PHOTOS: ISTVAN VIRAG (C) PUNKT Ø / MOMENTUM 9
WAEL SHAWKY (EG)
Cabaret Crusades: The Horror Show Files (2010)
The Path to Cairo (2012)
The Secrets of Karbala (2015)
Wael Shawky’s work tackles notions of national, religious and artistic identity through film, performance, and storytelling. Shawky recounts the history of The Crusades from an Arab perspective inspired by the Lebanese historian Amin Maalouf, using marionettes and puppets. The places in the films are familiar to us: Aleppo, Damascus, Mecca, Palestine, and Jerusalem. This trilogy opens up for debates on issues considering how history gets written to contemporary life and faith. Shawky frames current culture through the lens of historical tradition and vice versa mixing truth and fiction, childlike wonder and spiritual doctrine. Moss and Rygge has a strong connection to the Crusades. Looking out over the fjord from Galleri F 15 you see an island that used to belong to Værne monastery, given to the Knights Hospitaller circa 1190. They formed military elite units and hospitals, supporting the crusades. Screenings of the trilogy will be done with the interfaith community of Moss.
