Majd Abdel Hamid: 800 meters and a corridor

Majd Abdel Hamid‘s exhibition attempts to construct a personal, intimate and collective memory of a particular day. “800 metres and a corridor” project different fictions to evoke this moment.

The first is constructed in the aftermath of the deadly explosion of 4 August 2020 in Beirut: if we draw the line, how long was the thread used to stitch people up? The exhibition reveals the metres of thread needed by the artist and the population to stitch up, to repair bodies and minds, to regain sanity after the unthinkable. The exhibition presents workbooks, first attempts and sketches of the works. A video shows the matrix of an embroidered form whose soluble material liquefies.

The second story is constructed from the request made to friends to draw on the plan of their house the part they consider safest. Majd Abdel Hamid then isolates, on a piece of cloth, the space that is safe from danger, based on each person’s drawings.

The two bodies of works in the exhibition are punctuated by a series of white embroideries entitled ‘Son this is a waste of time’. This series, begun in 2015, has appeared recurrently in the artist’s work since then. The new pieces testify to a certain fragility and instability that is once again taking hold in Beirut. “800 metres and a corridor” is also a tribute to the artist’s adopted city, constantly and once again wounded by violence.