4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Wael Shawky, Akram Zaatari tell political history through art
Historical incidents in Middle East, North Africa recreated as media art shown at MMCA Gwacheon
History can be hard to recount when it holds sorrow and trauma or multiple interpretations. But recreated as art, such stories can resonate powerfully, sparking diverse questions and interpretations in the viewers, regardless of where they are or what language they speak.
Presented by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, 'MMCA Collection Otherlands II: Wael Shawky, Akram Zaatari' showcases two media works by two leading contemporary artists who explore and reinterpret specific historical events at its Gwacheon museum in Gyeonggi Province.
'Drama 1882' by Egyptian artist Wael Shawky was previously shown at the Venice Biennale 2024. The 48-minute video work addresses the Urabi Revolution, a 19th-century nationalist resistance movement against European control over Egypt following the construction of the Suez Canal.
Shawky wrote, composed and directed the media artwork in the form of an eight-part opera, raising questions such as 'Was the history of the Urabi Revolution, as written primarily from Western perspectives, truly objective?'
Akram Zaatari's 36-minute video work, 'Letter to a Refusing Pilot,' is based on the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The Lebanese artist was inspired by a rumor in his hometown of Saida, which turned out to be true according to the artist, that an Israeli pilot had refused an order to bomb a boy's secondary school where Zaatari's father was a principal at the time.
The question 'Why did the Israeli pilot refuse the order?' has remained a central theme in Zaatari's artistic career. In 2012, he published a book about the incident that contains an interview with the pilot.
Drawing inspiration from historical theater, the installation of the works incorporates elements such as stage curtains, lighting and theater seating to evoke the feeling of attending a live opera or film screening.
The state museum acquired 'Drama 1882' last year through a donation by the MMCA Director's Council, a group of CEOs established in 2011 to support the museum's exhibitions and growth in collection, according to the museum.
'MMCA Collection Otherlands II: Wael Shawky, Akram Zaatari' runs through Aug. 17.
