Bourj Hammoud - Psychogeographic exploration Beirut #3

Das Projekt „Bourj Hammoud – Psychogeographic exploration Beirut #3* “ ist nach der Veranstaltungsreihe  "Petržalka"(Bratislava. 2015) und "Başakşehir"(Istanbul. 2016/2017), die durch Youssef Tabti entworfen und in verschiedenen Ländern umgesetzt wurde, das dritte Projekt des Künstlers.

Der Beiruter Vorort "Bourj Hammoud" wird auch als das Herz der Armenier im Libanon genannt. Die Einwohner des Stadtteils sind überwiegend Armenier und Nachkommen von Überlebenden der Todesmärsche (1915/1916) in Anatolien infolge des Völkermordes an den Armeniern.

Der Stadtteil wurde ab den 1920er Jahren bebaut und von armenischen Flüchtlingen besiedelt. Die Armenier im Libanon sind libanesische Bürger oder Zugezogene armenischer Herkunft. Die armenische Gemeinde Libanons ist im Wesentlichen in der Zeit nach dem Großen Völkermord entstanden, als armenische Flüchtlinge im Libanon Zuflucht fanden. (source Wikipedia) eng.version  

 

Zoukak Sidewalks – The Festival 2018 Opening reception

BOURJ HAMMOUD - Psychogeographic Explorations Beirut #3

Installation and reception 

By Youssef Tabti and Rani el Rajji 

1 November at 7:00pm

Zoukak Studio. Beirut, Lebanon

A collaboration between Youssef Tabti, French artist, based in Germany and Rani Al Rajji, Lebanese architect, based in Beirut. Initiated by Goethe-Institut Libanon.

Project Description:

“Psychogeographic exploration" is a practice that rediscovers the physical city through the moods and atmospheres that act upon the individual. Psychogeography is the experimental exploration of the environment and its impacts. It investigates the influence the geographic environment has on the perception and the behavior of the individual.

Perhaps the most prominent characteristic of psychogeography is the activity of WALKING. The act of walking could be become a subversive and political act.

About 10 participants from Beirut with different social backgrounds explored the district of Bourj Hammoud through individual and collective walking tours through the district. During these tours, participants collected items, drew maps and wrote down thoughts and observations.

The exhibition at Zoukak Studio is the final presentation of the project, showcasing a mapping of the region through the participants’ routes on a map, as well as photographs, objects and texts of the participants.

Kunsthalle Mulhouse
Your North is My South | Mein Norden ist dein Süden | Mon Nord est Ton Sud

In einem gemeinsamen Ausstellungsprojekt spüren La Kunsthalle Mulhouse – Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst – und das Freiburger Museum für Neue Kunst der Frage nach, wie Räume die menschliche Wahrnehmung beeinflussen. Das Projekt ist aus einer lokalen Beobachtung entstanden: Mulhouse und Freiburg im Breisgau sind zwei geographisch nahe Städte, und doch definieren sie sich vielmehr über ihre Unterschiede als über ihre Ähnlichkeiten.
Für die Ausstellung habe ich mich mit dem Format von Zeitungsartikeln der "L'Alsace" und"Badische Zeitung" beschäftig. Ich freue mich beide Zeitungshäuser für das Projekt gewonnen zu haben. Nach Zugang auf die Zeitungsarchiv könnte ich einige wichtige und relevante Artikel für die Region Alsace und Baden-Württemberg finden, um sie in einer Extraausgabe zusammen gestellt aus beiden Zeitungen für die Ausstellung zu veröffentlich.

