The first assumption is that film and video is the strongest creative art form in the region. Video has gained prominence as an artistic medium in Lebanon, due in part to the strong history of Lebanese film. Moreover, artists from the region being recognised internationally for their use of film and video in new ways which traverse artistic disciplines. Artists inventively use video across different art forms from visual arts, new media to performing arts.
Connected to the first, the second assumption is that the theme storytelling ties in with the increasing use of video in Lebanon. Stage 2 could further explore the theme storytelling in the form of video as well as making it more visible as the most powerful artistic strategy to show peripheral perspectives that contest the dominant narratives perpetuated by mainstream media.
The third assumption is the control of artistic intervention in public space. The recent history of civil war in Beirut changed public space from a site of free expression to a fragmented site of conflicting social and political groupings. Control and restrictions on individuated artistic expression continue to restrict what gets seen in theatres and on streets in Beirut today.
On the basis of these views AlmostReal invited 3 potential partners to the Zagreb getogether in January 2006. The Beirut-based practitioners attending the getogether were Ashkal Alwan director and curator ChristineThomé, performance artist Rabih Mroué and architect Rana Haddad. The aim to further discuss the possible parameters of the second stage of the AR project and it's exploration of the theme storytelling through the use of in Beirut.