Biography

The work of Lebanese artist Lamia Joreige is rooted in her country’s experience and explores the representation of wars and their aftermath, particularly in Beirut, a city at the centre of her imagery.

Joreige uses archival documents, film, music and fictitious elements to reflect on the relationship between individual stories and collective histories. Her work is essentially a meditation on time, the recording of its traces and its effects upon us.

For the 9th Sharjah Biennial, Joreige created a nine-room interactive video installation, titled Three Triptychs (2009). The work required visitors to enter and move through the rooms alone, where they crossed sensors, activated cameras and set off projection, lights and sound. A uniquely subjective encounter, each visitor's journey became integral to his/her experience of the work.

Joreige’s other work includes video, documentary, prints and installation, such as . . . and the Living is Easy (2007), a collaborative video project with fellow Sharjah Biennial 9 artist, Rabih Mroue. Joreige regularly exhibits at international film festivals, screenings and exhibitions including presentations at Parsons The New School, New York (2009-10), Asian Art Biennial, Taiwan (2009), Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York (2008), International Centre of Photography, New York,(2008) , Kettaneh Building, Beirut (2007-08), Tokyo International Art Festival, Japan (2007), Goteborg Biennial (2007),  Venice Biennale (2007), Seville Biennale (2006), Akbank Sanat, Istanbul (2006 ), Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, Denmark (2006),  Modern Art Oxford, UK (2005) and Townhouse Gallery, Cairo (2005).

She is the author of an art compendium, Time and the Other (Alarm Editions, Beirut, 2004), and fiction, Ici et peut-être ailleurs (H.K.W., Berlin, 2003). She regularly contributes to international cultural magazines and forums.  In 2010 she was a judge for the Sharjah Art Foundation Production Programme Grants.

Lamia Joreige was born in Beirut in 1972. She recieved a BFA (Cinema, Painting) from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA (1995). She lives in Beirut and is a co-founder and co-director of Beirut Art Center, a non-profit space dedicated to contemporary art in Lebanon.

October 2010