In a joint exhibition project, La Kunsthalle Mulhouse – Contemporary art center and the Museum für Neue Kunst in Freiburg investigate how spaces influence our perception. The project stemmed from local observation. Mulhouse and in Freiburg im Breisgau are two cities which are geographically close, and yet their differences are more striking than their similarities. 
with Bertille Bak, Chto Delat, Gil & Moti, Jan Kopp, Georgia Kotretsos, Katrin Ströbel, Youssef Tabti, Clarissa Tossin, Maarten Vanden Eynde

Mit der freundlichen Unterstützung des / the exhibition is supported by Fondation Entente Franco-Allemande, fonds PERSPEKTIVE pour l’art contemporain ; l’architecture (une initiative du Bureau des arts plastiques de l’Institut français, soutenu par le Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication) et du Goethe-Institut Strasbourg.

im Interview mit der Badische Zeitung

Exhibition Views.
museumfurneuekunst Artist Youssef Tabti created a special edition of the two daily newspapers @badische_zeitung and @lalsacefr for our joint exhibition project YOUR NORTH IS MY SOUTH / MON NORD EST TON SUD with @la_kunsthalle_mulhouse
For "Mon Nord est Ton Sud", Youssef Tabti shows a special edition of regional newspaper-an artwok specially commissioned for the exhibition. In the archives of "L'Alsace and the Badische Zeitung" he founded topics and information covered by the two newspapers, although their tones and even their slants may be different. The collect articles are shown in a special bilingual edition which, for the first time, binds the two newspaper together. 

Artist-in-Residence
Château de Millemont

 Exibition with Gilles Aubry and Youssef Tabti at Künstlerhaus-Hamburg FRISE


Work presented: Rhetoric - Hill of the Pnyx
Photographs of wall scribblings in a former Turkish prison (Sinop Fortress Prison*) corresponding to a plans the Hill of Pnyx in Athens. In the background: video-Interview with Christos Yannaras.
In his video work, which is part of his, project “Rhetoric - Hill of the Pnyx ”, renowned Greek philosopher and Theologian Christos Yannaras (born in Athens in 1935. Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the Panteion University) gives his point of view from ancient Greek history. The text was deliberately spoken in Greek language, the language closest to the original language, ancient Greek. The language and location of this project are strongly symbolic and so go beyond their place and time. They are intended to remind us of how people all over the world have for centuries been fighting for the freedom of expression.  

*The Sinop Fortress Prison was featured in various stories and poems by notable Turkish writers, who served their sentence. Refik Halit Karay, Ahmet Bedevi Kuran, Refii Cevat Ulunay, Sabahattin Ali, Kerim Korcan, Nazım Hikmet and Zeyyat Selimoğlu are some of them to name.

Gilles Aubry work:
“and who ears the desert”

 Twelve LP records are presented in the exhibition space, available for playback on three turntables.

Photographs on transparent paper

in the background video with Christos Yannaras

20mn. 

안녕하세요


Ina Arzensek | Anik Lazar | Simon Starke | Youssef Tabti


| The Bank of Korea |
#112 Daecheong-ro, Jung-gu, Busan, South Korea

Ausstellungsdauer: 16. November – 14. Dezember 2017

Work presented: "Self-immolation" Refers to setting oneself on fire, often as a form of protest or for the purposes of martyrdom or suicide. It has centuries-long traditions in some cultures, while in modern times it has become a type of radical political protest. "The suicidal attack is an extraordinary weapon of war whereas self-immolation is an extreme form of protest"*. As an act of protest, it is intended to be public in at least one of two senses: performed in a public place in view of other people, or accompanied by a written letter addressed to political figures or to the general public. I started to develop this project in 2011 during a protest in North Africa. It is very important to understand that I do not make the appology of this act.
On the contrary, I would like to call our conscience for this theme which is a taboo in our society.

18 pictures on frames (Y. Tabti 2011) (29x31cm) 

Selbstverbrennung als Protest
"Selbstverbrennungen sind häufig öffentlich, dramatisch und eine Reaktion auf soziale und politische Konflikte. Daher werden sie für die Medien zu einem berichtenswerten Ereignis. Sie können als eine Form des altruistischen Suizids für einen kollektiven Zweck betrachtet werden. Im Gegensatz zu Selbstmordattentaten zielen sie im Normalfall nicht darauf ab, eine andere Person zu verletzen oder zu töten. Selbstanzündungen bekommen Aufmerksamkeit und werden aufgrund des besonders schmerzhaften Feuertods häufig als Martyrium betrachtet. Das Anliegen einer Selbstverbrennung wird häufig in einer Abschiedsnachricht ausgedrückt, die meist schriftlich verfasst wird. Durch ihre politischen Forderungen und Appelle sowie die Sichtweise auf den eigenen Tod unterscheiden sich diese Nachrichten stark von den Abschiedsbriefen nicht-politischer Suizide. Oft verfolgen sie eine komplexe politische Strategie, wie etwa in den Briefen von Jan Palach oder Artin Penik ersichtlich wird."
(source wikipedia & M. Biggs,* "Dying Without Killing (2005))

