Eight emerging artists and practitioners working in and around the field of performing arts have been selected as participants for the ArtEvolution programme. Despite coming from different fields and professional backgrounds, their social engagement and activism unites them in their artistic practice. Here you can get an overview of the eight participants:
Nivine Kallas work is a constant research on how emotional memories are translated through the body. She has been investigating the relationship between trauma and pain in her urge to move as a psychological defense mechanism. Now she is reflecting on events where traditional dance rituals are proposed to use the body to heal.
Nicolas Fattouh is a visual artist and animation director based in Monsef, Lebanon. Inspired by his artistic family, he started drawing at the age of four and later participated in many exhibitions and auctions around the world, including the Bonhams auction in London, UK 2016. In 2018, his debut film “How my grandmother became a chair” won The Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung as German/Lebanese co-production. Today the award-winning short-film is selected in more than 50 international film festivals. In 2019, Nicolas had his first solo exhibition “Les Vieux” at Fattouh Art Gallery.
Christian Sleiman is a Lebanese artist. His interest lies in exploring the vegetative souls through minor rituals, fabulations and recipes. Informed by his training in architecture and fine arts, Christian investigates the politics of plant-growth in highly fabricated setups in Beirut and the notion of communal instincts embedded in foraging rituals. His recent drawings were published in Mizna Comix Issue 2021, and Samandal issue 2021. In 2019-20, he participated in the Home Workspace fellowship programme of Ashkal Alwan.
Nohad ElHajj is a multi-disciplinary Lebanese researcher, consultant and artist. She works at the intersection of art, politics and society using printmaking, photography and walking as her main mediums. She holds an advanced MSc degree in Artistic Research in Social and Political Context from Sint Lucas Antwerpen School of Arts where she researched art practices as influential forms of protest.
Patricia Nammour graduated in 2000 with a higher studies degree in Acting and Stage Direction and played in as well as directed several plays and TV series throughout her career as an actress and director. In 2009, she co-founded "L’atelier du Je", an association of self-discovery through theatre. Passionate about theatre, she strongly believes in it being a mirror of the society, through which people can directly relate to their problems and help them sensitise with their challenges.
Hashem Hashem is a poet, writer, editor and performer based in Beirut, Lebanon. He holds an MA in gender and sexuality studies from SOAS, University of London. In 2017, he co-founded Qorras collective for the production of feminist and queer knowledge. He has participated in various international art festivals including in Mexico City, Kathmandu and Belfast. In 2018, he collaborated with Baladi dancer Alexandre Paulikevitch in "The Last Distance" performance which they presented in Lebanon and abroad. He is currently working on his first Arabic poetry collection titled "Class Hatred".
Rima Kaddissi is a Lebanese artist whose work ranges from performance to installation, video and sound art. In her practice, she undergoes a series of Trans-Performer Experiments, a study on the Altered Human/Performer and its proposed perfectness. In parallel, she founded PACE, a Project on Artistic Collaboration and Experimentation, bridging playful exploration and creative labour through collective thinking and practice across disciplines with an emphasis on art, technology and performative practices. She also teaches Performing Arts at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux arts in Beirut, Lebanon.
Ahlam Dirani is a performer, clown doctor, facilitator, and trainer. Having studied acting and directing at the Lebanese University (LU) Faculty of Fine arts in 2009, she is interested in developing dramatic tools inspired by social theatre and drama therapy to heal and bring about (or effect) personal change. In 2015, she finished her executive Master's "Psychosocial Support and Dialogue" at the LU and IOM. In 2017, she started researching about physical movement, relating to the political body. Through combining Butoh, sensorial movement, clowning, and storytelling, she seeks a quality of presence and aliveness in the relationship with a sociopolitical context.
