Page 208 - Memory of the East
P. 208
Narcisse Berchère, 1819 / 1891, A Folk Wedding, Oil on Canvas, 62.5 x 46 cm.
is how the idea of the world "as exhibition" evolved, echoing a phrase from Heidegger
who said “The world-as-exhibition means not "an exhibition of the world", but the
world organized and grasped as though it were an exhibition." The living reality of
the Other turned into dehumanized image and representations.
The works of this important exhibition belong to the nineteenth century in particular
and were drawn by artists belonging to different nationalities, mostly French. In these
works, the focus was on Cairo particularly, with a few paintings relating to Morocco
or Istanbul. The dominant scenes in these paintings are closer to the scenes of sunset
and absence, scenes belonging to ancient worlds and to humans who have not
witnessed modernity yet. They wait there at the doors of mosques, houses or cafes,
preoccupied with themselves, immersed in a state of permanent misery. There is no
joy or joy on faces even in scenes of mawalids (birth celebrations), weddings, and
celebrations. As these paintings embodied the view of these Orientalist artists to these
characters, they also embodied their views to the stranger who came from afar and
looked at them with those views that sometimes came closer, and other times were
away. Moreover, the portrayal of animals, nature or still life in the paintings surpasses
that of humans. The paintings of Carle Vernet, Narcisse Berchère, Ivan Aivazovsky,
206
is how the idea of the world "as exhibition" evolved, echoing a phrase from Heidegger
who said “The world-as-exhibition means not "an exhibition of the world", but the
world organized and grasped as though it were an exhibition." The living reality of
the Other turned into dehumanized image and representations.
The works of this important exhibition belong to the nineteenth century in particular
and were drawn by artists belonging to different nationalities, mostly French. In these
works, the focus was on Cairo particularly, with a few paintings relating to Morocco
or Istanbul. The dominant scenes in these paintings are closer to the scenes of sunset
and absence, scenes belonging to ancient worlds and to humans who have not
witnessed modernity yet. They wait there at the doors of mosques, houses or cafes,
preoccupied with themselves, immersed in a state of permanent misery. There is no
joy or joy on faces even in scenes of mawalids (birth celebrations), weddings, and
celebrations. As these paintings embodied the view of these Orientalist artists to these
characters, they also embodied their views to the stranger who came from afar and
looked at them with those views that sometimes came closer, and other times were
away. Moreover, the portrayal of animals, nature or still life in the paintings surpasses
that of humans. The paintings of Carle Vernet, Narcisse Berchère, Ivan Aivazovsky,
206
