Artist: Marwan Sahmarani

Marwan Sahmarani was born in Lebanon in 1970 and currently lives and works in Beirut. With an archetypal biography specific to his generation, he left Lebanon in 1989 and moved to Paris to study at l’École Supérieur d’Art Graphique.

After a seven-year hiatus from the art world, since 2002 he has held several group and solo exhibitions in Beirut, Dubai, Montreal, New York, Mexico and Ireland.

Sahmarani’s artwork is linked to his Middle Eastern origins. His oil paintings, drawings, ceramics and performative work are a reflection upon the mediums themselves in the face of socio-political problems.

Sahmarani’s painting is tied to art history in general and inspired by themes that remain timeless, yet reflect current issues.

In 2006, Beirut’s Fadi Mogabgab Contemporary Art Gallery hosted a mid-career retrospective of his works.

In 2007, Dubai’s The Third Line invited him to show a series called Can you teach me how to fight? The paintings and drawings in this exhibition retrace battles that occurred between the 10th and 14th centuries in the Middle East, a prophetic and timely reminder of the cyclic history of violence in a region where invasion is a constant self-perpetuating reality. Sahmarani was included in auctions at Sotheby’s, London (2008-09).

Curator: Mahita El Bacha Urieta

Half-Lebanese and half-Spanish, Mahita is a curator, producer and consultant on arts policy based in London.

She has a BA in History and Archaeology from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon and an MA in Arts Policy and Management from City University, London.

She is working on several major cultural-development projects in the UAE and a PhD in Arab art modernism at the Royal College of Art, London. She is also curating a Live Art project in Abu Dhabi and working with the British Council on a long-term regional project in Arab countries and a conference about Biennials in Bergen, Norway.

Mahita was coordinator of the Sharjah Biennial (2004 - 2007). In the UK her work includes curating Arabise Me, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, (2006) as part of Ziyarat (www.ziyarat.info), co-producer of Artsworldwide, Open Eye Gallery and Bluecoat Art Centre, Liverpool, Veil, New Art Gallery, Walsall and Modern Art, Oxford (2003).

In Europe El Bacha Ureta was part of the Managing Team of Manifesta 6, European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Nicosia, Cyprus (2005-06), Fault Lines: Contemporary African Art and Shifting Landscapes, 50th Venice Biennale (2003) and Kulturehuset, Stockholm (2004).