Aysha E Arar and Nelly Agassi: Being Mediterranean

The exhibition Being Mediterranean invites us to lose ourselves along the Mediterranean coast and dive into a reflection on the world. Taking the Mediterranean basin as a starting point, the 23 artists on show develop their practices from the countries that border the Mediterranean. They may have been born there, live and work there, or be inspired by it from elsewhere to offer us works in a wide range of forms and aesthetics.

Some forty works have been grouped together, around three main, closely interconnected themes. The first is history, archaeology, and tangible and intangible heritage, which unfold between the real and the fictional, and take us into the interstices of stories great and small. Memories and legacies based on intimate accounts, tales, and legends also help us to share our common imaginary. Lastly, ancestral skills and practices, re-interrogated or assimilated by the artists, accompany a deep-rooted and renewed look at traditions and forms.

Across the board, the exhibition also raises political issues and questions of identity, which reflect a social and humanitarian emergency in a geopolitics in constant flux. Without ignoring the tragedies and dramas that have shaken the region, the exhibition aims to offer a celebration of the abundant and shared riches, like so many forms of resistance, of a territory that is not only defined by its borders, but which above all appears to be a vibrant hotbed of creativity.

 

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