• session #003 Subverting Kitsch
  • session #002 Tracing History
  • session #001 Bearing Witness

Session #002: Tracing History

Although Hrair Sarkissian (based in London) primarily employs photography and Koizumi Meiro (based in Yokohama) works more with performance-based video, both artists address the emotional and aesthetic consequences of social amnesia and historical trauma in their work, and play with ideas about the visibility and invisibility of the past in the present. This discussion will examine the role of the artist in researching and re-enacting repressed histories, the artists’ relationships to place and displacement, and their thoughts on the possibility of creating opportunities for reclaiming collective memory.

<DAY 2>

Dates & Time: 13:00-18:30, Saturday, September 29, 2012 (Door open 12:30)

[Timetable] (temporary)

12:30 Doors open

13:00-14:30 Session 2“Tracing History”

  Speakers: Hrair Sarkissian (Participating Artist), Koizumi Meiro (Artist)

  Moderator: Deena Chalabi (Former Head of Strategy, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art)

~Break(30 minutes)~

15:00-16:30 Session3 “Subverting Kitsch”

  Speakers: Zena el Khalil (Participating Artist, via skype), Sputniko! (Artist)

  Moderator: Deena Chalabi (Former Head of Strategy, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art)

~Break(30 minutes)~

17:00-18:30 Closing Discussion “Being Arab and Being Japanese: Different But Not So Different”

Speakers (temporary): All speakers of the symposium

Moderator: Nanjo Fumio (Director, Mori Art Museum)

Venue: Academyhills 49 (49F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower)

Capacity: 150 (booking required)

Admission: Free

Organizers: Mori Art Museum, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar Museums Authority

session #002 Hrair Sarkissian

Born in 1973 in Damascus, Syria. Currently lives and works in Damascus and London.

Hrair Sarkissian was born and raised in Damascus, Syria, and received his foundational training at his father's photographic studio. He also assisted several European photographers, who introduced him to contemporary photography. Recent exhibitions include group shows at the Mori Art Museum, in Tokyo, Tate Modern in London, Darat al Funun in Amman, 10th Sharjah Biennial (all 2011), 11th Istanbul Biennial (2009), and solo outings at SALT Galata in Istanbul and Kalfayan Galleries in Athens (2010-2008). His work has also been published in Metropolis M (Nat Muller, 2011), Bidoun (Kaelen Wilson-Goldie, 2010), the book Contemporary Art in the Middle East (ed. Paul Sloman, London, 2009) and Camera Austria (Sönke Gau, 2008).

Hrair Sarkissian
Execution Squares (No.16)
2008
Collection: Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE
Courtesy: Kalfayan Galleries, Athens
– Thessaloniki

session #002 Koizumi Meiro

Born in 1976 in Gunma, Japan. Currently lives and works in Yokohama.

Koizumi Meiro studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London (1999-2002) and Rijksakademie van beeldend kunsten, Amsterdam (2005-2006). His previous solo exhibitions include “Stories of a Beautiful Country” at CAB, Burgos, Spain (2012) and “MAM Project 009: Meiro Koizumi” at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2009). He has participated in numerous group shows including “Invisible Memories” at the Hara Museum, Tokyo (2011), Liverpool Biennial (2010), Media City Seoul (2010), and Aichi Triennale, Nagoya (2010). His solo exhibition in the Projects Series at MoMA, New York is scheduled to open in January 2013.

Koizumi Meiro
My Voice Would Reach You
2009

Arab Express