Abstract:
The work of Beirut-based contemporary interdisciplinary artist Akram Zaatari often provokes questions about the fallibility of so-called ‘evidence,’ the destructive nature of war and the power structures governing historical preservation. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how Zaatari’s artworks problematise superficial interpretations of history by questioning the closure of absolute meaning. During the course of my investigation I will draw upon the historiographical theories of Michel Foucault and Paul Ricoeur to re-examine the interrelationship between historical documents and artworks, and analyse a selection of work from Zaatari’s extensive oeuvre including a collection of cassette tapes tagged “the bombing of Beirut,” an installation of identification photographs arranged according to seemingly-arbitrary logic, and a documentary film that records the testimonies of three Lebanese detainees in Israel. It is ultimately my contention that such artworks clear space for a speculative and affective engagement with historical documents and that, in so doing, Zaatari’s practice participates in a new kind of history-making unburdened by overly literal attempts to (re)construct the past.