Ramzi Mallat's Fault Lines at P21 Gallery Explores SWANA Fractures

Lebanese artist Ramzi Mallat's exhibition Fault Lines at P21 Gallery in London's King's Cross examines fragmented interconnectedness within Southwest Asian and North African societies. Curated by Kirsty Flockhart, the show runs until 2 December 2023. Works include Billow and Behold (2023), warped glass evil eyes set in resin; Intimacy in Anonymity (2018), a grid of Arabic coffee cups coated in dried grounds collected from pedestrians across Lebanon; Shock & Awe (2022), a flickering neon sign that shifts between 'Magic of the East' and 'Magic of Evil'; Not Your Martyr (2023), a glass case of colorful glass ma'amoul commemorating victims of the 2020 Beirut explosion; and Sobhiye (2022), a film tracking five people across Lebanon amid economic crises and political corruption. The exhibition blends cultural heritage with political commentary, addressing Orientalism, diaspora, and structural issues. Mallat's works are deeply intimate, forcing viewers into three-dimensional interaction.