Cabaret Crusades: The Path to Cairo 2013

When
1.45pm, Sun 10 Apr 2016 (58 mins)
Where
Gallery of Modern Art & Cinema A
About
'Based on accounts from primary sources, Wael Shawky complicates the traditional civilization clash narrative by describing scenes that refute common notions of the era. Shawky highlights both the secular motivations of the European fighters and the competition and violence among Arab leaders. Using 200-year-old marionettes from a collection in Italy for the first instalment, and custom-made ceramic figures for the second, Shawky says the puppets help create a "surreal and mythical atmosphere that blends drama and cynicism, telling a story of remote events that could hardly be more topical today. The puppets' strings clearly refer to the idea of control. The work also implies a criticism of the way history has been written and manipulated."' Museum of Modern Art, New York
Production Credits
- Director/Script/Music/Marionette Drawings/Scenography Design: Wael Shawky
- Cinematographer: Fabrizio La Palombara
- Editor: Claudio Cavallari
- Set Design: Paolo Peroni
- Costume Design: Marion Poey
- Marionette Design: Pierre Architta, Dominique Vial, Irène Lentini
- Sound Design: Olivier Blin, Pierre Demange
- Puppeteers: Irène Lentini, Mafalda Da Camara, Sabrina Anastasio, Gaëlle Collot, Laurie Freychet, Florian Debord, Tipahine Budzik, Anne Lucus, Carine Ragot, Virgine Hochedez, Kati Haschert, Pascale Halimi, Zelie Nayral, Emilie Bruna, Bénédicte AugÉ
- Production Companies: Marseille Provence 2013 – Capitale Européenne De La Culture, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels, CommunautÉ Du Pays D'Aubagne Et De L'étoile, Satis/Astram Lab – FacultÉ Des Sciences Aix-Marseille UniversitÉ, Régie Culturelle Régionale Paca, Wael Shawky
- Commissioned by: Documenta 13, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin
- Courtesy: The Artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut/Hamburg
- Year: 2013
- Runtime: 58 minutes
- Country: France
- Languages: Arabic, (with English subtitles)
- Colour: Colour