instalation / performance

25.11.2009 wednesday, 20:30, Mózg

Born in Lebanon, Sabsabi migrated with this family to Australia in 1979, as refugees due to the civil war in their homeland, to settle in Sydney, Australia. The development of his art practice has its roots in his personal attempts to reconcile his situation and to articulate his position. Hip Hop culture became a rich source of identification and inspiration, enabling him to express his sense of cultural and social displacement, not only from Lebanon, but also within his Australian home, growing up in a predominantly migrant area, experiencing prejudice and social inequities.  From the late '80s, Sabsabi has been very involved in community work, especially with at-risk communities, in youth prisons, refugee camps and other facilities.  This strong commitment to social advocacy resonates in his art practice.  His work is socially engaged, exploring the polemics and ambivalence of cultural encounters often at points or zones of contact that are deeply fraught. His video installation works often incorporate images of detention centres, refugee camps and border zones, spliced with suburban landscapes of Australia. This interface between zones of conflict and familiar suburban images highlights the contrasting experiences of life lived within and outside of the reality of war. While his work is informed by a diverse social and political landscape, it resists overly didactic readings.