{"id":31854,"date":"2024-03-03T13:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T11:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=31854"},"modified":"2024-03-03T13:00:41","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T11:00:41","slug":"artists-exploring-libyas-history-cultural-resilience-and-rebirth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/artists-exploring-libyas-history-cultural-resilience-and-rebirth\/","title":{"rendered":"Artists Exploring Libya&#8217;s History, Cultural Resilience and Rebirth"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two exhibitions in Tripoli and Florence examine Libyan identity, gauging what to take and what to leave of its colonial past and its ancestral roots, while trying to make sense of the last years of civil war. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amaci.org\/events\/65169ec03a7b0c68e84daea0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Art as Identity<\/em><\/a> show in Tripoli runs through the 20th of March, 2024.<\/span><\/h5>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Naima Morelli<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A group of men in simple rags and feathers on their heads gather around a small fire. Some have weapons in their hands, while one traces symbols in the sand with a small stick. Their gaze is fixated on the flames, symbolic of destruction, transformation, and rebirth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This scene that looks frozen in time unfolds on a large figurative canvas, a creation by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeastmonitor.com\/20211123-i-am-libya-24-year-old-artist-shefa-salem-re-imagines-libyan-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shefa Salem<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a Libyan artist dedicated to unraveling her nation&#8217;s heritage through a fusion of literature, archaeology, and mythology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Born in Benghazi in 1996, Shefa Salem is one of the three artists participating in the exhibition <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artribune.com\/dal-mondo\/2023\/11\/mostra-identita-libia-italia-bengasi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Art as Identity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0The show, curated by Ludovico Pratesi, opened on February 21 in Tripoli, following an earlier iteration in Benghazi, and was conceived as a dialogue between Libyan and Italian artists around heritage, archaeology, history, and a shared sense of identity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alongside Salem are two other artists, Italo-Libyan Adelita Husni-Bey and Italian Elena Mazzi, exhibiting photography and video.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Salem&#8217;s choice of figuration has a precise intention: &#8220;I choose the realistic style because it is close to the people,&#8221; she explains. &#8220;It\u2019s to the common Libyans that I\u2019m talking with, not to academics or art elites. I want us to get close to each other by knowing our common history as Libyans. This is necessary if we want to move forward collectively.&#8221;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-31854 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-The-Libyan-Greek-Conflict-2023-900.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-The-Libyan-Greek-Conflict-2023-900-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-31950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-The-Libyan-Greek-Conflict-2023-900-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-The-Libyan-Greek-Conflict-2023-900-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-The-Libyan-Greek-Conflict-2023-900-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-31950'>\n\t\t\t\tShefa Salem, &#8220;The Libyan-Greek Conflict,&#8221; 2023 (courtesy of the artist).\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libyan-Tribes-2023-900.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libyan-Tribes-2023-900-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-31949\" srcset=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libyan-Tribes-2023-900-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libyan-Tribes-2023-900-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libyan-Tribes-2023-900-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-31949'>\n\t\t\t\tShefa Salem, &#8220;Libyan Tribes,&#8221; 2023 (courtesy of the artist).\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libya-2023-900.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libya-2023-900-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-31948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libya-2023-900-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libya-2023-900-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Shefa-Salem-Libya-2023-900-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-31948'>\n\t\t\t\tShefa Salem, &#8220;Libya,&#8221; 2023 (courtesy of the artist).\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<h4>Destruction and rebirth marked the history of Libya<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Libyan history is a tale of resilience for a nation whose cultural identity has endured numerous cycles of destruction and rebirth, sometimes in accordance, sometimes in clear antagonism, to Western values, but always in search of their own.