On not-knowing: inquiries of temporality and place in the context of Lebanon

Discussion with Joanne Nucho, Suzy Halajian, and Sasha Ussef

The session will explore the idea of not-knowing found within the highly contested Lebanese context. Taking Lebanon as a site to unpack ideas of not-knowing at the intersection of various temporalities — ever shifting and explosive, both virtual and “real” — the session will explore imagined states, the production of memories, as well as the gaps in historical narratives through an emphasis on contemporary artistic and cultural practices as well as other interdisciplinary ethnographic modes of inquiry. Artistic works under discussion include those by Rabih Mroué, Mounira Al Solh, Ilaria Lupo, and Marwa Arsanios. This event will be an open discussion format.

Joanne Randa Nucho is a filmmaker and anthropologist who lived and worked in Beirut from 2010-11.

Suzy Halajian is a curator based in Los Angeles. She lived and worked in Beirut in 2013 and summer of 2011.

Sasha Ussef is a curatorial and urban planning graduate student at USC. She spent time in Beirut in the summer of 2013.

Image: Ilaria Lupo, Readily Reversible, 2012. Courtesy of the artist.