The Distance is Always Other: Book Launch, Artist Talk and Photograph Display

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Wednesday 5 December, 6:30pm-9pm: Launch Event (Free, drop in) Thursday 6 December – Friday 7 December: Display Open 10:30am – 4:30pm (Free, drop in) Thursday 6 December: Artist Talk with Chris Coekin and Noel Nasr 6-8pm (Free, Eventbrite RSVP)

An artistic exploration, grounded in archival documentation, highlighting socio-geographical transformations in Lebanon over the past forty years, this poignant and playful artist book published by Dongola Limited Editions features text in English and Arabic by Lebanese author and poet Fadi Tofeili, designed by renowned Iranian graphic designer Reza Abedini. Open for three days only, this free event showcases The Distance is Always Other publication alongside a selection of photographs from the project, viewed in both two and ‘three-dimensions’ via a custom made-stereoscopic viewer. 

The project started with the appropriation and subsequent investigation of a photographic archive originally produced in 1973 by an elderly American couple, identified only as Bob and Ann, documenting their journey from Beirut to Baalbek. The couple used a basic stereo camera, which produces two images, one just slightly after the other, from the same viewpoint. The archive comprises vernacular images capturing the Lebanese landscape, revealing details of a country on the brink of civil war. Coekin uncovered the archive online in 2016, and collaborated with Nasr to trace the footsteps of the couple, re-visiting the same locations photographed in 1973. Assuming the role of geographical investigators, Coekin and Nasr painstakingly pieced together the original route, attempting to photograph several destinations from the tourists’ identical perspective.

Mimicking the structure of stereo camera film, the photographers overlaid two photographs of the same subject to form a single image. This series responds to the original found archive by playing with the American couple’s aesthetically coded “tourist” images, unexpectedly produced at a time of simmering regional turmoil.

Shown in the UK for the first time, this launch showcases The Distance is Always Other publication alongside a selection of photographs from the project, viewed in both two and ‘three-dimensions’ via a custom made-stereoscopic viewer. We will also be hosting an Artist Talk with Chris and Noel.

We’re delighted to be welcoming Noel Nasr and Abed AlKadiri, artist and Dongola Limited Editions co-founder, to London, to join Chris Coekin who is based here already. 

We hope to see you at the launch events! More information here.