS - Non-profit curatorial platform specialised in contemporary art

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Cycles Of Collapsing Progress

exhibition

September 2018

Cycles of Collapsing Progress

Tripoli Fairground by Oscar Niemeyer credit: Fritzia Irizar

credit Fritzia Irizar

Zad Moultaka | Don’t Fall, Because whoever fell will fall for good, 2018 | Multi-channel sound installation, ropes, light. | Walid Rashid©

Damian Ortega | Harvest, 2013 | Steel sculptures, lamps | Walid Rashid©

Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige | A SPACE MUSEUM, 2018 | Walid Rashid©

Damian Ortega | Controller of the Universe, 2007 | Found tools and wire | Walid Rashid©

Gabriel Rico | Prodigal Son, 2018 | taxidermy, ceramics, mirror, neon, brass, drawings | Walid Rashid©

Rayyane Tabet | Colosse aux Pieds d’Argile, 2015 | Marble and sandstone columns, marble and sandstone bases, concrete cylinders. | Walid Rashid©

Roy Samaha | Sun Rave, 2018 | Video, 11 min.

Damian Ortega | Controller of the Universe, 2007 | Found tools, wire. | Walid Rashid©

Marwan Rechmaoui | If I Only Had a Chance, 2018 | Non-shrinking grout, resin. | Walid Rashid©

Jorge Mendez Blake | Utopía (El No-Lugar es un Lugar Real) / Utopia (The No-Place is a Real Place), 2017-2018 | Variable media. | Walid Rashid ©

Jalal Toufic | The Matrix for AI and Al, 2018 | Walid Rashid©

Pablo Davila | Rhythmic Field, 2018 | Mirrors, metronomes. | Walid Rashid©

Fritzia Irizar | Untitled (Planned Obsolescence), 2018 | Video, 1 min (documentation of a performance), sawdust carpet and pigments, cedar wood stick. | Walid Rashid©

Jorge Mendez Blake | Utopía (El No-Lugar es un Lugar Real) / Utopia (The No-Place is a Real Place), 2017-2018 | Variable media. | Walid Rashid ©

Stephanie Saade | Moongold, 2018 | 30 steel structures, photographs with gold leaf, engraved plaques. | Walid Rashid©

Lamia Joreige, Description Of A Monument, 10 steel plates, 2018

Lamia Joreige, From the City to the Fair, Tripoli Soundscape Variations, 2018

Haig Aivazian , Rome is not in Rome, installation

Pablo Davila, Rythmic Fields, 2018

Ali Cherri, The Disquiet, Film, 2013

Roy Samaha, Sun Rave, Film, 2018

Jose Davila, Untitled, 2018

Emmanuel Tovar, Monumento a l'inmaterialidad

opening image

Edgardo Aragon, Mute concert, performance & video installation, 2018

Edgardo Aragon, Mute Concert

Edgardo Aragon, Mute Concert, Lebanese Pavillion location

Space Museum

Rayyane Tabet, Colosse aux Pieds d'Argile, 2015

22 September-23 October 2018

Co-organized by:

Beirut Museum of Art- BeMA

STUDIOCUR/ART

Under the Patronage of the Ministry of Culture

UNESCO, Beirut Office

Venues: Rashid Karami International Fair (by Oscar Niemeyer), Tripoli

(Wednesday-Sunday : 3pm-9pm)

& Citadel of Tripoli (Everyday 8am-4pm)

Participating artists: Rashid Karami International Fair: Edgardo Aragon, Ali Cherri, Jose Davila, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Lamia Joreige, Fritzia Irizar, Jorge Mendez Blake, Damian Ortega, Marwan Rechmaoui, Gabriel Rico, Stéphanie Saadé, Roy Samaha, Jalal Toufic, Zad Moultaka

Citadel of Tripoli : Rayyane Tabet, Haig Aivazian, Emmanuel Tovar, Pablo Davila

Curated by Karina El Helou (STUDIOCUR/ART)

In partnership with the Anissa Touati Corporation for Mexico

Scenography & Production: Antoine Maalouf Architects

Cycles of Collapsing Progress was a month-long contemporary art exhibition organised by non-profit organisations Beirut Museum of Art- BeMA and STUDIOCUR/ART, at the Rashid Karami International Fair, designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer- located in Tripoli, North Lebanon and at the Citadel of Tripoli.

Through contemporary art, the run-down concrete structures of the Rashid Karami Fair, considered one of the most important legacies of modernist architecture in the Middle East, were placed in dialogue with the citadel, a monument to layers of history. The two locations current states provoked reflections, in the context of the exhibition, on cyclical time and the cycles of collapse.

The notion of cyclical time, common to past civilizations, is now considered archaic, for according to Romanian intellectual Mircea Eliade, modern societies have a linear understanding of time. This contemporary understanding considers progress as its only possible outcome and therefore does not take into account repeated cycles of collapse.

The contemplation of the cyclical life and death of civilisations can be traced back to the medieval Tunisian-born historian Ibn Khaldoun, who suggested that historical cycles function in a loop, starting as Umran Badaoui (bedouin civilisation) evolving into Umran Hadari (urban civilisation) before collapsing. Recent studies by American historian Joseph Tainter on the collapse of complex societies, such as the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Mayans, show that there are several possible causes for their downfall, including natural disasters, wars, and epidemics. But one theory can be singled out. When a society becomes highly stratified, it is more likely to fall, as the cost of maintaining it is high.

In the post-modern world (although the sociologist Bruno Latour has suggested in the title of his book that ‘we have never been modern’) scientists affirm that since the beginning of the anthropocene era, our future decline will be caused by an impending ecological disaster due to global warming. If human beings, nature, and even history function cyclically, it’s possible to think about the limits of progress and the costs that entails.

The exhibition presented 20 projects in total, including 11 commissioned artworks as well as 9 selected works by artists from Lebanon and Mexico. The meeting of these two art scenes allowed for the exchange of geographical perspectives on the theme. This project included residencies in Beirut by Edgardo Aragon, Fritzia Irizar and Gabriel Rico at BAR-Beirut Art Residency, and in Guadalajara by Marwan Rechmaoui and Stephanie Saadé at PAOS GDL residency.

Visitor\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s guide

Press Kit

Cycles Of Collapsing Progress
Film on the project