Dubai: Lebanese artist Ali Cha’aban has launched his first solo art exhibit called "Technicolour" in Dubai.
The exhibit runs until February 15 at La Cantine du Faubourg.
Cha’aban was born and raised in Kuwait, and is an observer of culture and traditions which are often reflected in his work.
Strangers Everywhere
He is widely viewed as a pop culture analyst. His work revolves around the notion of nostalgia, which is depicted so intricately in his art, tackling socio-political issues such as the Arabian identity and the state of dystopia.
“The key benefit of our Arabic nationality is that we are strangers everywhere. Even strangers in our own home. Hiraeth, a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return or a home which maybe never was; the constant nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past, a past that might be a figment of your own imagination,” Cha’aban said.
Technicolour is the name applied to a series of color motion picture processes, the first version dating from 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
The Confused Arab
Technicolour is what applied color to early films and cartoons; it’s the rough aesthetics, the highly-saturated color indexing that brought life to the television.
“Somehow these aesthetics resonates with us from the early 90s where we developed a high sense of nostalgia towards it. Growing up watching Arabic-dubbed cartoons such as Grendizer, or watching the news and seeing the Balfour Declaration take its form in Palestine, or the ‘Arabic Dream’ song which many of us grew up loathing; these imageries always seem to remain in these colors in my mind,” the artist said.
At La Cantine du Faubourg, Cha’aban’s works which will be available for sale to art lovers.
