Van Abbemuseum Be(com)ing Dutch - the exhibition
24 May - 14 September 2008
Bilderdijklaan 10
Eindhoven - The Netherlands

http://www.becomingdutch.com
http://www.vanabbemuseum.nl

The short film "ASTAH  ( The Roof )", at 62nd Mostra the Venice international film festival The 64th Venice International Film Festival, organised by the Venice Biennale, will be held on the Venice Lido from 29th August to 8th September 2007.
St. Taleb Cherche Midi
nfo@videokaravaan.org
Synopsis: Amine is a young boy who believes he is an atronaut.For him, time and space exist independently in the Roof, where he can perform his needs of being a space-man. Unfortunately he has to share the place with his older brothers, who have other need as well…

De treugkeer ( Memory Codes) In the 16th edition of VIDEOBRASIL 2007 / www.videobrasil.org.br

From September 30th through October 25th, 2007 De Terugkeer (Memory Codes) / Experimental short film / 5'43" | Abdellatif Benfaidoul | Morocco / The Netherlands | 2005 | vídeo

The short film combines several media to express the past, the present and the future time. It is a visual essay to explore my memories and emotions related to it. With Black, White and Colour codes I reconstruct my Memories and a place where they can meet with my fear, worries and disappointments.
The inclusion of different fragments form specific movies and found footage represents my statement which express also my fear and disappointments.

Content
The film opens with one silent shot sequence of a very dry place surrounded by several death trees. As the music plays, the film starts with different shots of a cemetery in my childhood city, located in southern of Morocco. It cuts into a montage of one shoot of SERGIO LEON FILM followed by a found footage from USA military operations in Afghanistan and different shots from busy streets, faces, people walking, faces in the market and people standing in the middle of the street. By the end of the film, we are right back where we started, the dry place with its dead trees. The film finishes with a face of a scared boy.

Van Abbe Musuem Be[com]ing Dutch / http://www.vanabbemuseum.nl/

gatherings The project seeks to put our ideas of national identity under pressure and to examine and challenge the processes of inclusion and exclusion in The Netherlands today. As questions of cultural identity and normative 'national' values become ever more of an issue in political and cultural debate the concept behind Be[com]ing Dutch is to move the agenda of multiculturalism from notions of toleration and difference towards building a shared but agonistic democracy on a cultural level through the use of one of the few remaining public sphere institutions left to us - the museum. It requires wide public participation, that is encouraged, prepared and committed to over a longer term than a single exhibition.To begin the project Be[com]ing Dutch we are issuing a call to join us in Eindhoven for a three day ‘Gathering’. We invite you to come together to listen, debate and discuss with a variety of invited artists, thinkers and activists including (a.o.) Babak Afrassiabi, Abdellatif Benfaidoul, Bik Van der Pol, Igor Dobrovici, Surasi Kusolwong, Sarat Maharaj, Sohelia Najand, Maria Pask, Mario Rizzi, Superflex, Nasrin Tabatabai, Abdelaziz Taleb, and Aline Thomassen. They will present ideas and models of art practice that challenge and critique our various understandings of identity and visibility and offer imaginative possibilities for organising ourselves collectively.

A serie of photography work "Laden & Lossen" was presented.

Videokaravaan / Test-Portal Amsterdam NL / www.test-portal.nl

Videokaravaan project came to explore Arab happenings by creating a nomadic programme and database on video directors from Arab and North African countries who have joined together to connect and spread the works of young creators.
We present in our next station: AMSTERDAM-TEST PORTAL 2005 a wide-ranging panorama of work from different countries and situations. Some of the central themes of the selected works are the following: migration; exile and identity; occupied territories; neo-colonialism and resistance; memory and gender, etc. Besides, Videokaravaan team will give a modest homage to Edward Said one of the Arab leading literary critics and intellectuals  of the last quarter of the 20th century by showing some of intimate films and documentaries that offers a glimpse at some of Said's reflections on the themes that dominated his life's work.

TROC ART: Art & Identity
Contemporary Art Exhibition:  Foundation ONA (Villa des Arts) Rabat / Casablanca 2007 / Opening 12 April 2007 in Rabat / 2nd Opening 15 June in Casablanca /

The Exhibition will be curated by the VIDEOKARAVAAN* (Abdelaziz Taleb, Abdellatif Benfaidoul), and will explore the new forms of art expressions with a new generation of Moroccan Mixed media artists. (Video, Photography, graphic design, installation, fine arts, new media, music, live performances.)

Rotterdam international film festival 2007 / www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com

Mediterranean Films Crossing Borders / www.mfcb.org

An intensive training programme specialised in international audiovisual distribution and promotion, funded by the European Union within the framework of Euromed Audiovisual II Programme. These seminars are aimed at a hundred Mediterranean audiovisual professionals. During san sebastian festival 2006.

Media art workshops aim to share knowledge and experience between artists of different backgrounds.Special attention is paid to the collaboration between the participating artists.

KunstMarokkanen / www.kunstmarokkanen.nl

How Can You Resist? Los Angeles / USA / www.freewaves.org

With more than 150 works of video, film and digital media addressing the question How Can You Resist?, LA Freewaves hopes to engage the public's growing skepticism about commercial media and create a consensus for change beyond the outcome of the 2004 presidential election. With this in mind, we have expanded our reach to include artists from Latin America, Southeast Asia, Africa, China and the Middle East.Resistance has many incarnations in this year's festival. Some of the works take us on an intimate journey through addiction, sexuality, and suffering; while others challenge us to consider such politically-charged issues as security, paranoia, and moral culpability in a time of war.
Unlike previous Freewaves festivals, all of this year's events will be concentrated in downtown Los Angeles. We hope that by drawing attention to the local debate surrounding downtown's transformation, Freewaves can help people recognize the interconnectedness of struggles taking place throughout the world.