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Home Works V, 2010
A Forum on Cultural Practices

The Home Works Festival takes place since 2002 in Beirut, Lebanon. It is organized by Ashkal Alwan, The Lebanese Association for Plastic Arts, founded in 1994 by Christine Tohmé.

In December 2009, Ashkal Alwan announced the themes for the 5th edition of Home Works, planned from 22 April to 1 May 2010 in Beirut. The organizers will invite artists, art specialists and thinkers from different fields to present projects and to reflect on the following themes (short version):

In And Out Of Education... What Can We Teach Nowadays

How to develop an experiential approach to arts education, which not only offers a challenging and creative space within society but also responds to Beirut's urgent questions and uses its wider context as its main curriculum?

Where Is Beirut, Ramallah, Cairo... from the Saadiyat Island

The UAE's transformation into a major cultural investor has produced the Saadiyat Cultural District, along with its neighbors the Sharjah Biennial and Art Dubai. Challenged with this cultural project of startling proportions, we feel an urgency to ask questions, some of which may be: What relation does Saadiyat Island have to cities such as Beirut, Cairo and Ramallah? How does the Saadiyat Cultural District converse with and resonate through artistic practices in the region? What kind of economic effect could this project generate regionally and internationally?
(About the UAE's projects - see the links below)

Sound & Citizenry

The complex dynamic between citizenship and sound, departing from the sonic potential of people engaged in politics.

The Odd Years

An examination of the 1960s. ... Artists and thinkers are invited to produce and present projects that attempt to read the personal resonance of events, figures or phenomena from the "odd" years (for example 1965, 1967, 1969) in their respective practices

Militarism

Militarism ... occupies an eminent position in many regimes in the Middle East. The case of Syria, Turkey or Israel can illustrate how the military institution has a central and decisive involvement in politics. ... Ashkal Alwan intends to invite thinkers and artists to research and reflect on militarism and to present works that engage with this issue...

For the complete announcement, please see:
>> Website of Ashkal Alwan

(From an information by Ashkal Alwan)

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See also in Nafas and Universes in Universe:

Cultural District on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi
Facts, information, photos. Nafas Art Magazine, Nov. 2007

Sharjah Biennial
Extensive information and photo tours. Biennial's section of Universes in Universe.

Art Dubai and Sharjah Biennial 2009
Information and photos. Nafas, March 2009