 "RHETORIC - HILL OF THE PNIX"

3. Berliner Herbstsalon

Maxim Gorki Theater-Palais am Festungsgraben

Berlin. Germany  11.11.17 - 26.11.17

Organised by Shermin Langhoff with Aljoscha Begrich, Çağla İlk, Erden Kosova, Tunçay Kulaoğlu, Elena Sinanina.

Der 3. Berliner Herbstsalon wird vom 11. bis 26. November eine öffentliche Probe für das Aufbegehren gegen Zuschreibungen, Verallgemeinerungen und Vereinfachungen sein. DESINTEGRIERT EUCH! ist die Überschrift über einem Parcours, der rund 100 bildende und darstellende Künstler*innen zu einer Probe in Widerständigkeit gegen vermeintliche Übersichtlichkeit zusammenbringt.
 

Works Presented

RHETORIC-Hill of the PNIX

Videoinstallation 2017 (with vinyl adhesive from the map of the Pnix and metal sculptures inspired by desk for the speaker. originally there are also a stone with the word "Bema" engraved in it-the Bema was used as an orator's platform in the ancien world)

Roter Salon im Palais am Festungsgraben. Berlin

RHETORIC – Hill of the PNIX marks the end of Youssef Tabti’s Istanbul trilogy. The work revolves around the theme of freedom of speech and democracy. Only the first two parts, however, could be completed in Istanbul. After the coup attempt in 2016, Tabti had to relocate the project to a neighbouring country – Greece. In Athens met with Christos Yannaras, a theologian and philosopher whose theses have caused controversy far beyond Greece. In the centre of the Pnix, the place of popular assemblies in ancient Athens, Yannaras reminds us of the rhetoric art of democracy and thus sensitizes us for the current threat to freedom of expression.

vinyl adhesive from the map of the PNYX.

Supported by Kulturakademie Tarabya (Auswärtiges Amt Berlin) and Goethe Institut Istanbul.

"Başakşehir" (district of Istanbul)

 Preview: part #3 of the project:

Psychogeographic exploration: ISTANBUL #2

Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Istanbul. Turkey
15.05 - 30.05.17Supported by Kulturakademie Tarabya

 

please see below for details about the concept  

Press   auf Deutsch

In English

Chorégraphie Scénique pendant l'exposition à l'université Mimar Sinan

 

RHETORIC - HILL OF THE PNIX
In Dialogue with Christos Yannaras. Philosopher and Theologian. Born in Athens in 1935. Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the Panteion University.
Director/editor : Eftychia Iossifidou
Sound engineer: Vasileios Alexandris
Technical assistant: Konstantinos Nissidis
Supported by Goethe Institut Istanbul & Kulturakademie Tarabya. Auswärtiges amt Deutschland

 

















Video Stills on the Hill of the PNYX (Athens) with Christos Yannaras
Agora Drawing: John Travlos 1935 ASCSA

The birth of Rhetoric (Art of speaking) took place in Athens on the hill "PNYX" 500 years before Christ.
CONCEPT: The art of speaking (rhetoric, which has always laid claim to being both an art and a science) has a long tradition. Some speeches have made history, ranging from Socrates’ apologia (399 BC) in Athens to Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech (28 August 1963) in Washington D.C. and recently Barack Obama’s State of the Nation address.
All this had its origin on the small hill in Athens called “Pnyx”. This is the place where the Rhetoric was born 500 years before Christ.
Concept artist Youssef Tabti, currently artist in residence in Tarabya Cultural Academy, uses this site, where in ancient times citizen assemblies took place regularly, as a backdrop. In his video work, which is part of his, project “RHETORIC-HILL OF THE PNYX”, renowned Greek philosopher and Theologian Christos Yannaras (born in Athens in 1935. Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the Panteion University) gives his point of view from ancient Greek history (see film stills attached). The text was deliberately spoken in Greek language, the language closest to the original language, ancient Greek. The language and location of this project are strongly symbolic and so go beyond their place and time. They are intended to remind us of how people all over the world have for centuries been fighting for the freedom of expression.

