Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme

Basel Abbas and
Ruanne Abou-Rahme
NicknameAbbas and Abou-Rahme
TypeArtist duo
FieldsVideo art, installation art, sound art, performance art
WebsiteOfficial website

Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme (both are born 1983), are an artist duo. Abbas is a Cypriot of Palestinian-descent visual artist and filmmaker; and Abou-Rahme is an American of Palestinian-descent visual artist and filmmaker.[1][2] They utilize images, audio, text, installations, and performance in their work.[3]

About

Basel Abbas was born in 1983 in Nicosia, Cyprus.[4] Abbas worked as a sound engineer for the hip hop trio, Ramallah Underground.[5] He has also worked as an installation artist, video artist, and performance artist.

Ruanne Abou-Rahme was born in 1983 in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S..[3]

They work between Ramallah and New York City.[6]

History

Abbas and Abou-Rahme first began collaborating in 2009.[7] Their approach to artwork has largely involved sampling both archival material and self-authored materials, in the mediums of sounds, images, text, objects, and performance; and then creating something new. Abbas and Abou-Rahme coined the term "archival multitude," and describe the act of archiving as a performance anyone could participate in.[8]

Their work has been featured in exhibitions at the ICA Philadelphia, Portikus, The Palestinian Museum, Kunsthalle Wien, the Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, and the ICA London.[9] In 2009, Abbas and Abou-Rahme performed with the hip-hop trio Ramallah Underground, as the Ramallah Syndrome project which was featured in the Palestine Exhibition at the 53rd Venice Biennale.[5] In 2013 they were also inaugural fellows at the Akademie der Kunst der Welt in Cologne, Germany.[10] Abou-Rahme and Abbas exhibited their work Oh Shining Star Testify (2019/2022) at Hamburger Bahnhof as part of the 12th Berlin Biennale in 2022.[11][2] They exhibited May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth (2022) at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City; which was part of an ongoing series started in 2020 about Palestinian loss, colonial violence, displacement, and forced migration.[12][13][14][15]

They were award recipients of the Sharjah Biennale Prize (2015) and the Abraaj Prize (2016).[9]

Artwork series

  • The Zone (2011–ongoing), created with 15 video screens, an installation, digital c-type prints, an online platform, and a publication[16]
  • The Incidental Insurgents (2012–ongoing)[2]
  • And yet my mask is powerful, Part I (2016)[17]
  • May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth (2020–ongoing)[12]

Publications

  • Abbas, Basel; Abou-Rahme, Ruanne (2012). "The Zone: Desire and Disaster in the Contemporary Palestinian Landscape". Printed Matter (19).
  • Abbas, Basel; Abou-Rahme, Ruanne (2013). "The archival multitude". Journal of Visual Culture. 12 (3): 345–363. doi:10.1177/1470412913502031 – via Sage Journals.
  • <Abbas, Basel; Abou-Rahme, Ruanne (2014). "May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth". In Kholeif, Omar (ed.). You Are Here: Art After the Internet. Corner House. pp. 224–229.
  • Abbas, Basel; Abou-Rahme, Ruanne (2021). "If Only This Mountain Between Us Could Be Ground". Theater. 51 (1): 46–51. doi:10.1215/01610775-8824771.

See also

References

  1. ^ Noor, Tausif (2022-04-01). "Potential Energy". Artforum. ISSN 0004-3532. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  2. ^ a b c Mitter, Siddhartha (July 22, 2022). "Berlin Biennale Wrestles With Big Issues (and Itself)". The New York Times. ISSN 1553-8095.
  3. ^ a b "Artist talk with Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme". Frieze. ISSN 0962-0672. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  4. ^ "Abou-Rahme, Ruanne and Basel Abbas". Dia Art. Retrieved 2023-11-18.
  5. ^ a b Hamamsy, Walid El; Soliman, Mounira (2013-01-04). Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa: A Postcolonial Outlook. Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-136-22807-0.
  6. ^ "Ruanne Abou-Rahme: Palestinian/American, born 1983". MoMA. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  7. ^ "Ruanne Abou-Rahme: Palestinian/American, born 1983". MoMA. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  8. ^ Gutman, Yifat; Wüstenberg, Jenny (2023-02-15). The Routledge Handbook of Memory Activism. Taylor & Francis. p. 356. ISBN 978-1-000-64629-0.
  9. ^ a b "Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme: And Yet My Mask Is Powerful". Krannert Art Museum. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  10. ^ García-Antón, Katya (June 16, 2013). "In Focus: Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme". Frieze (156).
  11. ^ "Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme". 12th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Ramadan, Dina A. (2022-06-01). "Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme: May amnesia never kiss us on the mouth". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  13. ^ Mirzoeff, Nicholas (2023-07-19). An Introduction to Visual Culture. Taylor & Francis. p. 2000. ISBN 978-1-000-89158-4.
  14. ^ McNamara, Rea (2021-03-17). "Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme Create a Poetic, Web-based Space for Mourning". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  15. ^ Boucher, Brian (2020-12-14). "How a Palestinian Artist Duo's Decade-Long Project About Mourning and Memory Was Transformed by the Pandemic". Artnet News. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  16. ^ García-Antón, Katya (2013-06-16). "In Focus: Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme". Frieze. No. 156. ISSN 0962-0672. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  17. ^ Gallivan, Joseph (March 2019). "Basel Abbas & Ruanne Abou-Rahme: New Works". Preview Art Magazine. Retrieved March 23, 2024.