Qatar Museums has brought an impressive showcase of contemporary filmmaking from the Middle East and North Africa to Venice with the exhibition Your Ghosts Are Mine: Expanded Cinemas, Amplified Voices at Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti. This exhibition, which debuted in April during the vernissage week for the 60th Venice Biennale, is also part of this year’s Venice Film Festival, running through September 17.

The exhibition spans 10 galleries, each themed around concepts like “deserts,” “borders,” “exile,” and “ruins.” It features works by over 40 artists from countries such as Morocco, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Algeria, as well as other parts of the Global South like Ethiopia and Lesotho. Highlights include pieces by Shirin Neshat, Sophia Al Maria, and Wael Shawky, who is also representing Egypt at the Venice Biennale.

Among the showcased works is Ali Cherri’s The Dam (2022), a fictional narrative about Maher, a man working in a brickyard on the Nile’s banks in Sudan. The film, set during the 2019 protests that led to President Omar al-Bashir’s deposition, follows Maher as he builds a mud structure in the desert, which becomes the site of supernatural events.

Another notable work is Little Palestine: Diary of a Siege (2021) by Abdallah Al-Khatib. This diaristic film explores daily life in Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, Syria, where the artist grew up. Following the Syrian revolution, the camp was deprived of basic needs and isolated by the Bashar Al-Assad regime.

Fatma Hassan Alremaihi, CEO of Doha Film Institute (DFI), emphasized the importance of correcting the misrepresentation of Arab culture and nurturing new voices in cinema. Additional video works were provided by Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and the Art Mill Museum, set to open in Doha in 2030.

Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Chairperson of both Qatar Museums and the DFI, highlighted the exhibition’s role in fostering cultural exchange and understanding across borders. Recently, Qatar Museums and the City of Venice co-signed a historic Protocol of Cooperation, strengthening diplomatic ties and paving the way for future investments and cultural collaborations. Venice’s mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, noted the city’s ongoing role as a meeting place for diverse cultures.

Your Ghosts Are Mine is on view at Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti in Venice through November 24, 2024. Film screenings are scheduled from Thursday to Sunday at 3 p.m. throughout the exhibition’s run.

 
Sayart / Amia Nguyen, amyngwyen13@gmail.com