Gibran Khalil Gibran Paintings in Paris exhibition
The Gibran National Committee in Lebanon presided by Dr.Tarek Chidiac was actively represented in Paris at the Institut du Monde Arabe, abbreviated "IMA") in summer 2012.
Dr. Chidiac appointed Sofiya Delcheva to represent the Gibran National Committee at the Exhibition Le Corps Découvert (The Body Revealed) at Paris's Institut du Monde Arabe.
The participation at this exhibition was to promote the culture and art history of Lebanon with part of the paintings of Gibran Khalil Gibran.
The Arab World Institute "AWI"; Institut du Monde Arabe, abbreviated "IMA") is an organization founded in Paris in 1980 by 18 Arab countries with France to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values.
The Institut du Monde Arabe " IMA" offers exhibitions, film screenings, a library, conferences and debates, youth activities Both cultural centre and meeting place, the IMA is a symbol of Arab-Islamic culture in the heart of Paris.
The summer art show in July 2012 was Le Corps Découvert (The Body Revealed) at Paris's Institut du Monde Arabe. The Institut du monde arabe sets out to discover the Arab body,
The Institut du monde Arabe IMA in Paris showcases work relating to the representation of the human body in modern and contemporary Arab art,
The Exhibition opens with work by late 19th-century Arab artists, mostly Lebanese or Egyptian, who, having studied European art, most often in Paris, returned to their countries of origin and set about applying what they had learned in a very different Arab context.
"The Exposed Body" exhibition designated a corner for Lebanese famous writer and artist Gibran Khalil Gibran (1883-1931). It includes "Love Between Confusion and Choice" (1914) and ""Cosmic spirit comforting Distressed man" (1918) These paintings show the extent to which Gibran was influenced by, Islamic, Christian, and Indian cultures, among others.
This exhibition showed, the body, contrary to popular belief in the west, it has long been present in the work of certain Arabic artists and occupies an increasingly important place in the work of contemporary artists.
The second floor, organized more thematically, explores the use that contemporary Arab artists have made of different media from photography to video and the ways in which they have addressed themes such as portraiture, the body in public and private space and the representation of the male and female body.
The themes of "pain" and "pleasure" dominate the more modern paintings. The themes of "rebellion", "revolution," and "shouting" were also present.
Masculinity, femininity, eroticism, identity, resistance, and cynicism were all themes and emotions that pass through the body first and foremost
This Exhibition "The Exposed Body " at the Arab World Institute in Paris tackled the stereotypical portrayal of Arab society in Western art, mobilizing the works of more than 200 Arab artists from the nineteenth century up until today.
"The Exposed Body," showed that the body was present in the works of Arab artists from an early stage.
The exhibition shows how Arab artists began to abandon the classical academic style and turn to confronting clichés that marked the European view of Arabs.
Ms Sofiya Delcheva representative of the The Gibran National Committee at the IMA says: " Le Corps Decouvert …Their attempt of presenting the idea of the nude body in the culture and the mentality of the Arab world shows a different perspective of the ordinary outlook of the tradition and the human behavior in this is still much unknown for the western people part of the world .The idea to combine the artistic creations of authors like Khalil Gibran with works of nowadays artists and photographers shows significantly the development of the symbols of art and their change in time.
It also shows more or less the perception of the nudity of the people of today and before. Gibran finds his place among and under the shelter of this idea despite of his much more different and delicate way of understanding and representing the nudity in his works. His delicacy in showing the nude bodies is synchronized with the romantic element held by the idea of this exhibition. For this reason and does have his place and share in the ideological movement"
Hoda Makram-Ebeid , director of the Exhibition says. "We want this show to break down clichés concerning the Arab world, but we're not looking for controversy. The artists on show are of all ages, from all over the world. The immense variety and multiplicity of the work demonstrates that it is impossible to lump together 'Arabic artists' or Arab art. They're looking at a problematic – that of the body – which interests everyone today and their work is relevant to people of all different backgrounds."
"At the same time these Artists" are just addressing a subject that fascinates everyone at the moment: the body is a fashionable topic and there's no reason why Arabic artists should not also be interested," says Makram-Ebeid.
