Eye Filmmuseum exhibition on landscape in the Middle East features film by Wael Shawky

24 November 2020

Until 3 January 2021, the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam presents the group exhibition 'Trembling Landscapes: Between Reality and Fiction', that explores landscape through the work of some of the most prominent artists from the Middle East and North Africa working with film and video. Interrogating how beauty, folklore, ideology, colonialism and violence are ingrained in how landscape is understood, conceptualised, visualised and imagined, the 11 participating artists present various representations of landscape as a heady mix of national and natural borders, tussles over resources and territory, and colonial history and, on the other hand, a rich source of identity, tradition and imagination.

Included in the exhibition is Wael Shawky's 2013 work Al Araba Al Madfuna II – the second in a trilogy of films based on the writings of Egyptian novelist Mohammed Mustagab, as well as the artist's personal experience visiting villages in Southern Egypt. The characters are played by children in adult dress, with their voices dubbed by adults. This along with their narration of Mustagab's imaginary tales draws on themes of alienation, fact and fiction, and the supernatural.

The Eye Filmmuseum is currently open, with COVID restrictions in place and mandatory booking. Find further information here.

Photo © Studio Hans Wilschut