In October 2019 when Al Kadiri hastily cut short his trip to China and returned back home to join the uprising, social dreaming and the possibility for thinking systemic change was still on the horizon. Come September 2021 and most, if not all, of this revolutionary fervour has waned and Lebanon has spiralled into a total collapse. Al Kadiri's series of drawings October 17, 2019. The Lebanese Revolution is therefore a closed historical document, not only chronicling the events of that specific moment, but also commemorating a time of hopeful collective civic revolt that — for now — will not return. As such the drawings can be seen as a diary of a revolution, and at the same time a lamentation of squandered potential. - excerpt from a text by Nat Muller / Independent curator and writer.
The exhibition in Gallery 12 presents the 11 drawings of this series in an attempt to bring back to life the rush, the power, and the drive the Lebanese people had before they fell wounded again.
Image:
Abed Al Kadiri, "4 August, 2021", (2021), Chinese ink on Chinese Paper, 75 x 175 cm.
