Some Strings
15.05.2025, h 18.30
Screening featuring film contributions by:
Khaled Abdulwahed, Wiame Haddad, Youssef Chebbi, Christophe Clavert, Sarah Beddington,Yosr Gasmi e Mauro Mazzochi, Valentin Noujaïm, Wendelien Van Oldenborgh & Cathleen Schuster & Marcel Dickhage, Julie Courel, M’hand Abadou Djezairi & Marcel Mrejen, Amie Barouh, Mohamed Bourouissa, Valerie Massadian, Ismaïl Bahri & Youssef Chebbi
Subsequently, there will be a public roundtable with the creator of “Some Strings” Narimane and filmmakers Yosr Gasmi and Mauro Mazzocchi in conversation with members of Zaira Oram, Francesca Brusa, and Francesca Ceccherini.
Careof hosts “Some Strings. Observatory on Deculturalisation. Chapter 2” curated by Zaira Oram, an artistic and audiovisual project born as an act of resistance and a call for the liberation of Palestine.
Artists and filmmakers from around the world have contributed to the project with a choral array of original filmic gestures (ranging from 1 to 5 minutes each) rooted in Palestine, where the poet and teacher Refaat Alareer was killed in Israeli airstrikes along with seven members of his family on December 6, 2023. In his final poem “If I Must Die”, published five weeks before his assassination, Refaat Alareer called upon those who would remain alive to build a kite — a historic symbol of resistance — using pieces of string, or “some strings.” In the same spirit, readers are invited to take part in this symbolic act. In “Some Strings”, the short filmic contributions carry forward this message, soaring through the skies of our imaginations beyond institutional narratives and becoming a resonant vehicle for freedom.
“Some Strings” is presented by Careof as the second chapter of the research project “Observatory on Deculturalisation” developed by Zaira Oram.
The project supports the activities of The Owneh Initiative, an organization that mobilizes financial support for a range of Palestinian institutions whose funding has been cut or frozen following the events of October 7, 2023.
Screening
Some Strings_P1
KHALED ABDULWAHED - leipzig, 2024
WIAME HADDAD - may 2024 « sang titre »
YOUSSEF CHEBBI - hammet el jerid, tunisie, 2024 « 12 avril 2024 »
CHRISTOPHE CLAVERT - paris, mai 2024
SARAH BEDDINGTON - the blue line, south lebanon, 2017-2024 « my grandfather crossed with a horse »
YOSR_GASMI_MAURO_MAZZOCHI - mer méditerranée, milan, 2022-2024 « verso » VALENTIN_NOUJAÏM - beyrouth, 2018 « kérosène » WENDELIEN_VAN_OLDENBORGH & CATHLEEN_SCHUSTER & MARCEL_DICKHAGE (titre provisoire) - berlin, 2024 « Letter from Berlin: we keep gathering »
JULIE_COUREL - 1917-1933-1954-2024
M’HAND ABADOU DJEZAIRI & MARCEL MREJEN - 2008-2024 - images from israel defence force AMIE BAROUH - pavillon sous-bois, aulnay-sous-bois « damason »
MOHAMED BOUROUISSA - 2024 « النیة (intention) »
VALERIE MASSADIAN - saint jean-de-la-forêt, 2024
ISMAÏL BAHRI & YOUSSEF CHEBBI - 2017 « esquisse (pour e. dekyndt) »
“If I Must Die” by Refaat Alareer
If I must die,
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth
and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza while looking heaven in the eye awaiting his dad who left in a blaze — and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself —
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above, and thinks for a moment an angel is there bringing back love.
If I must die
let it bring hope,
let it be a story.
Observatory on Deculturalisation
“Observatory on Deculturalisation” is a research platform rooted in the work of Italian feminist art historian Carla Lonzi (1931-1982). Developed by Lonzi within the context of the Rivolta Femminile collective in Milan, the concept of "deculturalisation" first appeared in her 1973 text “Sputiamo su Hegel” to define those practices and actions that oppose the paradigms of patriarchal culture. Zaira Oram (Francesca Brusa and Francesca Ceccherini for this project) builds upon Lonzi’s work to deepen the research and expand the concept of deculturalisation in relation to contemporary systems of oppression. The first chapter of Observatory on Deculturalisation took place at OXYD Kunsträume in Winterthur (CH) in 2023, with contributions from artists Larissa Araz, Paloma Ayala, Chiara Bersani, Reshma Chhiba, Chloé Dall’Olio, Zehra Doğan, Parastou Forouhar, Nicola Genovese, Roman Selim Khereddine, Kani Marouf, Maria Matiashova, Reut Nahum, Valentina Triet, and Marilyn Umurungi.
Zaira Oram
Zaira Oram is a curatorial collective engaged in experimental exhibition practices that span visual arts, performance, sound, and data. Founded in 2020, Zaira Oram currently consists of Francesca Ceccherini, Chloé Dall’Olio, Camille Regli, Francesca Brusa, and Elisa Bernardoni, and continues to expand, incorporating other figures along its journey. Its work intertwines themes of memory and identity, marginalization and resistance, rituality and healing with artistic processes. A mother of OTO SOUND MUSEUM, Zaira believes in the practice of listening as a vehicle for transformation. Over time, it has cultivated relationships with various artistic research organizations in Switzerland and abroad, with the aim of exploring the boundaries of curatorial interaction and cultural contamination, while amplifying artistic voices that have remained unheard. Recent collaborations include La Becque (Tour-de-Peilz), Kunst Halle St. Gallen (San Gallo), La rada (Locarno), Kunstraum Walcheturm (Zurich), Le18 (Marrakech), Khoj Studios (New Delhi), and Dar Jacir (Bethlehem).
Credits
“VERSO”
a film by Yosr Gasmi & Mauro Mazzocchi
sound mix by Yurij Del Barba
film digitization by Adrien Von Nagel
Special thanks to the student coordination of Statale di Milano