In collaboration with the TEJA network/ Cultural Spaces Network in Support of Emergency Situations, Casa Árabe is screening, this afternoon from 7 pm in its auditorium, two short films by Mahmoud Alhaj, Anatomía del control (Anatomy of control) and El derecho a ver (The right to see), followed by a discussion with the artist of Gaza.
Violence without respite, infinite. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This reality of life under Israeli occupation in Palestine, inevitable and suffocating, is the leitmotif that gives strength to the latest projects of Mahmoud Alhaj. His forward-looking approach to violence technology addresses a crucial issue in the current Palestinian context, as genocide intensifies in Gaza using these technologies. His work is distinguished by a meticulous attention to detail and its ability to transcend the limitations of digital techniques, resisting its easy appeal. Instead, it takes a more deliberate approach and manipulates digital technology to serve its vision and ideas.
The Palestinian artist is in Spain thanks to the TEJA network’s artistic residency program, which welcomes creators who are vulnerable due to armed conflict or emergency situations.
Mahmoud Alhaj was born in Gaza in 1990, has a degree in Journalism and has worked as an art teacher at the Palestine Red Crescent Society since 2017. He has produced several projects using photography, digital art and videos that were widely exhibited in Palestine, Europe and the United States. In 2022, his experimental short film El derecho a ver (The Right to See) was screened at the 35th Festival Les Instants Vidéo de Marseille. In 2021, the film was screened at the Cairo Video Festival along with a duet exhibition with Rob Voerman at Plaatsmaken studio in the Netherlands. He has been artist-in-residence at the Royal Spanish Academy in Rome and at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2021. Recently completed residency at the Cité International des Arts in Paris.
The screening will be done with subtitles in Spanish and English and the colloquium in English with consecutive translation. Free entry upon registration on this form.