This is an English translation from the original article in French: https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1174839/les-frontieres-poreuses-libanaises-a-la-quadriennale-de-prague.html

The Lebanese Porous Borders at the Prague Quadrennial

This high mass of scenography, performing arts and theater takes place this week in the capital of the Czech Republic. The land of the Cedars participates for the second time. “L'Orient-Le Jour" asked some questions to Hadi Damien, curator and national coordinator of the participation of Lebanon in this event.

What are the characteristics of the Prague Quadrennial 2019?

The artistic direction of the Prague Quadrennial defines an artistic line for each edition that is reproduced through several themes, according to the programmed projects and exhibitions. “Porous Borders” is the theme of this year, with “Transformation” being that of the national exhibition, and “Imagination” that of the student exhibition.

The Quadrennial is essentially gathered in one mega space: the Exhibition Center, its plaza, the annex buildings and the surrounding park. It is an epicenter that facilitates flows and exchanges between the projects and the exhibitions.

The Lebanese entries are proposed by a new artistic team that was solicited through a call for participation following the programming of the projects and exhibitions by the Czech organizers.

What is Lebanon representing?

Our national exhibition is entitled “Decreased Reality” in which we present a landscape of raised hands holding mobile phones. We question, with the Quadrennial, the practice of photographing a live performance and all the questions that this habit raises: the right to intellectual property, show ethics, and, especially, the demotion of the experience of the audience who abandons the multidimensional live performance and confines it to the two-dimensional, narrow space that is the screen of the phone. The Quadrennial visitors email us photographs of performances they attend in Prague, and we include them to our exhibition, thus marking a performance migration from local productions to global productions as part of a country exhibition. This movement begs a central question: what is a national exhibition in our connected and global world? What does it represent? What would it tell?

The student exhibition echoes the concept of the disappearing exhibition. It is reminiscent of deconstructionism, it is reminiscent of a concert of oppositions, meanings and statements. The exhibition features the manifesto “Scenography without Content” written on the structure of the exhibition in English, Arabic, Czech, Spanish and French.

The Performance Space Exhibition presents "The Dome", a part of Oscar Niemeyer’s International Fairground in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, which Firas el-Hallak explores in his video through his project “The Dome Sessions”. An exhibition that received a special mention at the Quadrennial, and that invites artists to perform in this exceptional place that is “The Dome”.

Every day at 6:30 pm, Giorgio Bassil performs “Telephone Poles”, a performance for two in which he unties a long cotton thread, searching for its middle, for its balance that the performers measure with a scale. It is a moment of serene conversation with strangers that the artist meets half-way, while seeking balance with a cotton thread.

Cynthia el-Hasbani, John Dave, and Lori Kharpoutlian are part of the 36Qº international working groups. They participate in the creation of Blue Hour, an immersive journey made of image, sound, video, 3D mapping, augmented realities, virtual and mixed ones, and showcased in a hockey hall.

As for Nathalie Harb, she presents her urban interventions, in particular “The Silent Room”. She speaks on the panel “Scenography of Sound” as part of the PQ Talks program. She talks about Beirut, about the common space, the sound, and how her work converses with the city.

Six students of the Performing Arts program at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik join 14 international schools for a joint exhibition around the Ubu King Common Design Project. They interact with other artists and visitors to the Quadrennial, examining the play and their concept proposals during three days of discussions and moderate criticism by renowned practitioners.

A very dense program reminiscent of the first participation of Lebanon in the Prague Quadrennial in 2015. Besides the representation in Prague, what could the Lebanese participants expect?

The Quadrennial is a hive, a space for exchanges and contacts. It is not enough to be there, but to act to build bridges. It is precisely this point that motivates my participation in the “Emergence: Practice Exchange” project. We learn from each other, we invite performances to Lebanon, such as to The Dome in Tripoli, for example, and we export our productions. It is a continuous exchange, and Lebanon has a lot to offer, even if it does not have the same cultural infrastructure of other countries.

After the Quadrennial of 2015, Hans Harling's costume project participated in the Beirut Street Festival and in the Beirut Marathon. He was invited to the Festival Impact in Macedonia, and got documented in the book “Tribes”. We have also participated in the “Transformations Symposium of the Prague Quadrennial since 1995”, and we have been published in the book that followed. This is an example of the collaborations that can result from participating in international events such as the Prague Quadrennial, the Francophone Games (Jeux de la francophonie), etc.

We are preparing, as of 2020, a touring exhibition in Lebanon showcasing what we presented in Prague, as well as collaborations between Lebanon and several other cities through artists who are participating in the Quadrennial. It is a way to spread our local productions and to propose other artistic expressions in Lebanon.

Therefore the importance of the participation of Lebanon to this event…

The Prague Quadrennial is not a ten-day event that takes place once every four years, but a continuous program punctuated by these ten days. It is an international platform that coordinates ongoing projects focused on scenography education, exhibitions, exchanges, publications, commissions and international symposiums. It increases visibility, contributes to the international mobility of artists, promotes both international communication and collaboration among professionals, creates opportunities for students and young artists from around the world. The platform engages practice and reflection around the profession and around its connections, which is reflected in a major impact on the design of performance and the teaching methodologies of performing arts.

Lebanon's participation puts the country in this conversation, mobilizes Lebanese-based creators, and motivates institutions. The size of our delegation (twenty people) bears witness to this, especially since each one covers their own participation fees, which favors an interested and involved representation. We benefited from the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism, from the support of the Czech Embassy in Lebanon and that of Kremosyn, which helped me cover part of the production costs of the participation of Lebanon.

* Photos, videos and documentation on the website www.pq-lb.org

For memory
Des photos, des costumes, des tribus, un ouvrage et... du fattouche