Drawings done for the Beirut Art Center's Micro-commissions series I Draw the Line Here:
๐ ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ-๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ก๐ผ. ๐ฎ- ๐ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ
โ๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ
๐ฅ๐ณ๐ข๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆโ ๐ณ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐
๐ฝ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐พ๐, ๐บ ๐ก๐๐๐พ๐ฟ ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐๐
Many artists in Lebanon have expressed disdain towards various impulses that some have had, to make art out of the explosion. At a moment where so much remains unclear, unresolved and most importantly unhealed, what is this urgency to โcreateโ to โexpressโ to โtestifyโ? Others have argued for a proliferation of expressions, making the argument that the very attempt to create is in and of itself an attempt to make sense of things and to heal. But can this kind of healing be anything but a solitary, poetic form of expression, at a time where collective justice is what is needed?
We at the BAC are struggling to reconcile a double refusal. On the one hand, a refusal to normalize a state of such extreme and systemic precarity, to simply carry on, to romanticize resilience. On the other hand, there is also a refusal to let this precarity consume or structure our lives, to kidnap our dreams, to disrupt our projects and goals.
It is with these conflicted thoughts, feelings and impulses that we have approached 5 illustrators/comic artists to make one drawing a week throughout the month of October. Drawing too is conflicted, it encompasses time, while retaining a proximity with current events and the quotidian. With its immediate slowness, its once removed relation with representation, its narrative capacity, drawings can hopefully help us delineate the shape of things, much like a blind person feeling out the shape of oneโs face by tracing its contours with their handsโฆ Perhaps then, by looking at these drawings, we may begin to feel our faces againโฆ
