Marwa Arsanios @documenta fifteen

Discover Marwa Arsanios’ fourth chapter of her ongoing film series Who is Afraid of Ideology? At documenta fifteen.

The film departs from a collaborative project that is attempting to shift the status of a private land in the North of Lebanon to a common or a social waqf. The aim would be to advance the right of usership over ownership. The land would only be used by people who do not own land for agricultural purposes. The film follows this process and adds to it a reflection on the way land as a living object inherently resists property. Matter and land become a witness to a certain history of non-ownership. The interconnectedness of the geological, the historical, the legal and the agricultural brings forward a kind of ecology of thought whose purpose is communalisation and rehabilitation.

The installation for documenta fifteen includes a series of banners which show the rules made by Marwa and the community for the use of the land and resources in the Syrian border. This highlights how this project transcends the artistic frame, creating a long-reach social project.

Who is Afraid of Ideology? Part 4 is a project in collaboration with Maya Dghaidi (legal research), Wissam Saade (historical research), Amany Dagher and Wael Yammine from Soils Permaculture Association Lebanon.

documenta fifteen, curated by @ruangrupa, opens this Saturday June 18th. Don’t miss it!

Film work with Mazen Hachem, Katrin Ebersohn, Joanna Dammour and the AUB geological museum, Nancy Nasseredine, Mohamed Blakah, Mohammad Shawky Hassan, Salma Said, Nagham Darwich, Boutros Arsanios, Alaa Abdullatif, Jochen Jezussek, Nadim Choufi, Jowe Harfouche, Marie Nour Hechaime, Rabih Beaini, Magda Nammour and the Bibliotheque Orientale in Beirut, Safa Hamzeh, Rosemay Hechaime.