Rabih Mroué
Rabih Mroué (Arabic: ربيع مروة, born 1967)[1] is a Lebanese stage and film actor, playwright, and visual artist. Rooted in theater, his work includes videos and installation art; the latter sometimes incorporates photography, text and sculpture.[1]
Rabih Mroué | |
---|---|
ربيع مروة | |
Born | Rabih Mroué 1967 (age 52–53) Beirut, Lebanon |
Nationality | Lebanese |
Alma mater | Lebanese University (1989) |
Occupation | Actor, playwright, visual artist |
Spouse(s) | Lina Saneh |
Biography
Born in Beirut, Mroué lives in Hazmieh, Lebanon.[2] He is a grandson of Husayn Muruwwa.[3] He graduated in theater in 1989 from Lebanese University,[2] where he met his wife, Lina Saneh.[1][2]
He has been creating theater pieces since 1990.[2] Theater in Beirut revived in the years after the Lebanese Civil War, but Mroué and Saneh, who frequently collaborate, were among the first to push into avant-garde territory (and away from European influences), using venues such as the Russian Cultural Center, makeshift halls, and private homes.[4] His works since the late 1990s "blur and confound the boundaries between theater and the visual arts", often using screens and projected images.[4] Writing in the New York Times about Mroué's theater group, Kaelen Wilson-Goldie commented that "they are to Beirut what the Wooster Group is to New York: a blend of avant-garde innovation, conceptual complexity and political urgency, all grounded in earthy humor."[1]
Mroué's performances, although scripted, are designed to appear more like improvised works in progress, reflecting his continuing theme of inquiry, focused more on provoking thought than presenting spectacle.[4] Mroué has written of his own work, "My works deal with issues that have been swept under the table in the current political climate of Lebanon,"[2]
Mroué's 2007 piece about the Lebanese Civil War, How Nancy Wished That Everything Was an April Fool's Joke, toured internationally. Banned domestically by the Lebanese Interior Ministry,[1] it premiered in Tokyo.[2] The ban was eventually lifted.[5] In 2012, a series of photographs made with mobile phones at Homs, Syria showed persons killed during the fights of 2011/2012. Copies of the photographs were shown at dOCUMENTA (13) at Kassel, Germany with the title Pixelated Revolution.
Mroué is a board member of the Beirut Art Center.
Awards
- 2010 Spalding Gray Award (awarded by PS 122, The Andy Warhol Museum, On the Boards, and the Walker Art Center).,[6] the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award (2010), Prince Claus Funds Award 2011.
Works (selected)
Theater pieces
- The Journey of Little Gandhi (1991). Adapted from Elias Khoury's 1989 novel of the same name.[4]
- Extension 19 (1997).[4]
- Come in Sir, We Are Waiting for You Outside (1998). Collaboration with Tony Chakar.[4]
- Three Posters (2000). Collaboration with Elias Khoury.[4]
- Biokraphia (2002) in collaboration with Lina Saneh.[4]
- Who's Afraid of Representation (2005)[1]
- How Nancy Wished That Everything Was an April Fool's Joke (2007).[1] Collaboration with Fadi Toufic. Premiered at Tokyo International Arts Festival, Tokyo, Japan.[2]
- Looking for a Missing Employee[6]
- Yesterday's Man (2007), in collaboration with Tony Chakar and Tiago Rodrigues, premiered at La Mercè, Girona, Spain.[2]
- Theater with dirty feet (2008). Premiered at HAU 2, Hebbel-Theater, Berlin, Germany.[2]
- The inhabitants of images (2009). Premiered at Art Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[2] Originally a lecture/performance, later a video installation.[7]
- Photo-Romance (2009). Collaboration with Lina Saneh. Premiered at Festival d'Avignon, Avignon.[2]
- The Pixelated Revolution (2012). Premiered at PS 122, New York, New York.
- Riding on a Cloud (2013).
Installations
- With Soul, with Blood (2003).[7]
- I, the undersigned (2007). Premiered 2008, Manifesta 7, Trentino-South Tyrol, Italy[2]
- Noiseless (2008).[7]
- Grandfather, Father and Son (2010). Premiered 2011, Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada.[7]
- The inhabitants of images (between 2009 and 2011)[7]
Film roles
- Je Veux Voir (2008)[9]
Notes
- Kaelen Wilson-Goldie (18 August 2007). "Lebanon Bans Tale of Fighters in Militias". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
- Rabih Mroué, Foundation for Contemporary Arts (grant recipient page). Accessed 22 January 2012.
- Remembering Husayn Muruwwah, the ‘Red Mujtahid’, Louis Allday, 16 Feb. 2017, Jadaliyya
- Kaelen Wilson-Goldie, Rabih Mroué: Forms of Engagement, Nafas (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations of Germany / Universes in Universe), July 2010. Accessed 22 January 2012.
- Kaelen Wilson-Goldie (31 August 2007). "Arts, Briefly: Lebanon Retracts Ban on Performance Piece". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- Off the Wall 2012 – Rabih Mroué: Looking for a Missing Employee, The Andy Warhol Museum (calendar). Accessed 22 January 2012.
- Rabih Mroue's The Inhabitants of Images, e-flux. Listing for installation at the Prefix Institute of Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada. Accessed 22 January 2012.
- Face A / Face B Archived 19 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine commented at MACBA's website
- Laura Allsop, Rabih Mroue, the Lebanese artist starting a creative rebellion, CNN, 2011-04-05. Accessed 22 January 2012.
External links
- "Rabih Mroué: My Leap into the Void" Installation (21 January 2011 – 26 March 2011)
- http://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/11 - Interview with Rabih Mroué and Anthony Downey (01/2012)