Walid Raad: Scratching on Things I Could Disavow
TBA21, 2011
TBA21, 2011
Photo: Christian Schienerl
Publications
Scratching on Things I Could Disavow engages with the fast-paced development in cities such as Abu-Dhabi, Beirut, Cairo, Doha, Istanbul and Sharjah of a new infrastructure for the visual arts. In a context where cultural tourism has become an instrument of economic growth and power, Raad’s project considers the ideological, economic and political dimensions of this phenomenon to ask whether and how culture and tradition in the Arab world may have been affected, materially and immaterially, by the various wars that have been and are still being waged in this volatile region. Walid Raad’s works also lean on Jalal Toufic’s concept of “the withdrawal of tradition past a surpassing disaster."
The publication is published on occasion of the exhibtion / performance at TBA21 in Vienna, realized in collaboration with Wiener Festochen.