21.05.–01.08.2010




From 21 May to 1 August BAK, basis voor actuele kunst presents I, the Undersigned, the first solo exhibition by Lebanese theater director, playwright, actor, and visual artist Rabih Mroué. The opening takes place on Thursday 20 May 2010 at 20.00 hrs at BAK.

Rabih Mroué (1967, lives and works in Beirut) belongs to the artistic generation that matured after the (formal) end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990, and his work has been deeply influenced by the ongoing conflicts in the country and the Middle East region, as well as by political and cultural issues such as identity construction, historical narration, exclusion, and remembrance. As such, the artist’s practice is as much representative of, as it is divergent from, these complex circumstances.

Mroué’s work can be seen as a constant exploration of the artist’s responsibility and position both in artistic frameworks limited by traditional conventions and in political circumstances that are based on principles of exclusion. Some of the main questions accompanying his practice can be formulated as follows: How to express truth through fiction? Can artistic subjectivity create a communal, meaningful, and ethically grounded exchange with a public in a society where individuals are divided by their religious and political outlooks? How can one establish dialogue in a traumatized society, aware of this reality but not falling into the trap of disconsolate mourning, as the politics of memory is often seen in contexts that have experienced historical trauma?

I, the Undersigned is an extensive survey of Rabih Mroué’s practice, including a number of new productions presented along with his recent works. The exhibition is curated by Cosmin Costinaş.

On Thursday 17 June 2010 from 17.00–20.00 hrs BAK presents, in collaboration with the conference Waiting for the Political Moment, a lecture by philosopher Simon Critchley followed by the performance The Inhabitants of Images by Rabih Mroué. This program takes place at Drift 13, Utrecht, Room 0.04. Admission to the lecture by Critchley and the performance by Mroué is free and no reservations are required.

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BAK, basis voor actuele kunst
Lange Nieuwstraat 4
3512 PH Utrecht

Opening hours:
Wednesday–Saturday 12.00–17.00 hrs
Sunday 13.00–17.00 hrs