Walid Raad, Preface to the third edition_Édition française: Plate I, 2012. Courtesy the artist.
Talk: Walid Raad
Thursday, September 29 2016, 7pm
Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre
149 West Hastings St.
Over the last 25 years artist Walid Raad (b. 1967, Lebanon) has produced an extraordinary body of work that examines the instability of documents and archives in the public realm, the role of memory and narrative in conflict discourses, and the construction of histories of art in the Arab world. Raad works in photography, video, sculpture and performance, and with each engages forms of storytelling.
In his talk, which is part of his Audain Visual Artist in Residence at SFU, Raad will concentrate on two of his long-term art projects. The first is The Atlas Group (1989-2004) about the contemporary history of Lebanon, and the second is Scratching on things I could disavow (2007-present), that looks at the Arab art world alongside the region's conflicts. Both projects engage how forms of violence affect bodies, minds and culture.
Raad's solo exhibitions include the Louvre (Paris), The Museum of Modern Art (New York), Kunsthalle Zurich, The Whitechapel Art Gallery (London), Festival d'Automne (Paris), Kunsten Festival des Arts (Brussels), and The Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin). His works have been shown in Documenta 11 and 13 (Kassel), The Venice Biennale, Whitney Bienniale 2000 and 2002 (New York), Sao Paulo Bienale, Istanbul Biennal, Homeworks I and III (Beirut) and in numerous other museums, biennials and venues in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.
His books include Walkthrough, The Truth Will Be Known When The Last Witness Is Dead, My Neck Is Thinner Than A Hair, Let's Be Honest The Weather Helped, and Scratching on Things I Could Disavow. Raad is also the recipient of the ICP Infinity Award (2016), the Hasselblad Award (2011), a Guggenheim Fellowship (2009), the Alpert Award in Visual Arts (2007), the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize (2007), the Camera Austria Award (2005), a Rockefeller Fellowship (2003), among other grants, prizes and awards. He is a member of the Home Workspace Program in Beirut and The Gulf Labor Coalition. Raad lives and works in New York where is Professor of Art in The Cooper Union.
Co-presented by SFU Galleries and SFU's School for the Contemporary Arts, Walid Raad is the 2016 Audain Visual Artist in Residence. During his time in Vancouver Raad will pursue research toward a new project by meeting with local specialists with knowledge on a heterogeneous range of topics including human sweat, near-death experiences, meteorological measuring devices and Islamic art museums. In addition to his talk on Sep 29, Raad will do studio visits with graduate students and discuss his current research interests in a small-scale public forum on October 3 at 6pm. Space is limited. Pre registration is required by emailing AVAIR coordinator Judy Radul at avair@sfu.ca.
A solo exhibition of new work by Raad will be held at the Audain Gallery in 2017.
