Lamia Joreige

Uncertain Times, a body of work that includes the research, writing, and production of works in multiple media, is an investigation of a turning point in the history of the Middle East (1913-1920): the fall of the Ottoman Empire and overrule by the French and British mandates, in Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine in particular. The Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Balfour Declaration, the First World War, and the famine of Mount Lebanon, which caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, led to a geographic, political, and social transformation of the region, the consequences of which are still momentous today.

Following her work on the history of the Lebanese Wars (1975-1990) and the post-war period in Beirut, Lamia would like to extend her reflection on historical processes to a more distant period of our history. Her research involves historical and sociological accounts, personal diaries, photographs, maps and periodicals of the time, official correspondance, and other documents from the Ottoman period presenting different points of view and personal stories about this transition. She wishes to express the tensions and anxieties, but also the expectations felt by the population of that time, how they saw their future and what they hoped for. Translated into artistic works, these stories and fragments of history might resonate with the current changes in the region: Indeed, recent upheavals, wars, and tragic events are still tearing it apart and redefining it today as they did then. The future remains uncertain.

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Sandra Terdjman is a curator and advisor in arts and philanthropy. She co-founded two non profit art organizations : Council and Kadist. She is a guest lecturer in different fields of expertise: art & social responsibility, collection & institutional building. In 2019, she received the Montblanc Arts Patronage Award.

Read more about Lamia.