Né en 1976 à Beirut (Lebanon)
Lives and works between Paris (France) et Beirut (Lebanon)
Suggested by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, Founder and President of the Sharjah Biennial
Ali Cherri produces films, video works and also installations and prints. His subject matter draws on the history of his country of origin, Lebanon, as well as the Middle East and North Africa region. More broadly, he is interested in the place of archaeological objects in the construction of national narratives, as illustrated in his film The Digger (2015). The Digger follows the daily task of the caretaker of a Neolithic Necropolis whose job is to preserve the ruins from falling into ruin. Above all, the film underlines the paradox of the empty tombs, where the idea of death is compounded by the absence of remains. In his lithograph series Paysages Tremblants (2014) (‘Trembling Landscapes’), Cherri looks at the history of earthquakes in cities like Beirut, Damascus, Tehran, Algiers and Erbil. These aerial views reveal the fault lines of those cities as signs of an uneasy present, concerned about the catastrophes of the past and seeking to avoid those of the future.
Lives and works between Paris (France) et Beirut (Lebanon)
Suggested by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, Founder and President of the Sharjah Biennial
Ali Cherri produces films, video works and also installations and prints. His subject matter draws on the history of his country of origin, Lebanon, as well as the Middle East and North Africa region. More broadly, he is interested in the place of archaeological objects in the construction of national narratives, as illustrated in his film The Digger (2015). The Digger follows the daily task of the caretaker of a Neolithic Necropolis whose job is to preserve the ruins from falling into ruin. Above all, the film underlines the paradox of the empty tombs, where the idea of death is compounded by the absence of remains. In his lithograph series Paysages Tremblants (2014) (‘Trembling Landscapes’), Cherri looks at the history of earthquakes in cities like Beirut, Damascus, Tehran, Algiers and Erbil. These aerial views reveal the fault lines of those cities as signs of an uneasy present, concerned about the catastrophes of the past and seeking to avoid those of the future.