On the long term, Youssef Tabti’s aim will be to present the recordings in the form of videos as part of an exhibition. In Istanbul he would like to present the project in a screening. (In addition, he would build some objects of stage scenery framing and adding to the videos (like, for example, a lectern, an Indoor floor vinyl adhesive from the map of the PNYX, a stone with the word “bema” engraved in it – the bema was used as an orator’s platform in the ancient world.

The video is part of an artistic project in Istanbul.

SAVE THE DATE – SINOPALE 6 – Sinop am Schwarzen Meer – verschiedene Orte in der Stadt –
Projektbeginn: 1. August 2017 – Vernissage der Ausstellung: 19. August 2017 – Finissage: 17. September 2017

 (click on a picture to enlarge).


This project is a game that I developed in June 2016 for the Art Biennial Sinopale 6 in Sinop,Turkey. The aim of the game is to play with several people in several places of the city during the Biennial.
This is a strategy game with own handcrafted pieces inspired by the research of the French essayist Guy Debord (1931-1994) in 1965, but not published for many years. Debord described himself as a filmmaker, but he is known as the founder and one of the most important members of the Situationist International, a small band of avant-garde artists and revolutionaries.

see pictures from the performance
https://www.instagram.com/sinopale/
  The game uses a mapboard containing 500 squares (25 x 20) divided in two by a border line. Each territory has 2 arsenal squares, 3 fortress squares, and 9 mountain squares (blocking movement, shooting and communication lines). Setup of units (infantry, cavalry, artillery, horse artillery) is free and secret. At his turn, each player may move up to 5 units and/or attack. Aim of the game is to completely destroy the enemy or conquer his 2 arsenals. No dice: combats are resolved taking into account the attack/defense ratios of the opponents (unit retreats from -1, and is destroyed from -2) Communication lines are critical.

 


Handmade Game pieces
77cm. x 95cm.
36 wood game pieces 

As the first of our events today, Youssef Tabti played with Sinopeans his "GAME" project that he developed for Sinop within Sinopale 6, 6th International Sinop Biennial at Hal, Sinop Meeting Point.

 "Başakşehir" (district of Istanbul)

 Preview: part #2 of the project:

Psychogeographic exploration: ISTANBUL #2

Concept of the project"Psychogeographic exploration" is a practice that rediscovers the physical city through the moods and atmospheres that act upon the individual. Perhaps the most prominent characteristic of psychogeography is the activity of WALKING. The act of walking could be become a subversive and political act. The exploration takes place alone or with others participants in an emblematic district of the city. For this exhibition I will use a spatial installation, including: sculpture, photography, geographic map with the route and an original soundscape. Exhibition planned the 5. of May at the Art Space REM, Istanbul
sketch: Study of the Maps

Ausstellung
06.05. - 29.05.2016
In Zusammenarbeit mit der Mimar Sinan Universität für Schöne Künste, Fakultät für Architektur, Facbereich Stadt- und Regionalplanung.

