To Become a Sea / عمول منيح وكب بالبحر
2021-2022
The Current III: Mediterraneans

Digital

Commissions

The Current

TBA21–Academy

A project by Ibrahim Nehme, Carlo Spiga and Derek MF Di Fabio, with the collaboration of Nour Sokhon, Silvia Maggi, Stellan Veloce and Zeyn Joukhadar. Produced by Cherimus Association, commissioned by TBA21–Academy.

In Lebanon, they say عمول منيح وكب بالبحر, which roughly translates as: “Do a good deed and throw (it) in the sea.” There are many ways to interpret this saying, but the gist of most interpretations revolves around the inherent vastness of the sea, which could be understood as a reflection of the wells of abundance and forgiveness that lay vast within us.

This popular saying was from where we set out to sail. The project thus became an attempt to decode the many ways in which this proverb could be read and record the conversations and revelations that came out of the process. The process itself was multifaceted and very generative. It involved several workshops with diverse groups in the Sulcis region, as well as a mobile activation in Beirut, where we invited several people from the city to respond to a number of questions via whatsapp voice notes. 

This project started as an invitation to learn from and become more like the sea: ever flowing, always changing, and perpetually harmonious. Along the way, the proverb itself became a sea on which we projected many interpretations and imaginaries. It also became the grounds that united people from Lebanon and Sardinia, who are geographically, historically, and culturally connected to the Mediterranean.

About the Artists

Ibrahim Nehme is a creator and curator living in Lebanon and working on new media. His work is a cross-pollination between journalism, activism and creative expression, and could be understood as a series of attempts to shift the collective consciousness. Through his work, he is interested in activating transnational, cross-border forms of thinking that could give birth to new forms of politics and economics.

Derek MF Di Fabio’s work includes workshops, scenographies, sculptures, audio-walks, and events and is composed of experiences that can be re-lived through shared-memory and can no longer be circumscribed by who / how / where. In 2021, Di Fabio opened a solo show at Almanac Projects, Turin, and participated in the exhibition Rosa in mano at Fondazione Pomodoro, Milan, curated by Eva Fabbris. They are currently writing a Master’s dissertation on prison-abolition as quantum-transfeminism practice at Dutch Art Institute. They co-funded the artist-run space Motel Lucie (2009-2012) and collaborated with Isa Griese as “2008daughters” (2012-2016), a project involved in sartorial production and participative performances. Since 2010, they have been working with Cherimus. They are currently based in Berlin.

Carlo Spiga is a visual artist, performer, musician. His works unfold between different fields and media, as small narratives resulting from observation and sharing. He often delves into the identity of places and communities, by reshaping symbols and sounds, by creating actions, performances, sculptures and sound compositions in public space, and by working on site-specific projects via shared processes leading up to a final outcome. Since 2010, he has embarked on a musical research path with Makika, a project that investigates sound expressions, such as throat singing, polyphony, circular rhythmic structures and dance, at the deepest roots of the musical experience. Starting from the traditional repertoire of Sardinia, Makika looks for a minimum common denominator between different musical contexts. Recently Makika joined the Complesso Spettro ensemble by composer Stellan Veloce. In 2022, he created a sound installation for the project L’Atlante di e meraviglie by Zeyn Joukhadar and Matteo Rubbi at FRAC Corse. Since 2010, Carlo is part of Cherimus. He lives and works in Sardinia.

The Current III: Mediterraneans

With the working title "Mediterraneans: ‘Thus waves come in pairs’ (after Etel Adnan),” the first stream of The Current III cycle is led by Barbara Casavecchia as a transdisciplinary and transregional exercise in sensing and learning with by supporting situated projects, collective pedagogies, and voices along the Mediterranean shores across art, culture, science, conservation, and activism.

OCEAN-ARCHIVE.ORG

Dive into the project here.

Read a conversation between Barbara Casavecchia and  Ibrahim Nehme, with Derek MF Di Fabio and Carlo Spiga (Cherimus Association) here.

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