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Believed by the Greeks to be the birthplace of the Amazons, Libya saw the indigenous Amazigh population coexist with Arabs and witnessed the passage of the Roman Empire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As historian Federica Saini Fasanotti writes in \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/libyans-havent-forgotten-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Libyans Haven\u2019t Forgotten History<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d after the Adwa disaster of 1896, Italy\u2019s colonial policy was weak, and so the time came to do something about it. \u201cLagging behind the rest of the West, the possession of Libya would put Italy in a favorable position on the Mediterranean chessboard, as well as the international one. At the same time, it would redeem the shame of Adwa. In a world primarily based on geopolitical considerations, this was no small thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following the Italian-Turkish war (1911-12), Italian troops occupied Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, reaching Fezzan in 1913, but were later pushed back by local guerrillas during the First World War. The colonial project was resumed in 1922, and coincided with the rise of fascism in Italy and the expansionist aspirations of Mussolini, who didn\u2019t want Italy to be \u201cleft behind\u201d compared to other European nations. In Cyrenaica, occupation was strongly fought by Senussi leader <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeastmonitor.com\/20210916-remembering-omar-al-mukhtar-20-august-1862-16-september-1931\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Omar al-Mukht\u0101r<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Only after the mass deportation of the population of Gebel, the Italians captured and sentenced to death al-Mukht\u0101r in 1931.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1934 the three Libyan territories were reunited and led by governor Italo Balbo \u2014 appointed by Mussolini \u2014 who created needed infrastructure but also expropriated Libyans of their land, giving it to Italian settlers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During the Second World War, Tripolitana and Cyrenaica were occupied by Great Britain and Fezzan by France. By 1949 the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.treccani.it\/enciclopedia\/libia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">United Nations<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> announced January 1, 1952 as the date of future Libyan independence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/libyans-havent-forgotten-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following the horrors of the so-called \u201cpacification&#8221; of Libya<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 which included the use of chemical weapons, concentration camps, and deportation \u2014 a form of stability emerged, and cities like Tripoli became multicultural hubs with relative harmony between locals and occupiers, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2022\/9\/1\/writers-retelling-libya-history-feminist-lens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">described by novelists like Mahbuba Khalifa and Alma Abate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All of this was shattered once again by Muammar Gaddafi\u2019s coup.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31952\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31952\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/perspective.usherbrooke.ca\/bilan\/servlet\/BMBiographie?codeAnalyse=83\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31952\" src=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Mouammar-Gaddafi-1987-photo-John-RedmanAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Mouammar-Gaddafi-1987-photo-John-RedmanAP.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Mouammar-Gaddafi-1987-photo-John-RedmanAP-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Mouammar-Gaddafi-1987-photo-John-RedmanAP-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Mouammar-Gaddafi-1987-photo-John-RedmanAP-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31952\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mouammar Gaddafi, 1987 (photo John Redman, Associated Press).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On July 21, 1970 Gaddafi\u2019s revolutionary council issued a law to expel all Italians \u2014 an estimated 20,000 \u2014 from the country by October of that year. Thereafter, October 7 would be celebrated as the Day of Revenge, a Libyan national holiday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gaddafi\u2019s regime not only cleared Libya of Italians and obliterated most traces of Italian colonies, but also flattened local identity<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That is, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2012\/09\/03\/world\/meast\/libya-berber-amazigh-renaissance\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by promoting the unity of all Libyans under an Arab identity, he suppressed the local indigenous population and their cultural expression during his rule<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Despite the attempt to establish a new order through the rules in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2011\/9\/14\/libyans-turn-page-on-gaddafis-green-book\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gaddafi&#8217;s Green Book<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the country fell into an irreversible, profound cultural void. In the 1970s local non-aligned intellectuals had to flee, and publishing houses and independent cultural initiatives were forbidden.