Pablo Lafuente on Catherine David's 'Contemporary Arab Representations' Project
In a 2007 essay for Afterall Journal, Pablo Lafuente analyzes Catherine David's multi-platform project 'Contemporary Arab Representations' (CAR), which began in 2002 with a focus on Beirut/Lebanon. The project included exhibitions at Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Witte de With, and BildMuseet, along with publications and seminars. CAR aimed to present contemporary Arab cultural production while avoiding Western-centric art discourse, using the term 'representation' instead of 'art' to sidestep hierarchies. Subsequent chapters focused on Cairo (2003) and Iraq (2006). Lafuente discusses the project's emphasis on self-representation, knowledge production, and the tension between art and information, particularly in the Iraq chapter where war conditions limited artistic work. The essay references Mahmoud Darwish, Étienne Balibar, and Jacques Rancière to frame the political and philosophical stakes.
Key facts
- Essay published in Afterall Journal 15 in May 2007.
- Written by Pablo Lafuente.
- Catherine David initiated 'Contemporary Arab Representations' in 2002.
- First exhibition 'Beirut/Lebanon' opened at Fundació Antoni Tàpies in 2002.
- Exhibition traveled to Witte de With, Rotterdam and BildMuseet, Umeå.
- Project included seminars, publications (Tamáss), and artist books.
- Second chapter 'CAR. Cairo' took place in 2003.
- Third chapter 'CAR. The Iraqi Equation' opened in 2006.
- Project deliberately avoided the term 'art' in its title.
- Mahmoud Darwish quote opens the essay: 'A people with no poetry is a defeated people.'
Entities
Artists
- Pablo Lafuente
- Catherine David
- Mahmoud Darwish
- Shirin Neshat
- Ghada Amer
- Tony Chakar
- Walid Raad
- Walid Sadek
- Jalal Toufic
- Paola Yacoub
- Michel Lasserre
- Elias Khoury
- Rabih Mroué
- Randa Shaath
- Anna Boghiguian
- Golo
- Samir
- Nedim Kufi
- Faisel Laibi
- Talal Refit
- Salam Pax
- Hana al-Bayaty
- Tariq Hashim
- Michel Khleifi
- Eyal Sivan
- Pedro Costa
- Chris Gilbert
- Étienne Balibar
- Jacques Rancière
- Pierre Bourdieu
- Michel Foucault
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Ernest Renan
- Benedict Anderson
- Frantz Fanon
- Maxime Rodinson
- Hisham Sharabi
- Susan Buck-Morss
- Flemming Rose
- Gema Martín Muñoz
- Francesco Bonami
Institutions
- Afterall
- Fundació Antoni Tàpies
- Witte de With
- BildMuseet
- Universidad Internacional de Andalucía (UNIA)
- Arteleku
- Akademie Schloss Solitude
- Centro José Guerrero
- Kunst-Werke Berlin
- Berkeley Art Museum
- Arab Image Foundation
- Jyllands-Posten
- Libération
Locations
- Barcelona
- Spain
- Rotterdam
- Netherlands
- Umeå
- Sweden
- Seville
- San Sebastián
- Granada
- Berlin
- Germany
- Beirut
- Lebanon
- Cairo
- Egypt
- Iraq
- Venice
- Italy
- Denmark
- United Kingdom
- Europe
- United States
- Middle East
- North Africa
Sources
- Afterall —