Für seine Ausstellung in Istanbul entwarf Youssef Tabti das Projekt „Basaksehir“, das ist der Name eines Istanbuler Viertels. Es wurde in Zusammenarbeit mit der Studenten der Abteilung für Stadt- und Regionalplanung der Universität Mimar Sinan der Schönen Künste realisiert. Das Projekt besteht aus einer räumlichen Installation, die eine Soundscape, visuelle Mappings sowie fotografische Bilder umfasst, welche die Umgebung der von den Studenten realisierten sogenannten „psychogeografischen“ Strecken dokumentieren.Das Ausstellungsprojekt „Başakşehir – Psychogeographic exploration* “ ist nach der Veranstaltungsreihe  Petržalka, die durch Youssef Tabti entworfen und in verschiedenen Ländern umgesetzt wurde, das zweite Projekt des Künstlers. Es wurde durch die „Théorie de la Dérive“ der Bewegung „Situationistische Internationale (S.I.)“ inspiriert. Die Installationen, welche durch den Künstler entworfen wurden, beschränken sich nicht auf die Beschreibung einer simplen urbanen Entdeckungsreise, sondern sie haben es sich zum Ziel gesetzt, mittels des Einsatzes mehrerer verschiedener Medien, wie etwa Film, Fotografie, Ton oder auch der Kartographie zufällige Koinzidenzen zu provozieren und zu erschaffen – und dadurch eine Art „Synchronizität“ für den Betrachter herzustellen.

*Die Psychogeographie untersucht, welchen Einfluss die geographische Umgebung auf die Wahrnehmung, das psychische Erleben und das Verhalten hat. Die Psychogeographische Forschung findet dabei an der Schnittstelle der Fachgebiete Kunst, Architektur, Geographie und Psychologie statt. Der Begriff wurde vor allem von der Künstlergruppe „Die Situationistische Internationale (S.I.)“ 1957-1972 geprägt.

Exhibition views at REM Artspace : Installation with visual Mappings, Soundscape, Video, Photographs and Iron Sculptures.

 (click on a picture to enlarge).                                                                                                               

Auszug aus dem Katalog

Interview for the newspaper Istanbul Art News. Mai 2016
 (click on a picture to enlarge).  

"Petržalka"(district of Bratislava)

Part #1 of the project:

Psychogeographic exploration: BRATISLAVA # 1*

Exhibition space: Kunsthalle LAB
Group Show  PSYHOGEOGRAPHIC JUNCTION

Curator: Belinda G. Gardner

Artists: Hinrich Gross, Jan Köchermann, Almut Linde, Youssef Tabti

Short description of the project presented 

 

 The French conceptual artist of Algerian descent, Youssef Tabti, was born in Paris in 1968, where he also studied art and art history. He has been living and working in Hamburg since 1994, and has participated internationally in exhibitions in Murcia, Basel, Istanbul, Marseilles, and other cities. Tabti works in a wide range of media, extending from sound and video installations to photography and spatial installations. He employs methods of mapping, documenting, and archiving as research tools, critically analyzing and reflecting socio-political issues in post-colonial environments, urban settings, and shifting societies. For his presentation at the Kunsthalle LAB in Bratislava, he conceived the collective Project Petrzalka. Realized in collaboration with local citizens, it is comprised of a soundscape, visual mappings, and photographic images documenting the participants’ “psychogeographic” routes through the city’s largest and most diverse borough, including the artist’s own observations in the area. The spontaneous, intuitive wanderings through various parts of Petržalka, driven solely by the participants’ subjective feelings, whims, and inclinations, which served as the basis for Tabti’s installation, bring together inside and outside perceptions of the given topography in a multi-voiced scenario, revealing unexpected aspects of the familiar. 

 (click on a picture to enlarge).

Exhibition views at Kunsthalle Bratislava : Installation with visual Mappings, Soundscape and Photographs.

*Petržalka (deutsch Engerau ) ist ein Stadtteil von Bratislava. Die westliche Grenze des Stadtteils ist identisch mit der Staatsgrenze zu Österreich. Es ist das Gebiet mit der höchsten Bevölkerungsdichte in der Slowakei.
Infolge eines ehrgeizigen Bauvorhabens des sozialistischen Staates wurde Petržalka etwa 1973–1985 zu einer sozialistischen Planstadt ausgebaut, in der Plattenbauten aus Beton, umgeben von Grün, dominieren. Der alte Ort verschwand durch die Bauvorhaben fast komplett, dafür entstanden Plattenbauten, Krankenhäuser, Schulen und Einkaufszentren für die Stadt in der Stadt. Räumlich dominiert heute eine Stadtautobahnverbindung (D 1).