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But if under Gaddafi the country was at least stable, the post-Gaddafi era plunged Libya into another period of turmoil marked by a painful civil war, resulting in the current complex scenario, where we have two rival administrations continuing to compete for control in Libya: the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU), headed by Abdelhamid Dabeiba, and a parallel body in eastern Libya, the Government of National Stability (GNS), established by the eastern, Tobruk-based parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR). Against the backdrop of war and economic interests, the development of Libya today is chaotic, neglecting essential considerations of cultural identity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this fractured society, artists emerge as custodians of forgotten histories, excavating pockets of the past and extracting fragments to carry into the future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Against this backdrop, two recently opened exhibitions \u2014 one in Tripoli and the other in Florence \u2014 underscore a commitment to redefining Libyan identity, grappling with the daunting task of discerning what to preserve and what to discard from the nation&#8217;s colonial past and ancestral roots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31947\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31947\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31947\" src=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Elena-Mazzi-The-School-of-Pompeii-2019-2-900.jpg\" alt=\"Elena Mazzi The School of Pompeii 2019 - 2 900\" width=\"900\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Elena-Mazzi-The-School-of-Pompeii-2019-2-900.jpg 900w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Elena-Mazzi-The-School-of-Pompeii-2019-2-900-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Elena-Mazzi-The-School-of-Pompeii-2019-2-900-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Elena-Mazzi-The-School-of-Pompeii-2019-2-900-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Elena-Mazzi-The-School-of-Pompeii-2019-2-900-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Elena-Mazzi-The-School-of-Pompeii-2019-2-900-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31947\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elena Mazzi, &#8220;The School of Pompeii 2,&#8221; 2019 (courtesy of the artist).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4>From the passage of Romans in Libya to the asylum seekers<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An architect as well as an artist, in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Art as Identity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Shefa Salem has devoted her latest work to a close study of Libyan heritage, reconstructing and visualizing written literature. Her research is based on archaeological studies and knowledge of local mythology, and converged into a series of canvases called \u201cThe Identity Project.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her paintings delve into the concept of &#8220;Genius Loci,&#8221; the spirit of the place, as it relates to Libya\u2019s identity, tradition, people, and landscape. This is an idea that has also been the centerpiece of the research of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/elenamazzi.com\/works\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Elena Mazzi<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, another artist featured in the exhibition <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Art as Identity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In her work, Mazzi tackles the subject of Libya indirectly. Her photographic exploration looks at Pompeii&#8217;s archaeological findings through photographs of the workers involved in all parts of the archaeological excavations. Her photographic series is a counterpart of Salem\u2019s archaeological research resulting in her painting. The ideological line connecting the two artists is the Roman Empire, which was in Libya between 146 BC and 672 AD.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conversely, the second work by Mazzi called &#8220;Performing the self \u2014 the interview,&#8221; co-created with researcher Enrica Camporesi, looks at the ultra-contemporary harsh reality of asylum seekers leaving from, or transitioning by Libya, trying to reach Italian shores.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The video work stages the impossible conversation between a protection officer and an asylum seeker just before the interpreter arrives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe interview is a real \u2018make or break moment\u2019 in the life of the asylum seeker,\u201d explains Elena Mazzi. \u201cIt puts the protection officer under the immense pressure of judging someone else\u2019s future risk of persecution mainly based on his oral testimony, while tolerating the intrinsic uncertainty of such a decision-making process. What might happen before such an overloaded conversation begins?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPerforming the self \u2014 the interview\u201d builds up an imaginary space that redefines the existing protocol of questions and answers, mutual expectations, and power relations. \u201cI think that it questions the complexity of speaking about identity, today as in the past,\u201d concludes Mazzi.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31946\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31946\" style=\"width: 781px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31946\" src=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Adelita-Husni-Bey-Libia-2009.jpg\" alt=\"Adelita-Husni-Bey-Libia-2009\" width=\"781\" height=\"516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Adelita-Husni-Bey-Libia-2009.jpg 781w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Adelita-Husni-Bey-Libia-2009-600x396.jpg 600w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Adelita-Husni-Bey-Libia-2009-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Adelita-Husni-Bey-Libia-2009-768x507.