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ro Binnale 13th 2019Eyes East Bound
Eyes from every corner of the globe are currently directing their scrutinizing regards towards
the East; an East with an ancient and deeply rooted cultural overload, in the core of which
is our Middle East, that part of the planet that is immersed in –rather “overwhelmed by– an
infinite number of social, political and economic issues, all aggravating and disseminating
intricately to entangle –and concern– the whole world.
One is sometimes obliged to think and hypothesize that it is perhaps some stakeholders in
the power game from “that” world that are actual players in the development of Middle East
events, as we see them climaxing more and more every day, sometimes backfiring in the
face of stakeholders and observers alike, and at other times offering more open and prom-
ising horizons.
Our East --if one is able to summarize it in concept into one word-- on the other hand, has
an eye on the future, somehow without losing sight of a cumulative and wealthy cultural
heritage; one that has developed with layers of palimpsest and of a detritus of knowledge
over centuries that has impacted and influenced most modern world cultures. Such a pres-
ent heritage still inspires and directs attitudes, traditions, conventions, and continuously
forms the cultural specificity of many Eastern communities.
The problematic of terms like “Middle East” –created by geo-politicians to describe an effer-
vescent part of the world— is that “terms of the sort” are only capable of addressing only
a limited political description, and are neither hospitable nor versatile enough to address
the more complex nature of the profound and intertwined cultures of the demographics
they describe. The core of the East, formerly approached as the “Orient”, must not – in our
opinion– be approached from any geo-political perspective. We can identify four pillars for
an objective analysis that need to be approached in sequence: the social, the cultural, the
patrimonial, and only then the political.
Art history documented how –in the past two centuries– Orientalism and the fascination
by the Oriental traditions swept the West, its architecture, its fancy and exotic fashion, and
foremost its culture –as if there was one sole culture to savor; that was authentic fascination,
inspiring, despite an occasional deviation towards clichés and towards exoticism.
We are attempting to take a distance form approaching the political facet of the East, our
Orient, and deflecting from what became the cliché approach to explore the Middle East
from a political discourse, with its controversial analysis and hypothetical moots, serving in
most cases one ideological agenda or another, a particular theory or a preset interest. From
that Orient we are extending an invitation to explore the heart of this East, that inspiring
Orient which gave birth to several colossal civilizations, cultures that interacted with the
other, hosted and blended with all and every other, to form an ultimate universal language,
accessible to all, without isolation and without marginalization. Sheer creativity and only
creators can attain such positive and voluntary “alienation”, a required separation from the
political real to the quest for an objective core of the authentic. The creator withdraws inspi-
ration, while politics, though an ambient source devours all creativity.
The13th Cairo Biennale, in a quest for an authentic dialogue alternative to what is proposed
in cliché channels today, and while not attempting to dictate, guide or direct creators to-
wards particular approaches, extends its invitation to artists to set their compasses to the
East, their eyes to an alternative Orient, examine with us the four pillars that are our per-
ceived real, and probe with us all possible horizons in every possible medium of expression.
Ehab El-Labban
Artistic Director of the Biennale Cairo, 2019
53
Eyes from every corner of the globe are currently directing their scrutinizing regards towards
the East; an East with an ancient and deeply rooted cultural overload, in the core of which
is our Middle East, that part of the planet that is immersed in –rather “overwhelmed by– an
infinite number of social, political and economic issues, all aggravating and disseminating
intricately to entangle –and concern– the whole world.
One is sometimes obliged to think and hypothesize that it is perhaps some stakeholders in
the power game from “that” world that are actual players in the development of Middle East
events, as we see them climaxing more and more every day, sometimes backfiring in the
face of stakeholders and observers alike, and at other times offering more open and prom-
ising horizons.
Our East --if one is able to summarize it in concept into one word-- on the other hand, has
an eye on the future, somehow without losing sight of a cumulative and wealthy cultural
heritage; one that has developed with layers of palimpsest and of a detritus of knowledge
over centuries that has impacted and influenced most modern world cultures. Such a pres-
ent heritage still inspires and directs attitudes, traditions, conventions, and continuously
forms the cultural specificity of many Eastern communities.
The problematic of terms like “Middle East” –created by geo-politicians to describe an effer-
vescent part of the world— is that “terms of the sort” are only capable of addressing only
a limited political description, and are neither hospitable nor versatile enough to address
the more complex nature of the profound and intertwined cultures of the demographics
they describe. The core of the East, formerly approached as the “Orient”, must not – in our
opinion– be approached from any geo-political perspective. We can identify four pillars for
an objective analysis that need to be approached in sequence: the social, the cultural, the
patrimonial, and only then the political.
Art history documented how –in the past two centuries– Orientalism and the fascination
by the Oriental traditions swept the West, its architecture, its fancy and exotic fashion, and
foremost its culture –as if there was one sole culture to savor; that was authentic fascination,
inspiring, despite an occasional deviation towards clichés and towards exoticism.
We are attempting to take a distance form approaching the political facet of the East, our
Orient, and deflecting from what became the cliché approach to explore the Middle East
from a political discourse, with its controversial analysis and hypothetical moots, serving in
most cases one ideological agenda or another, a particular theory or a preset interest. From
that Orient we are extending an invitation to explore the heart of this East, that inspiring
Orient which gave birth to several colossal civilizations, cultures that interacted with the
other, hosted and blended with all and every other, to form an ultimate universal language,
accessible to all, without isolation and without marginalization. Sheer creativity and only
creators can attain such positive and voluntary “alienation”, a required separation from the
political real to the quest for an objective core of the authentic. The creator withdraws inspi-
ration, while politics, though an ambient source devours all creativity.
The13th Cairo Biennale, in a quest for an authentic dialogue alternative to what is proposed
in cliché channels today, and while not attempting to dictate, guide or direct creators to-
wards particular approaches, extends its invitation to artists to set their compasses to the
East, their eyes to an alternative Orient, examine with us the four pillars that are our per-
ceived real, and probe with us all possible horizons in every possible medium of expression.
Ehab El-Labban
Artistic Director of the Biennale Cairo, 2019
53
