Marwa ARSANIOS

Profile

Lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon.
Marwa completed her BA in Graphic Design from the Lebanese American University (2001), and obtained her MFA from Wimbledon College of Art, University of the Arts, London (2007).
She has exhibited in London, Beirut, Athens, Oxford, Lisboa, Santiago de Chile and Rome. Her work was recently shown at Art Dubai in the Bidoun Lounge (Art Park), at the Forum expanded of the Berlinale 2010 and at the Homeworks V forum in Beirut. She is a founding member of the artist organization and project space 98weeks research project, and one of the organizers of the traveling project Platform Translation. She has been granted the artist's residency at the Arab Image Foundation for 2009.

About works / performance

My last two projects are based on the history, research and interpretation of 2 modern buildings (a hotel and a beach resort) located in Beirut. I revisit these pivotal and sometimes iconic spaces through parallel histories, negotiating the historical material with story telling and fictional approaches,

My work takes the urban context as its starting point, always attempting to find an entry point into specific spaces/places in order to understand their different stories, histories and the layers that constitute them. The spaces/places I work with are usually "left overs", traces and spatial products embodying once powerful ideologies or historical "golden ages".
I revisit these fragments, the delirious visions and images they conceal, their sexuality, and eroticism.
My practice usually goes through different stages; historical and theoretical research, collecting material around the specific site or building, and attempting to appropriate the material by several means, such as drawing, animation, script writing and other. My working process also involves different collaborations with practitioners and theoricians.