Memory of a paper city by Alfred Tarazi at Umam

From the disintegration of state institutions to the endemic neglect and destruction of its cultural heritage, Lebanon’s modern cultural and social legacy is in peril. In past years, the country has seen its cultural hubs crumble: publishing houses, theatres, cinemas, recording studios.. all the cosmopolitan institutions that marked the modern history of Lebanon have been vanishing. Perhaps the most volatile and fragile material these institutions have produced is paper. Many defunct Lebanese publishing houses for instance have seen their archives scattered, destroyed and irretrievably lost.

Memory of a paper city, installation by Alfred Tarazi, 2023.
Memory of a paper city, installation by Alfred Tarazi, 2023.

The subject matter of the installation by Alfred Tarazi, titled  ‘Memory of a Paper City’, At UMAM documentation and research, is paper and most specifically the paper onto which these publishing houses have inscribed the spirit of their times. Laboriously produced and reproduced, these papers carry the traces of Lebanon’s turbulent experience in modernity. Following the thread of over a hundred publications from the nineteen thirties till the end of the eighties, this project aims to map out two distinct phenomena that instil these publications.

 

Memory of a paper city, installation by Alfred Tarazi, 2023.
Memory of a paper city, installation by Alfred Tarazi, 2023.
Memory of a paper city, installation by Alfred Tarazi, 2023.
Memory of a paper city, installation by Alfred Tarazi, 2023.

The first consists of the uses and misuses of the representation of women as a metaphor for freedom and sexuality. The second is the representation of political violence manifesting itself in armed struggle. The correlation between both phenomena is the constant flirtation, invitation or assessment of the numerous transgressions that mark the modern history of Lebanon.

Here, violence and corruption are endemic and the press acts both as a tool to shape opinions or to denounce these very transgressions. In this realm images are weapons used to bring down governments and words are bombs threatening to reduce the nation to ashes. In this realm, imagos lure ue away from morality and words destroy all condo of religiosity. The tools are revolutionary, the messages ase revolutionary the outcome however is grim. Civil violence systematically overtakes the streets.

Presently, the tools have changed, but the war has not. Words and images are still the main manifestation of the rift that divides the Lebanese. The charged social media landscape of today is the evolution of this world made out of paper. In this continuous

Memory of a paper city, Installation by Alfred Tarazi, 2023.
Memory of a paper city, Installation by Alfred Tarazi, 2023.

violence the task that seems most urgent is to preserve these papers, not primarily for the news, the politics and horror but for the very artistry with which these images were made.
In this realm, writers, artists, calligraphers, illustrators, caricaturists, photographers and advertisers all worked hand in hand to sell their ideas, their products, a way of life: modernity. Even our wars seem to be a celebration of this modernity. These papers reflect the tension, always present, to this very day between the traditional values that govern Lebanese societies and the most novel tunes and ideas rocking the world. It paints an image of this country, this distorting mirror of the west and deforming echo chamber of the east and in the dissonance, a feast for the eyes. That is until corpses fill the streets and the saturated pages of the Lebanese printed realm. Here, we celebrate the makers of these irages and ponder about the price paid for this emancipation.
Our freedom urgently stands now as a blank piece of paper, an undrafted piece of paper carrying all the possibilities of progress and change that can happen In that regard, this is not a place of freedom but of reckoring. A place to reflect on the history of a city of paper, a place of madness buzzing with creauvity yet ever so threatened, ever so fragile.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

 

SELECTIONS is a platform for the arts, focusing on the Arab World.

Selections editorial presents a quarterly print magazine and weekly online publication with high quality content on all subjects related to Art and Culture. Full of world-leading artworks, exquisite brand imagery, original creative illustrations and insightful written articles.
Selections Viewing Rooms presents carefully curated online art shows aiming not only to shed light on contemporary art executed by living artists, but also for viewers to buy contemporary fine art, prints & multiples, photography, street art and collectibles.
Discover the previous and current shows here.
Cultural Narratives foundation is an extensive collection that is travelling the world by leading established and emerging talents aiming to reflect the culture of the region in their works.

Current Month