16 TTHHEE DDAAIILLYY SSTTAARR thursday, may 5, 2011ARTS & CULTURE

AGENDALEBANON

MUSIC

‘Tania Saleh’USJ, Pierre Abou Khater auditorium, Damascus Street,AchrafiehMay 5-6, 9 p.m.01-421-000 / 01-999-666 (forticketing)After the release of her second album “Wehde,”Lebanon’s much-lovedvocaist Tania Saleh presents aconcert of folk-infected tunescontemplative of politicsper-sonal feeling.

‘Between Dreams and Reality’University of Balamand,Zakhem Auditorium, Al-Koura,North LebanonMay 20, 7:30 p.m.06-930-250Organized by the Office ofPublic Relations, Rabih RihanaTrio presents their instrumentalmusic concert.

‘The Lebanese PhilharmonicOrchestra’St. Joseph Church, St. JosephStreet, AchrafiehMay 6, 8:30 p.m.01-489-530On the occasion of EuropeDay, EU Ambassador Angeli-na Eichhorst and conductorWalid Gholmieh present anevening of classical musicperformed by the LebanesePhilharmonic Orchestra.

PHOTOGRAPHY

‘Le Louvre transfigure’French Cultural Center, mainexhibition hall, DamascusRoadMay 5 to June 101-420-205French photographer Jean-Christophe Ballot presentswork dealing with the changesat Paris’ Louvre museum overthe last decade.

THEATER

‘Theatre B’Al-Madina Theater, HamraStreet, HamraMay 5-7, 8:30 p.m.01-753-010 / 01-753-011Inspired by two Beirut landmarks, the Theater Beirutand Café de Paris, Jean-YvesPicq presents a monologueaddressing reconstruction ofBeirut in the wake of the CivilWar. In French.

‘50+1: 51 carats bines’Theater Monnot, Saint JosephStreet, AchrafiehUntil May 8, 9 p.m.01-202-422Lebanese comedian SamyKhayath returns to the stagewith his wife Nayla to presenthis comic take on his Lebanesecountrymen. In Arabic.

ART

‘Oil and Watercolors’Kromatik Art Gallery, MarMikhael Street, facing SAAB,GemmayzehMay 12-2801-568-345Thailand artist AttasitPokpong exhibits artworkpainted between 2005 and2007. An opportunity to seePokpong last watercolors andoil on canvases.

‘Souad Amin 2000-2010’Al-Madina Theater, Noha Al-Radi Hall, Sarroulla building,Hamra Street, HamraMay 5-1201-753-010 / 01-753-011After participating in a num-ber of collective exhibition,Lebanese Artist Souad Aminfinally presents her muchawaited solo exhibition.

REVIEW

PREVIEW

What a splendid thing watercolor isto express atmosphere and distance,so that the figure is surrounded byair and can breathe in it.

Vincent van Gogh(1853-1890)

Dutch post-impressionist painter

JJuusstt aa tthhoouugghhtt

An art from the far edge of illnessBy Ali EttehadSpecial to The Daily Star

TEHRAN: In his best-knownworks the iconic Iranian artistFereydoun Ave has constantlyinvestigated historical turning

points, ancient motifs and the socialaspects of his ancestral mythology –aspects that move through historicaland contemporary narratives. Through his 2003 series, “In search

of Heroes,” Ave merges the figures ofIranian wrestlers with ancient reliefsof Persian kings and warriors, a selec-tive collage that conflates the relation-ship between ancient Persian heroesand those of our own time.In a more metaphorical approach to

the same method of investigation, thenext two series, “Rostam in late sum-mer” and “Rostam in the dead of win-ter,” betray a strong continuity with“Heroes.” As he unifies the ancientmasculine personage, Rostam, heintroduces a criteria he calls “macho-mystic” as a means of opening up theinterpretative range of the work.Though his works use Persian

mythological discourse as their codex,

Ave has also used more global para-digms. In his “D-Art boards For Tibet,”he depicts the Chinese-Tibetan conflictin twin dart boards, Maos and Mande-las. Throughout his oeuvre, Ave hasoften interwoven local fable and histo-ry with memories of a wider world.“Recent Works,” Ave’s latest show

in Khak Gallery, represents somethingof a departure from this earlier work,illustrating his own personal history –a tale of survival after a long battlewith illness.“Recent Works” consists of 11

mixed-media pieces and seven sculp-tures. Each of the mixed-media worksbegins with haphazard schemas andsplashes of watercolor. The artist thenprints familiar snapshots of daily life.Finally he over-paints them with newwatercolor splashes.Based on the evidence of this show,

