8 biennale /si:n/: Sunday, 20 October

Hosted by 37 Festival Les Instants Vidéo, /si:n/ opened on
Sunday, 20 October, 2pm to 9.30pm, in Friche la Belle de Mai, salle Seita, Marseille.

The biennale has been imagined by
A.M. Qattan Foundation in Ramallah and Les Instants Vidéo in Marseille.

2:pm International program (41′)

3:15pm Palestinian program (46′)

4:30pm International program (46′)

5:45pm Panel discussion: in search of image(s)

“But I also know, when I think of those who denigrate political poetry, that there are worse things than political poetry: excessive contempt for politics, deafness to the questions posed by reality and history, and a refusal to participate implicitly in the enterprise of hope.” Mahmoud Darwich

A round table to explore the question of the artistic gesture. ‘What exactly do you do when you make films (art…)? What does it mean to have an idea? Gilles Deleuze.

Moderation: Lyana Saleh 
A Franco-Palestinian journalist and film-maker, she hosts the cultural programme Thaqafa on France 24 for over ten years, where she gives a voice to artists, writers and film-makers from the Arab world, highlighting current cultural issues in the region. She has also produced and directed several documentaries, including A comedian in a Syrian tragedy and Our memory belongs to us by Syrian director Rami Farah. Her film La Rebelle de Raqqa, co-directed with Claire Billet, won a prize at FIGRA in 2015.

Mahmoud Al-Haj Born in Gaza in 1990, Mahmoud Alhaj holds a BA in journalism and has worked as an art teacher at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society since 2017. He has produced six projects using photography, digital art, and videos exhibited widely in Palestine, Europe, and the United States. In 2022, his short experimental film “The Right to See” was screened at the 35th Festival Les Instants Video in Marseille. In 2021, the film was screened at the Cairo Video Festival alongside a duo exhibition with Rob Voerman at Plaatsmaken studio in the Netherlands. His first solo show titled 402 Of Gray was held in Gaza, while his second solo show Violence 24/7 was held at Uxval Gochez Gallery in Barcelona in 2024. And recently Control anatomy at Zawyeh gallery in Ramallah. He has participated in many collective exhibitions such as Fenced Off by ICRC in 2022, “ART NOW” at Gallery One in 2021, Art in Isolation at the Middle East Institute in Washington in 2020, Contemplative Contrasts by A.M. Qattan Foundation, and Orient 2.0 at Pulchri Studio in the Netherlands in 2017. He was an artist in residence at the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome and the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2021. He recently completed his residency at Cité International des Arts in Paris.

Mohamad Abusal, multidisciplinary artist (drawing, painting, installation, collage, video)
Mohamed Abusal was born in Gaza in 1976. Although a graduate in finance and management, he retrained as an artist in 2000 and attended many workshops and has undertaken much research to develop and refine his artistic skills.
Since 2000, he has worked at a prolific rate producing daring and innovative work which has attracted great publicity and garnered much critical acclaim. Projects have included Metro in Gaza (2012) and Shambar (2013) – both of which are great concepts comprising installations, designs and photographs -that deal with the reality in besieged Gaza and envisioning a brighter future – a future that is not only plausible but a fundamental human right.
Painting remains his first love and it is where he retreats to recharge and create beautiful work.

Sireen El Araj, graphic designer and researcher
Sireen El Araj is a Palestinian researcher and graphic designer specializing in identity representation. Her work is driven by a commitment to dismantle harmful Orientalist narratives that have long misrepresented Middle Eastern cultures, distorting perceptions and justifying political and cultural marginalization. Living and working in Palestine, she has witnessed firsthand the impact of these stereotypes on self-perception and external views of the region. Her project aims to create a platform for expressing Middle Eastern identities in all their diversity and complexity, free from Western-imposed narratives. By promoting cultural authenticity, she seeks to empower individuals to reclaim their stories, challenge reductive portrayals, and foster a deeper understanding of Arab culture through both visual and theoretical expression.

Ashtar Muallem, a multidisciplinary artist from Jerusalem who explores the intersection of circus, dance, and theatre. She has been performing since the age of 14 and has worked professionally for the past decade. Ashtar creates her own works and collaborates with renowned companies across Palestine and Europe. Her notable performances include B-Orders, Enheduanna, and Cosmos. Recently, she has begun to expand into the world of cinema, both as an actress and director, and is currently developing her first feature documentary, titled “Condemned to Dream.

Manal Mahamid, a conceptual multidisciplinary Palestinian artist currently based in Haifa and Dublin, where she has lived since 2020. Born in the Palestinian village of Muawia, Manal’s practice encompasses sculpture, video, installation, painting, and photography, exploring themes of identity, displacement, and the cultural narratives embedded within Palestinian heritage.
Manal earned her Master’s in Fine Arts from the University of Haifa in 2006, having been awarded a Scholarship of Excellence. In 2010, she furthered her academic pursuits by completing a degree in Museology and Curation at the University of Tel Aviv. Most recently, in 2024, she completed a Master’s in Cultural Policy and Arts Management from University College Dublin.

Marion Slitine, anthropologist, researcher at the EHESS and the Norber Elias Centre and the MUCEM in Marseille, and teacher at Sciences Po Paris and the Beaux arts de Marseille. She is the author of a thesis entitled Palestine through art. The making of contemporary Palestinian art, from colonised territories to the global stage, she is interested in the interactions between art, politics and public space in the contemporary Arab world, particularly in Palestine and Morocco. At the same time, she is currently associate curator of the exhibition What Palestine brings to the world at the Institut du monde arabe in Paris, and a member of several artistic projects, including the Musée des nuages Sahab by the Hawaf collective.

Charlotte Schwarzinger, contractual doctoral student at EHESS in Political Studies
Research topics: Cinematographic and political mobilisation (Palestine, Lebanon), Ethnography of film-making (Lebanon), Cultural history and politics (Palestine, Lebanon)

With the support of Réseau Euromed France, Markaz Review and Ma’an For Gaza Artists

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TASTY BREAK
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8:30pm Palestinian program (46′)

Video Installation