Ziad Antar Explained

Ziad Antar (born 1978 in Saida, Lebanon) is a Lebanese filmmaker and photographer. He studied Agricultural Engineering at the American University of Beirut before turning to video and arts with a residency at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and a post-diploma of the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris,^[1]

Life and work

Ziad Antar’s short films evoke a world in conflict through a playful tone.^[2] In the aftermath of the 2006 Lebanon War, Ziad Antar produced a short film entitled La Marche Turque. The image shows the hands of a pianist playing Mozart’s partition, while the sound is hammered, reminding the one of bombings.^[3] In 2002, Antar had directed a documentary film devoted to his mentor, the photographer Jean-Luc Moulène.^[4]

In 2000, he acquired a 1948 Kodak Reflex and 10 rolls of black-and-white film that had expired in 1976. He began using this outdated material, producing a blurred and almost abstract effect on his photographs.^[5] One of the photographs depict Walid Jumblatt and supposedly evokes the danger the Lebanese Druze leader faces after having criticized Hezbollah and the Syrian government.^[6]

Filmography

• Jean-Luc Moulène (2002)
• Tokyo Tonight (2003)
• WA (2004)
• La Marche Turque (2006)
• Safe Sound (2006)
• Mdardara (2007)
• La Corde (2007)
• Le Radar (2007)
• Etudes Mains (2008)
• La Mouche (2008)
• Banana (2008)
• Night of Love (2009)
• La Souris (2009)
• Safe Sound (2009)

Publications

• Beirut Bereft – The Architecture of the Forsaken and Map of the Derelict (Rasha Salti & Ziad Antar), Sharjah Art Foundation, 2009
• Portrait of a territory, Actes Sud/Sharjah Art Foundation, 2012
• Expired, Beaux Arts de Paris Editions and Musée Nicéphore Niepce publication, 2014
• After Images, Contributions by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Yahya Amqassim, Manal Khader, Yasmina Jraissa, Kaph 2016

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• Dark Matter, La Crypte, Beirut in Collaboration with Beirut Art Residency 2017^[7]
• Ziad Antar: Safe Sounds II in Collaboration with Beirut Art Residency 2016^[8]
• After Images, Beirut Exhibition Center 2016^[9]
• Ziad Antar: Expired, Selma Feriani Gallery, London, 2011^[10]
• Portrait of a Territory, Arts Area, Sharjah, 2012^[11]

Group exhibitions

• Home Works IV, Galerie Sfeir Semler, Beirut, 2008^[12]
• 2008 TaipeiBiennial, Taipei, 2008^[13]
• Lebanon Now, Darat al Funun, Amman, 2008^[14]
• Provisions for the Future: Past of the Coming Days, Sharjah Biennial 09, Sharjah, 2009^[15]
• America, Beirut Art Center, Beirut, 2009^[16]
• 21 Shortlisted Artists of the Future Generation Art Prize Group Exhibition, Pinchkuk Art Centre, Kiev, 2010^[17]
• The Future of a Promise, 54th Venice Biennale, 2011^[18]
• The Mediterranean Approach, Palazzo Zenobio, Venice, 2011^[19]
• Art is the answer! Contemporary Lebanese artists and designers, Villa Empain, Brussels, 2012^[20]
• Across Boundaries. Focus on Lebanese Photography, curated by Tarek Nahas, Beirut Art Fair 2018^[21]

External links

• Ziad Antar at Centre Pompidou, Paris
• Ziad Antar at Video Data Bank

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ziad Antar . Transmediale . 23 March 2012.
2. Web site: Ziad Antar . Nadour Collection . 23 March 2012.
3. Web site: G:Class: Ziad Antar . 2009 . New Museum of Contemporary Art . 23 March 2012.
4. Web site: Portrait of a Territory . March 2012 . L'Agenda . 23 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120501130030/http://www.lagendagolfe.com/viewcalendar.asp?page_id=469 . 1 May 2012.
5. Web site: Ziad Antar . Coline . Milliard . 14 April 2011 . ArtInfo . 23 March 2012.
6. News: Photographer Ziad Antar's best shot . Andrew . Pulver . 9 March 2011 . The Guardian . 23 March 2012.
7. Web site: Ziad Antar présente ‘Dark Matter’. Des photos du cœur de la photographie . 2017 . L'Agenda Culturel . 11 November 2017.
8. Web site: Safe Sounds II . beirutartresidency.com.
9. Web site: After Images by Ziad Antar . 2016 . Beirut Exhibition Center . 31 January 2016.
10. Web site: ZIAD ANTAR: EXPIRED . 2011 . Selma Feriani Gallery . 23 March 2012.
11. Web site: Portrait of a Territory . 2012 . Sharjah Art Foundation . 23 March 2012.
12. Web site: HOMEWORKS IV . 2008 . Sfeir Semler . 23 March 2012.
13. Web site: List of Participating Artists . 2008 . 2008 Taipei Biennial . 23 March 2012.
14. Web site: Art Now in Lebanon. Curated by Andree Sfeir Semler . Darat Al Funun . 23 March 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120325062206/http://www.daratalfunun.org/main/activit/curentl/art_lebanon/a.htm . 25 March 2012.
15. Web site: Participating Artists . Sharjah Art Foundation . 23 March 2012.
16. Web site: America . Beirut Art Center . 23 March 2012.
17. Web site: 21 Shortlisted Artists of the Future Generation Art Prize Group Exhibition . 30 October 2010 . The Victor Pinchuk Foundation . 23 March 2012.
18. Web site: Artists . 2011 . The Future of a Promise . 23 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120405133645/http://www.thefutureofapromise.com/index.php/artists . 2012-04-05 . dead .
19. Web site: The Mediterranean Approach . 2011 . artfortheworld.net . 23 March 2012.
20. Web site: Latest News . Villa Empain - Boghossian Foundation, Brussels . 29 March 2012.
21. Web site: Across Boundaries. Focus on Lebanese Photography . 2018 . Rania Matar website . 30 November 2018.