Ave’s personal history includes a half-naked figure, flowers and wreaths,colorful world atlases with bunches offlowers, a still photo of a chair and aclosed window with blinds, a recliningfigure of the artist, a chalice, furrowedpillows and family portraits. From one standpoint, at least, these

motifs represent the artist’s personalhistory. But they are also universal, inthat they can evoke images that wouldspark in any spectator’s imagination.Born in 1945, Ave belongs to the

first generation of Iranian contempo-rary artists who in the 1970s chal-lenged the art of the Middle East and

western Asia generally. His works areoften intuitive responses to Iran’ssocial and political conditions. Thework is hardly parochial, though, sinceancient mythology and history are notlimited to the Iranian experience alone.Ave is one of those figures whose

oeuvre has been characterized as anextreme form of contemporary art. Hestrongly believes in the “pure idea of[the] arts.”The artist has said he regards his

new series of work to be akin to apoem. These works create words and

clauses, as if the poetic lexicon werelocated within this world. Like apoem, Ave’s art is capable of provok-ing multiple readings. A nude figure may depict the cham-

pion of ancient Persian mythology, orsymbolize an inter-textual indicator forcritics – or even a link to his olderworks. For Ave, the figure is a diary-like realization of a Turkish wrestler heonce met in Paris. An antique Persianphotograph surely relates to Qajar-eraphotography, though it is a family por-trait of Ave’s ancestors in Yazd.Ave’s “Divas” both address an era

of fear and stability, as referenced in“Haftan Amshaspandan” (“Amshas-pand” means “blessed immortal”) andgigantic sphinxes. Ave builds a con-temporary legion of sphinxes in whichfear and security are nurtured in a par-allel and equal fashion. As he names these creatures, he tends

to depict the paradoxical nature of fearand security, a mixture that is born in aninconsistent organism, that has pushedits way through aeons, surviving in thesocio-political patterns of our time.Ave exhibits these works without an

appendix. He releases anonymouslived experience to blend itself into ourcommon history. Just as these pictori-al clauses are reinterpreted from timeto time, different senses of theseanonymous memories transform into asort of poetic text.Archaeology and reliance on the

encounter of similes makes this bodyof work a set of “chansons imagi-naires.” Ave’s works tend to divulgeoblivion, an oblivion where things areneither forgotten nor remembered,where the wax idol of his contempo-rary life, and common sense, melt andcongeal under the sun.Fereydoun Ave’s ”Recent Works” is up atTehran’s Khak Gallery until May 16.

Fereydoun Ave’s ‘Recent Works,’ signalsa personal departurefrom his oeuvre

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A champion of ancient Persian mythology, a diary-like realization of a Turkish wrestler Ave once met in Paris.

Ave’s personal history ranges from world atlases with bunches of flowers to family portraits.

By Emily HolmanSpecial to the Daily Star

Beirut: Lebanon’s big summermusic festivals seem designedto lure people out of Beirut.Baalbak has its festival, as do

Beiteddine and Byblos. Beirut, on theother hand, seems to be the preserve foryear-round festivals, platforms andforums devoted to film and video art,dance, fine and plastic arts and(depending on how plastic your defini-tion of “Beirut” and “music”) classicaland free improv music.Never fear. The status quo is set to

change, sort of. A little later thismonth, the Beirut Music and Art Fes-tival (BMAF) intends to transformdowntown Beirut into a performancevenue. This is the first BMAF, thoughorganisers want the event to becomean annual fixture.Organized by the Ministry of

