You are invited to attend the seminar that will take place at AUB, Architecture Lecture Hall on the 22nd of September at 9am. This event is organized by 98 weeks research project in the framework of the workshop Beirut Every Other Day, the ruin in the city with Lara Almarcegui. Please see below the detailed program of all public events taking place from the 22nd till the 28th of September:

22 September, 9-1pm: PUBLIC SEMINAR (AUB, Architectural Lecture Hall)
- Presentation by Lara Almarcegui on "Demolitions, empty lots, wastelands",
- Talk by Cecilia Andersson "art practices and urban regeneration"
- Talk by Tony Chakar on "catastrophic space and time"
Moderators: George Arbid and 98 weeks.

26 September, 6 pm: ART EVENT (Dagher Center, Pasteur street, 8th floor.)
"Spiritual Promises from Lost Prophets" by UK based collective, Cosmicmegabrain featuring performances, videos, and painting.

28 September, 4 pm: PUBLIC PRESENTATION (Sanayeh House, Alameldeen street, Fawaz building, 2nd floor, behind Sanayeh garden)
Public presentation of the artist's works.

WORKSHOP INFORMATION

Beirut Every Other Day is made in collaboration with WERK projects Stockholm. It is an artist workshop gathering 23 young Lebanese and international artists and architects.
This workshop is the first of a series of workshops on Beirut, each exploring different topics, approaches and perspectives inspired by the practice of a leading artist. The ruin in the city is lead by the Spanish artist Lara Almarcegui, who has extensively worked on urban topographies and their transformation. The workshop will be co-lead by Swedish curator Cecilia Andersson (WERK project) who has also worked on cities undergoing 'urban regeneration'.
The ruin in the city wants to look at physical remains in the city and their different histories; what do they produce in the present, what conflicts do they render visible and how they relate to the urban morphology of Beirut. These questions will be looked at through specific sites such as the train station of Mar Mkayel, The National Museum, the New Souk El Raouche among others.

INFO ON SPEAKERS

Lara Almarcegui is a Spanish artist based in Rotterdam. Since 1995 Lara Almarcegui has been exploring the relations between architecture and urbanism, focusing on abandoned spaces that are usually regarded as commonplace, and spaces in the process of being demolished. Her projects have ranged from a guide to the wastelands of Amsterdam to the display, in their raw form, of the materials used to construct the galleries in which she shows. Her works are simple actions that belie the vast research process which she undertakes to achieve them.
She has had solo exhibitions at FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon (2004) and at INDEX, Stockholm (2003). She presented projects at the Liverpool Biennial (2004), in 'Public Act', Kunsthalle, Lund, and 'Project Rotterdam', Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (both 2005) and at the São Paulo Biennial (2006).

98weeks research project is a recently established cultural association based in Beirut whose aim is to think together artistic practices and more theoretical forms of inquiries. 98 weeks wants to create a platform for debate, discussion and production in Lebanon and in the Middle East. The research aspect is always thought in close relation to artistic production; both the practice and the theoretical approach can contribute to open up the understanding of each. www.98weeks.org

Cecilia Andersson is a curator and director of Werk Ltd, a curatorial agency in Stockholm. Werk collaborates internationally to organize, produce, stage, publish and promote contemporary art. Recent and current projects include SuperSocial, a series of nomadic events staged in various locations; the exhibition on Cities produced for the Swedish Museum of Architecture in Stockholm, along with Citytellers Stockholm - a series of workshops and lectures in collaboration with Francesco Jodice. Cecilia is an independent advisor for Disonancias, a residency program facilitating exchange between artists and business environments in San Sebastian, and curator for Madrid Abierto 2009/10, a public art project in Madrid. www.werkprojects.org

Tony Chakar is an architect living in Beirut. He teaches History of Architecture and History of Art at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux arts (ALBA), Beirut.

He also contributed to several European art magazines. Among his latest works:
• "A Window to the World": Ashkal Alwan, Beirut (2005).
• "Various Small Fires": The Royal College of Art, London (2007).
• "Memorial to the Iraq War": ICA, London, 2007.
• Yesterday's Man: a play-performance with Rabih Mroué and Tiago
Rodrigues (2007); showing in several European cities.

Workshop participants:

Giorgio Andreotta Calò (Italy)
Nadim Asfar (Lebanon)
Eduardo Balanza (Spain)
Maya Chami (Lebanon)
Juliáno D'Angiolillo (Argentina)
Davide Delia (Italy)
Onno Dirker ( Netherlands)
Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld (Denmark)
Charbel Haber (Lebanon)
Rayya Haddad (Lebanon)
Rima Kaddissi (Lebanon)
Jana Jammal (Lebanon)
Christophe Katrib (Lebanon)
Marlena Kudlicka (Poland)
Hatem Imam (Lebanon)
Bechara Malkoun (Lebanon)
Richard Mosse (Ireland)
Franziska Pierwoss (Germany)
Tom Robinson (UK)
Alicja Rogalska (Poland)
Setareh Shahbazi (Germany/Iran)
Alfred Tarazi (Lebanon)
Karine Wehbe (Lebanon)
Siska (Lebanon)
Tarek Zaki (Egypt)