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 781px) 100vw, 781px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31946\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adelita Husni-Bey, &#8220;Libia.&#8221; 2009 (courtesy of the artist).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4>Blurred memories of the past<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The work of the third artist in the show, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gallerialaveronica.it\/artists\/adelita-husnibey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adelita Husni-Bey<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, also focuses on contemporary Libya. Being Italo-Libyan, Husni-Bey represents the real junction that allows for a dialogue to happen. Her approach to art is driven by what she defines as \u201canarcho-collectivism,\u201d which she associates with studies in theatre, law, and urban planning. Her practice is based on an examination of how communities function under a capitalist model. Her artwork emerges from collaborations with activists, architects, jurists, scholars, and others, presenting an alternative perspective on cultural resilience.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Tripoli show Husni-Bey \u2014 today a very successful artist internationally \u2014 decided to showcase one of her very first photographic series that reflects her relationship with Benghazi \u2014 a city described as distant, mixed, and blurred like a memory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn 2009, in the pre-revolutionary period, I tried to photograph some aspects of the city but I could only do so furtively, from inside a car driven by my father, for fear of arousing suspicion and being approached by security forces,&#8221; says the artist. &#8220;It is therefore an attempt to observe and identify in some voyeuristic and liminal way, and I think it accurately reflects my relationship with my roots.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn choosing the works I have also thought of the words of James Baldwin\u2026who described identity as a cloak of people of the desert, soft, waving in the wind and serving to cover your nakedness,\u201d adds Husny-Bey. \u201cI think that\u2019s the best description of identity, a veil \u2014 not as something immutable but like a garment, which can change like the relationship with the own place of origin, with its own roots, with its own meaning of oneself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The artist doesn\u2019t see identity as a fixed characteristic, but one that changes over time: \u201cWe identify ourselves with attempts to define it.\u201d She adds that her photographic work and more in general representation through art can fix a particular moment, an attempt, in time of identification: \u201cIn my case, being part Libyan and having lived part of my childhood in Benghazi, this series photography represents one of these attempts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Put side to side, the works of the three artists emphasize commonalities between Libya and Italy, but don\u2019t fail to also investigate the power dynamics between these two countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31945\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31945\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31945\" src=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-6-900.jpg\" alt=\"Alessandra Ferrini installation, &quot;Unsettling Genealogies,&quot;(photo Serge Domingie, courtesy Museo Novecento). \" width=\"900\" height=\"650\" srcset=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-6-900.jpg 900w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-6-900-600x433.jpg 600w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-6-900-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-6-900-768x555.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31945\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alessandra Ferrini installation, &#8220;Unsettling Genealogies,&#8221; (photo Serge Domingie, courtesy Museo Novecento).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4>The neocolonial spectacle<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dynamics of power between Italy and Libya are central in the work of another Italian artist, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeastmonitor.com\/20230702-artist-alessandra-ferrini-explores-the-complex-relationship-between-libya-and-italy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alessandra Ferrini,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who in one of her most celebrated creations, \u201cGaddafi in Rome,&#8221; investigated the public servility of Italian politics during a specific moment in time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Structured as a long-form essay, \u201cGaddafi in Rome\u201d is a film that dissects the 2009 meeting between Silvio Berlusconi and Muammar Gaddafi in Rome. This historical event resulted in bilateral agreements on migration, which cemented the \u201cpushback policy\u201d \u2014 the forced return of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Libya.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This turning point in the relations between Italy and Libya was fueled by Italy\u2019s need to secure petrol and stop the arrival of migrants on its southern shores. In exchange, Italy had to bend to Gaddafi\u2019s request for colonial reparations, in the form of financial investments and infrastructural work.