Tourism in co-operation with Solidere(the private company licensed toretool downtown Beirut for the post-Civil War era), BMAF aims to “putculture back on the daily agenda.”Mobilizing over 200 local and inter-

national artists to perform over a three-week period, BMAF certainly meansto provoke international attention.Performers include such interna-

tional bigwigs as “Earth Wind andFire,” “Sister Sledge,” and ex-Super-tramper Roger Hodgson. Local lumi-naries Lena Chamamyan and TaniaKassis are also among the performers.Co-directed by Beirut Jazz Festival

organizer John Kassabian, Hamra StreetFestival organizer Fadi Ghazzaoui andImad Darwich-Houssami, BMAFhopes to “usher in the renaissance ofBeirut’s golden age of art and culture.”“Beirut is a capital city, at the cross-

roads of three continents and a gatewaybetween East and West,” said JohnKassabian. “Musical and artistic trends

tend to take off from capital cities, thecultural centers of a country. As the cul-tural heart of the entire region, Beirutdeserves to have its own music and artfestival … The time has come.”The program is not limited to inter-

national stars. BMAF has declared itsdesire to support local artists, so less-er-known local and foreign bands bothare being given a performance plat-form from May 19 till June 2.With 45 bands in total, three groups

per night will perform in the BeirutSouqs. The mélange of East and Westwill also include a patchwork of musi-cal styles, jazz and blues, oriental clas-sical and hip-hop.“It’s time to broaden our horizons,”

opined Ghazzaoui. “It’s time to createa stage that promotes fusion, whereLebanon will both learn and share withour international guests. We want togive these groups a platform to expressthemselves on a bigger stage.”The lineup for the Beirut Souq

Music Village devoted to experimen-tation, featuring a smattering of BeirutUnderground, and less-underground,artists like Rayess Bek, “HomeMade,” “Amy Smack Daddy,” and“Zeid and the Wings.”The Beirut Souqs will also play

host to a wide range of other art eventsand activities.“Mayadeen” art exhibition, is set to

occupy downtown Beirut from May18 till June 5. Subtitled “A PublicSpace Project,”Mayadeen, accordingto BMAF promotional literature, is “aplatform for evolving practices in adiscourse about public spaces’ every-day life.”“Mayadeen” aims to “dissect the

evolving state of Beirut’s publicspaces.” Exhibition applicants wereasked to perform an inquiry into thecontemporary perception of cities andthe cityscape. It is also particularly interested in the

impact of digital media and the role thatpublic images have upon society. Cura-tor Ghada Waked is hoping that“Mayadeen” will initiate a debate abouthow “space itself is altered in negotiat-ing cultural traditions, political priori-ties, community values and history.”“Mayadeen” will include a diverse

range of media, including photogra-phy, projections, printed banners, per-formances and installations.

The aim of “Mayadeen” corre-sponds with Kassabian’s vision forBMAF. “This,” he said of BMAF, “isfor culture’s sake, and not just formusic’s sake.”BMAF is providing two open after-

noons of musical performance on thefestival’s first weekend. From 4 p.m.until 7 p.m. on both Saturday and Sun-day, local Lebanese bands are free toperform for the public.“We are extending special consid-

eration and support to local artistsand bands within the umbrella of aninternational festival. This is some-thing that has never been donebefore,” Kassabian remarked. At 4 p.m. on May 21, BMAF will

hold an hour-long march from Saifito Starco. “The Beirut Parade,” as it’sbeing called, is set to be suitablybombastic, with plenty of music andcolor to fill the air.The co-directors have pledged that

BMAF is here to stay. “Year after year,the Beirut music and art festival willhonor the past, celebrate the presentand look to the future of music, art andculture. This,” said Ghazzaoui, “is justthe beginning.”The Beirut Music and Art Festival runsfrom May 19-June 12. The grandstand per-formances will be held at New Waterfront(BIEL) May 27-June 12.

Beirut Music and Art Festival:‘This is just the beginning’

Zeid and the Wings is among the local acts being featured during BMAF.

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Local art rock heroes LUMI will also be in the spotlight.