Wael Shawky

Wael Shawky (Alexandria, Egypt, 1971) is one of the most fascinating contemporary Arab artists. He investigates history, its interpretations, and the ways in which the past influences the present. This catalog is dedicated to his research on the history of the Crusades, embodied in his environments, films, sculptures, and drawings. These works, narrated from an Arab point of view, shed new light on the roots of some of the major cultural and sociopolitical crises of today. Published on the occasion of his solo exhibition at Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, this catalogue includes a new artist’s project consisting of drawings realized in dialog with Heinrich von Kleist’s essay On the Marionette Theater (1810), as well as new critical essays by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Laura U. Marks and a conversation between Marcella Beccaria and the artist. Together with archival materials and works related to Shawky’s film series Cabaret Crusades , the catalog presents for the first time a scholarly exhibition chronology up to the present. The anthology section includes texts and essays by Hoor Al-Qasimi, Lance M. Fung, Cesar Garcia, Abdellah Karroum, Hassan Khan, Doris Krystof, Ansgar Lorenz, Denize Marray, Jessica Morgan, Hans Ulrich Obrist, November Paynter, Adriano Pedrosa, Susanne Pfeffer, Sarah Rifky, Jacques Sapiega, Anna Smolak, Gilane Tawadros, Pier Luigi Tazzi, and Judith Wielander, in addition to those of the artist and the curators.