\u00a0This political event caused a media frenzy in Italy and led to the use of real-time reporting on an unprecedented scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u201c\u2018Gaddafi in Rome\u2019 enacts a symbolic \u2018public dissection\u2019 of this neocolonial spectacle,\u201d says Ferrini, who in her work focused on the media representation of power structures, and on the performative aspect of the meeting. \u201cWith this work, I wanted to reflect on colonial continuities, the abuses of history, and contemporary neo-imperialist politics within the Euro-Mediterranean,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ferrini\u2019s work is permeated by this critical look at the legacies of Italian colonialism and is also the central theme of her new exhibition, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.museonovecento.it\/mostre\/alessandra-ferrini-unsettling-genealogies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unsettling Genealogies<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0The show just opened in Florence on the 16th of February, and interweaves family stories with an examination of colonial history, social class, European imperialism, and fascist legacy.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31944\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31944\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31944\" src=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-5-900.jpg\" alt=\"Alessandra Ferrini installation, &quot;Unsettling Genealogies,&quot;(photo Serge Domingie, courtesy Museo Novecento). \" width=\"900\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-5-900.jpg 900w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-5-900-600x405.jpg 600w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-5-900-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/UNSETTLING-GENEALOGIES_Alessandra-Ferrini_Installation-View_Courtesy-of-Museo-Novecento_ph-Serge-Domingie-5-900-768x518.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31944\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alessandra Ferrini installation, &#8220;Unsettling Genealogies,&#8221; (photo Serge Domingie, courtesy Museo Novecento).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unsettling Genealogies<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> I wanted to critically investigate the colonial and fascist origins of some Italian cultural institutions, such as the Venice Biennale, and their founders.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The work is inspired by a photograph that portrays Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, an Italian entrepreneur, and politician heavily involved in the \u201cpacification of Libya,\u201d at the inauguration of the Third Venice International Film Festival in 1935, which he contributed to founding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The project consists of an interactive installation that the viewers are supposed to inhabit, and it serves as a time machine. In the work, she combines personal stories from her own family with historical moments in history and theoretical reflections. \u201cMy idea is to have the viewer step into the installation \u2014 which is almost as a cinematic set that brings him back in time \u2014 to spur reflections on colonial history, the concept of social class, European imperialism, and the fascist legacy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Florence exhibition is part of Ferrini&#8217;s broader project and includes workshops, readings, and presentations focusing on anticolonial approaches to artistic practice, literature, and translation. The program involves the exploration of Libyan heritage and Italian colonial legacies through the practices of various artists and researchers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among them is Berlin-based Tripolitanian artist <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/tewabarnosa.com\/Practice-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tewa Barnosa,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> who is currently in residence at Villa Romana in Florence, working on a new project whose first iteration will be a performance lecture, called &#8220;Casa Langes: within the transitions.&#8221; The research behind this work delves into the historical power transitions within the neighborhood of Casa Langes in Tripoli.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With her <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thendobetter.com\/arts\/2019\/3\/22\/whats-a-performance-lecture#:~:text=A%20genre%20of%20performance%20with,boundary%20between%20art%20and%20academia.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">performance lecture<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, an academic presentation to an audience involving a looser connection of ideas compared to a classical lecture, Barnosa explores Libya\u2019s colonial and totalitarian shifts. The artist connects archival methodologies with her own memories, unravelling the intertwined narratives of state institutions, political figures, martyred activists, and family sagas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tewa Barnosa\u2019s work mostly concentrates on the post-Ghaddafi era, though it would be interesting to get her perspective on the way Libyans perceive colonialism today.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It would seem that contemporary relationships between Libyans and Italians are devoid of harshness, although people from Cyrenaica especially might still feel the pride of having resisted the oppressor. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We need to consider that on one hand, the older generation which experienced the bloodiest ravages of \u201cpacification\u201d is no longer alive. On the other, most Libyan youth experienced restriction of freedom during the Gaddafi era and the chaotic times of civil war, so there are more pressing wounds and painful scars that don\u2019t allow the general population to dwell on past pain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Libyan writer and journalist <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.internazionale.it\/tag\/autori\/khalifa-abo-khraisse-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Khalifa Abo Khraisse<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> says that it&#8217;s varied, and difficult to pinpoint the attitude of Libyans towards the Italian colonial legacy. \u201cSometimes we are aware that it is a remnant of that era, still, we dismiss it, we take it for granted,\u201d he says. \u201cMy grandmother, for instance, she knew how to read, write and speak Italian, but she didn\u2019t read and write Arabic and I assume that was the case for many other elderly as well. We use a lot of Italian words in our Libyan slang and we consider it ours. Sometimes we are proud of this heritage; take the coffee in Libya for example, and especially Tripoli. we are proud that it is the best in the entire region.&#8221;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He says that you read a lot of Italian names on the caf\u00e9s and shops, and evenings you will see people watching the Italian football league in the caf\u00e9s, familiar with the players\u2019 names. \u201cIt is as if the new generations don\u2019t hold really a historical grudge, or perhaps it\u2019s part of a complicated relationship where the feelings are mixed,\u201d notes the writer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The colonial past has also been used as a colonial tool. Kraisse says that recently pro-Haftar journalists tended to write and post a lot of texts comparing historical events. \u201cThey were accusing the people of Tripoli of being traitors who work for the Italians, and they are like their grandparents who welcomed Mussolini and worked with him, using events, photographs to historically shame each other,\u201d he says. \u201cThe funny thing about it, is that they are closing their eyes to the fact of French involvement and support for Haftar, and that France as well had a very dark colonial history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_31953\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-31953\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31953\" src=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Khalifa-Abo-Khraisse-courtesy-Fiera-Delle-Parole.jpg\" alt=\"Khalifa Abo Khraisse courtesy Fiera Delle Parole\" width=\"900\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Khalifa-Abo-Khraisse-courtesy-Fiera-Delle-Parole.jpg 900w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Khalifa-Abo-Khraisse-courtesy-Fiera-Delle-Parole-600x399.jpg 600w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Khalifa-Abo-Khraisse-courtesy-Fiera-Delle-Parole-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Khalifa-Abo-Khraisse-courtesy-Fiera-Delle-Parole-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-31953\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Libyan writers Khalifa Abo Khraisse (courtesy Fiera Delle Parole).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4>\nIdentities that mutually define<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, both the shows <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Art as Identity<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unsettling Genealogies<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> follow, curatorially, a trail: understanding what was, deciding what to bring along from the past and what to burn down. And everyone has something to burn.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, it\u2019s not just the Libyans having to deal with their colonial past, but it\u2019s also the Italians trying to make sense of their historical ties with Libya over time. It\u2019s safe to say that in both exhibitions, the two countries try to mutually define, through these different points of encounter in history, whether it\u2019s the Romans, colonialism, or migration and economic treaties.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A common desire to redefine and reconstruct cultural identities is found in both these Libyan and Italian artists. And inevitably, the individual drive flows into the collective, in an attempt to bridge this little history with the grand history through art, in a cohesive, emphatic narrative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kraisse has travelled extensively around Italy and met many Italians who were born in Tripoli, and others whose fathers and grandfathers came from Tripoli. \u201cI met Toni in Padova, he was born and lived in Libya until he was forced to leave in 1970 when Gaddafi ordered the Italian settlers in Libya to evacuate within 24 hours. He told me \u2018I am a migrant, I was forced to leave my country long ago, and I lived in Italy as a refugee.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHe came to dinner with his wife, and I met him, he saluted my Libyan accent, and we spoke the whole night,\u201d recounts Kraisse. \u201cHe was happy, he told me many things he misses about Libya, he showed me photos of himself and his sisters in Tripoli, wearing the Libyan dress. He used to live in Alhadba Alsharqyea. He told me when he was about to leave: \u2018thank you, I felt that I am in Tripoli tonight.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two exhibitions on Libya try to navigate between what to bring along from the country&#8217;s past and what to burn 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