Poetry Expo 24 / 6 February 2024

Three Poems

"Stories about Vanni", "Crossing" and "Guns & Roses"

Poetry Expo 24

by Mo Maria Sarkis
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With poetry we report our life, in a way or another, we oscillate between imagination and reality, this can immortalize a moment, an emotion, a feeling...

We need this to go beyond the daily tasks that we perform, like going to the supermarket, paying bills, fixing the car etc.

We humans need to reflect and contemplate our very existence, it is our sense to externalize things, digital emoji cannot express nor contain our vast feeling to go beyond ourselves and to contemplate, as French philosopher Gilles Deleuze said in his book "Difference and Repetition":

"...We must always first contemplate something else - the water, or Diana, or the woods - in order to be filled with an image of ourselves..."

Medusa Republic" by Mo Maria Sarkis,

Year 2020, 60 per 80 CM, oil on canvas. Copyright by Mo Maria Sarkis. All rights reserved to the artist.

The project is part of the subthemes Literature as a tool for social equality and Global unity and shared futures.

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Mo Maria Sarkis

Mo Maria Sarkis embarked on her artistic journey in 2004, initially focusing on painting as her primary medium. She showcased her early works in various exhibitions across Lebanon before expanding her practice through artistic residencies in France and Turkey. These experiences prompted her to explore new mediums beyond painting, leading to a deeper engagement with themes such as language, dialogue, and the concept of immortality.

During her 2010 residency in Paris, Mo Maria investigated the intricate relationship between humans and machines, capturing their interdependence during rush hour in the Paris Metro (Recording Movement1). Returning to Lebanon in 2011, she later participated in Ashkal Alwan’s 2013-2014 residency program, which brought together international artists.

Today, her practice has evolved into a multidisciplinary approach encompassing installations, video, and photography. Her current research delves into the expansion of linguistics beyond human communication, examining the ways in which various forms of machinery engage in dialogue.

Mo Maria seeks to further explore the language of machines and their role in contemporary society. Her work interrogates the political and aesthetic boundaries of public and private spaces, drawing inspiration from surrealist painting, the Dada movement, and spatial public installations. Influenced by the writings of French anthropologist Michel Foucault on public spaces, her recent work questions the role of machines, remote settlements, and the evolving landscape of communication.

She actively fosters interdisciplinary collaboration between art and fields such as architecture, science, and emerging technologies.

 

 

Selected Art Events & Exhibitions

2024

  • November: Poem featured in DUSK – Women Poets of Lebanon, edited by Nada Ghosn and Paulina Spiechowicz. Read more

  • October: Art video HYPNOPOMPIA showcased in the collective exhibition LIMITS at Laure Keyrouz Arts Gallery, Nervesa della Battaglia, Italy.

  • February: Three poems (Stories about Vanni, Crossing, and Guns & Roses) published in Poetry Expo 24, a global digital poetry fair by Versopolis. The project aligns with themes of literature as a tool for social equality and global unity. Read more

2023

  • September: Participated in VetteVertici – Mountains and Human Rights, a collective exhibition at Laure Keyrouz Arts Gallery, Italy.

  • March: Artwork Complex, Fluxes2 featured in the Mundial Poético de Montevideo (9th edition), marking the first inclusion of Lebanese artists. Event page

  • February: Complex, Fluxes2 showcased at Poetry Expo 23, exploring themes of human and artificial creativity. Read more

2022-2021

  • Created illustrations for a book commissioned by Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Beirut, Lebanon.

  • August 2021: Participated in the Batroun Art Festival, Lebanon.

  • 2021: Attended the Home-Work Space Program by Ashkal Alwan, focusing on transdisciplinary and critical models of artistic study in Lebanon and the wider Arab region. More about Ashkal Alwan

  • 2021-2020: Developed the painting series Catharsis. View project

2019-2015

  • 2019: Collective exhibition in Aley, Lebanon.

  • 2018:

    • Participated in TASHWEESH, a feminist art and conversation program supported by the Goethe Institute, Cairo, Egypt.

    • Collective exhibition in Prilep, Republic of Macedonia.

    • Published experimental poem View of Paved Land (English/Arabic), paired with a text by artist Phyllida Barlow, through Nile Sunset Annex. Read here

  • 2017-2019: Developed Unknown Territories – Sense of Self painting series.

  • 2016:

    • Let’s Play Hopscotch interactive installation presented at Haven for Artists Festival, Baissour, Lebanon. Project page

    • Solo photography exhibition Faces, Places, Beirut, Lebanon.

  • 2015:

    • Complex, Fluxes2 exhibited at the Beirut Art Salon, AltCity Hamra, Lebanon.

    • Participated in the Istanbul Coffee Festival Art Exhibition.

    • Residency and exhibition at I:O Art Residence, Turkey.

2014-2004

  • A Museum of Immortality collective exhibition at Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, Lebanon. More here

  • Participated in the HomeBase Project, Berlin, Germany (2013).

  • Artist residency at La Générale en Manufacture, France (2010).

  • Group exhibitions in Modus Gallery and Gallery Des Vosges, Paris (2007-2008).

  • Participated in the Lebanese University Plastic Arts Department exhibition (2004).

 

 

Publications

  • January 2016: Feature in ARTICULATE Contemporary Art Magazine, pages 34-39. Available in Spanish and Danish. Read here

July 2015: Featured in a Lebanese newspaper article (Arabic). Read here

All from the author

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