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Preface to the German Edition

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2016

Walid Raad

Currently not on display
Acquired in 2016
Inventory number 3371

The Van Abbemuseum Collection consists of over 3400 artworks. We publish texts and images on an ongoing basis, but this record is currently in the process of being documented.

If you need specific information on this work or artist, remember that the Van Abbemuseum Library is at your disposal, or feel free to write to the library.

Description

This work is part of the series 'Scratching On Things I Could Disavow: A History of Art In The Arab World'. Raad uses fictional characters and literary titles to tell polyvalent stories about the history of art in the Arab world. Here, the viewer sees walls from which art objects have disappeared, shadows cast by frames showing they were once there. Raad explains: ‘This project is part of the history of art in Lebanon and the accelerating development of a new infrastructure of visual art in the Arab world. I study how culture and tradition in the Arab world are influenced, materially and immaterially, by the various wars that have been fought by native and by external powers.’

As Raad says: ‘This project engages in the history of visual arts in Lebanon and the acceleration in the development of a new infrastructure for the visual arts in the Arab world. Moreover, I consider how culture and tradition in the Arab world are affected, materially and immaterially, by the various wars that have been waged there by native and external powers.’

Context