Its throat is parched with thirst, but it would not accept a single drop of water from alien hands: this is the name of the solo exhibition by Moussem resident Hamza Halloubi, which is also the title of one of the two impressive creations that will premiere on September 13 at De Pont.
In this most recent work, Halloubi turns to the mysterious disappearance of Mehdi Ben Barka (1920-1965), an influential Moroccan opposition leader and key figure in the anti-colonial liberation struggle. Ben Barka was abducted in Paris in 1965—his body was never found. According to investigative journalist Ronen Bergman, Ben Barka was murdered and buried on the site where now stands the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the private museum of multi-billionaire Bernard Arnault. In the video installation, Halloubi uses two channels of 3D animated film to let Ben Barka's spirit (his body? his voice?) wander through the empty building of the Fondation, a spectral presence from the revolutionary past that confronts us with the intertwining of art, power, domination, and capital in our time.
VIZOR is Halloubi's first feature film in which the main character discovers that he is married to his own sister. The inextricable web of feelings that the man tries to escape merges with the equally great impasse of the storyline itself: VIZOR explores the boundaries of the film medium in a daring visual style, in which stories about corruption, gentrification, and the complexity of Moroccan society run loosely and openly alongside each other.
For press requests concerning the exhibition, contact Nanneke Pieters: pressoffice@depont.nl
Its throat is parched with thirst is a co-production by Moussem, in collaboration with gallery Tegenboschvanvreden and De Pont.
With the support of: Government of Flanders & Flemish Community Commission (VGC).
Its throat is parched with thirst, but it would not accept a single drop of water from alien hands: this is the name of the solo exhibition by Moussem resident Hamza Halloubi, which is also the title of one of the two impressive creations that will premiere on September 13 at De Pont.
In this most recent work, Halloubi turns to the mysterious disappearance of Mehdi Ben Barka (1920-1965), an influential Moroccan opposition leader and key figure in the anti-colonial liberation struggle. Ben Barka was abducted in Paris in 1965—his body was never found. According to investigative journalist Ronen Bergman, Ben Barka was murdered and buried on the site where now stands the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the private museum of multi-billionaire Bernard Arnault. In the video installation, Halloubi uses two channels of 3D animated film to let Ben Barka's spirit (his body? his voice?) wander through the empty building of the Fondation, a spectral presence from the revolutionary past that confronts us with the intertwining of art, power, domination, and capital in our time.
VIZOR is Halloubi's first feature film in which the main character discovers that he is married to his own sister. The inextricable web of feelings that the man tries to escape merges with the equally great impasse of the storyline itself: VIZOR explores the boundaries of the film medium in a daring visual style, in which stories about corruption, gentrification, and the complexity of Moroccan society run loosely and openly alongside each other.
