Là-bas — Vidéos de 9 artistes israéliens — MEP, Maison européenne de la photographie — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: June 6 → July 15, 2012

It is said that in an aesthetic conception of art, the language used must be universal. The different videos presented in the exhibition entitled Là-bas (Over There) show us that this is far from the case. The Other, whom we think we know, can actually be a perfect stranger, and the words he speaks can be nothing but incomprehensible noise.

The anthropological function of contemporary art takes visitors into a far-off realm that they have heard of but never actually seen. Là-bas (Over There) gives us the opportunity to see with our own eyes, to experience participative observation, and to “pitch our tent in the middle of the village”, to paraphrase the beautiful words of the father of anthropology, Bronislaw Malinowski.

“Pitching their tents” was indeed what thousands of Tel-Aviv residents did in the summer of 2011 to show their indignation vis-a-vis their leaders, and to state their desire to change the social system of their country. The nine artists presented in Là-bas come from a diverse society that is the focus of much discussion, and where everyone can express their own point of view of a common culture. Our aim in this exhibition is also to show this other aspect of Israel.

The exhibition takes us ’Over There’. It offers us the opportunity to experience what it feels like to be strangers, to come into contact with this ’other place’, and to gain an insight into the complexity of its people.