Earth, Fire, Water

Born in Beirut (Lebanon), Ali Cherri lives and works between Beirut and Paris. He belongs to this generation of Lebanese artists born during the civil war (1975-1990) whose work has been strongly affected by this context of instability. Through his plastic and video work, Ali Cherri operates temporal shifts between ancient worlds and our contemporary societies, constant back and forth between founding myths and utopia of limitless progress. Her work explores the links between archaeology, historical narratives and cultural heritage, and focuses on the processes of excavation, displacement and museification of funerary remains, which are as much violence done to immemorial cultural practices and to archaeological sites. His interest for this “science of the beginnings”, its practice, its big institutions – classifications, mythological narratives, museums, collections of reproductions, etc. – led the artist to elaborate new works of art. – His interest in this “science of beginnings”, its practice, its great institutions – classifications, mythological narratives, museums, collections of reproductions, etc. – have led the artist to elaborate in a speculative and poetic way his work which, in the words of the art historian and curator Marcella Lista, “admits above all an erosion of certainties and engages in a visual mediation starting from mismatched truths”. All of his gestures as an artist, from the very observation that archaeology manipulates artifacts and ruins, invite viewers to reconsider their perception of objects and places, and how they relate to questions of power, identity, and possession. This book is the first monograph by Ali Cherri. Through an introduction by the artist, 3 essays and an interview, this book reveals the political, aesthetic and dreamlike dimensions of a work that the artist has been developing for more than fifteen years.