We Dance, We Smoke, We Kiss at Fahrenheit

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Artists: Sophia Al Maria, Meriem Bennani, Phil Collins, GCC, Kareem Lotfy, Tala Madani, Jumana Manna, Slavs & Tatars, Téléramadan

Exhibition title: We Dance, We Smoke, We Kiss

Curated by: Myriam Ben Salah

Venue: Fahrenheit, Los Angeles, US

Date: September 16 – December 10, 2016

Photography: ©Jeff McLane, all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Fahrenheit

This is a tale of a slicked wedding singer from the Gaza Strip who won Arab Idol.
This is a tale of joy blooming from a loosely defined region where nuances are overlooked and histories are simplified through the lenses of failure, conflict, and narrow aesthetic formulas.

This is a tale of strangers in strange lands, of non-native wanderers with attitude, of individuals who navigate the chasms between cultures and don’t care anymore about what Edward Said said.
« I’m telling you, if you don’t come now and bring Viagra for your father, I’ll go shame us all. »1 This is a tale of male thugs and of father tongues, of alternative imagination, of alchemical reactions, and of human intimacies.
This is a tale of dark humor and light spirit, of grooming of bodies and cars and carpets, of bifurcated gender relations, and of a “Global” South / “Middle” East / “non” West burdened with symbols and placed within the vacuums of loaded cardinal points.
This is a tale of the familiar and the foreign, and of the unapologetically vernacular.
Un-a-po-lo-ge-tic.

This is a tale of sensuality.
This is a tale of cracking into the sidelines and cracking jokes.
This is the tale of Scheherazade in One Thousand and One Nights: a failure to amuse means kaput.

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Jumana Manna, Blessed Blessed Oblivion, 2010. HD video, 23 minutes. Courtesy of the Artist and CRG Gallery, New York

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Jumana Manna, Blessed Blessed Oblivion, 2010. HD video, 23 minutes. Courtesy of the Artist and CRG Gallery, New York

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Tala Madani, Rear projection : Soft, 2013. Oil on linen, 46 x 51 cm. Collection of Marija Karan and Joel Lubin. Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias, London and David Kordansky, Los Angeles

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Tala Madani, Avatar, 2012. Oil on Linen, 55.2 cm x 61 cm. Collection of David Hoberman. Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias, London and David Kordansky, Los Angeles

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Tala Madani, Up and Down, 2012. Oil on linen, 52.1 x 59.7 cm. Collection of Viveca Paulin-Ferrell and Will Ferrell. Courtesy of the artist, Pilar Corrias, London and David Kordansky, Los Angeles

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Bidoun Magazine, selected issues. Quarterly publication, 2004-2014

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Téléramadan. Publication, 2016, p.112. Founded by Mouloud Achour, Mehdi Meklat and Badroudine Saïd Abdallah

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Téléramadan. Publication, 2016, p.112. Founded by Mouloud Achour, Mehdi Meklat and Badroudine Saïd Abdallah

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Sophia Al Maria, Your Sister, 2014. Single channel digital video with audio. Edition of 3. 2min 33 sec. Courtesy of the Artist and The Third Line, Dubai

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Sophia Al Maria, Your Sister, 2014. Single channel digital video with audio. Edition of 3. 2min 33 sec. Courtesy of the Artist and The Third Line, Dubai

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Sophia Al Maria, Your Sister, 2014. Single channel digital video with audio. Edition of 3. 2min 33 sec. Courtesy of the Artist and The Third Line, Dubai

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Slavs and Tatars, Mother Tongues and Father Throats, 2012. Woolen Yarn, 300 x 500 cm. Courtesy of the artists and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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Kareem Lotfy, Sosa Ibrahimovic, 2016. Print on photographic paper, mounted on Diasec, 105 x 107 cm. Courtesy of the artist

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Kareem Lotfy, Yoshitoshi, 2016. Print on photographic paper, mounted on Diasec. 105 x 107 cm. Courtesy of the artist

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Meriem Bennani, Gradual Kingdom, 2016. Film installation, styrofoam screen, projection. Variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and SIGNAL, New York

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Meriem Bennani, Gradual Kingdom, 2016. Film installation, styrofoam screen, projection. Variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and SIGNAL, New York

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Meriem Bennani, Gradual Kingdom, 2016. Film installation, styrofoam screen, projection. Variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and SIGNAL, New York

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Meriem Bennani, Gradual Kingdom, 2016. Film installation, styrofoam screen, projection. Variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and SIGNAL, New York

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Meriem Bennani, Gradual Kingdom, 2016. Film installation, styrofoam screen, projection. Variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and SIGNAL, New York

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Meriem Bennani, Gradual Kingdom, 2016. Film installation, styrofoam screen, projection. Variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist and SIGNAL, New York

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Documentation of the presentation of JNOUN, a fashion line based in Rabat and New York and developed by Meriem Bennani and Zahra Bennani. © Deborah Farnault

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Documentation of the presentation of JNOUN, a fashion line based in Rabat and New York and developed by Meriem Bennani and Zahra Bennani. © Deborah Farnault

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Documentation of the presentation of JNOUN, a fashion line based in Rabat and New York and developed by Meriem Bennani and Zahra Bennani. © Deborah Farnault

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Documentation of the presentation of JNOUN, a fashion line based in Rabat and New York and developed by Meriem Bennani and Zahra Bennani. © Deborah Farnault

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Documentation of the presentation of JNOUN, a fashion line based in Rabat and New York and developed by Meriem Bennani and Zahra Bennani. © Deborah Farnault

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Documentation of the presentation of JNOUN, a fashion line based in Rabat and New York and developed by Meriem Bennani and Zahra Bennani. © Deborah Farnault