Spectral Imprints Book Launch: An Evening on Histories and other Ghosts

On the occasion of the publication of Spectral Imprints, this evening will contemplate the possibilities and impossibilities of visually, and materially, representing history and memory at a time when the past and the present collide, specifically in a region – the larger Middle East – where the spectre of the past haunts the present day. At a time when much of the world finds itself on the cusp of history, pining for yesteryear or at loss about the future, tracing the dynamics of remembrance and forgetfulness in historical, political and emotional processes resonates well beyond the Middle East, and affects all of us. Throughout the evening we will discuss the curatorial, editorial, artistic, and design-related strategies that have been brought to the ghosts and histories of the Spectral Imprints project, and explore the very instance when narratives of the past become tangible and present, and break into the current moment, only to disappear again like phantoms, leaving an imprint of rec

Program:
7.00 pm Welcome by Witte de With Associate Curator Amira Gad
7.15 pm Introduction by curator and critic Nat Muller
7.45 pm Conversation between Nat Muller & artist and filmmaker Khalil Joreige
8.30pm Presentation by author Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès
9.00pm Drinks in the Consensus Bar

“Though situated within the realities and specificities of the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region, Spectral Imprints transcends geopolitical confines by drawing on the politics and poetics of that precise moment when the appearance and erasure of meaning collapse together and the imaginary leaves a faint trace in the sand.”

– Nat Muller, curator and editor of Spectral Imprints, excerpt from the introduction.
Spectral Imprints

Edited by Nat Muller

Featured artists: Taysir Batniji, Khalil Joreige & Joana Hadjithomas, Wael Shawky, Risham Syed, Raed Yassin
Contributions by Laura U Marks, Hanan Toukan, Fadi Tufayli
Designed by Huda Smitshuijzen Abifarès
Hardcover, 160 pages
ISBN 978-0-9560704-9-4
Published by Abraaj Capital Art Prize, 2012
On order from http://www.ideabooks.nl
More info: Laura Egerton [email protected]
http://www.abraajcapitalartprize.com/catalogues.php

Links:
Nat Muller – A tour of Spectral Imprints, ACAP 2012: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbJYQohxNaA

Highlights from ACAP 2012 Spectral Imprints: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ1zBgJD-DY

Abraaj Capital Art Prize 2012 – art works: http://www.abraajcapitalartprize.com/artworks.php

Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige on A Letter Can Always Reach its Destination: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1HhdLA_2gM&feature=relmfu

Raed Yassin on China: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LriBTYeJEvM&feature=relmfu

Risham Syed on The Seven Seas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMs7Xf_sBrs&feature=relmfu

Wael Shawky on A Glimpse of Clean History: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdP34MRyxDU&feature=relmfu

Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige: http://www.hadjithomasjoreige.com

Risham Syed: http://www.rishamsyed.com

Taysir Batniji: http://www.taysirbatniji.com