Rami Chahine
Portfolio | Environmental Art & Social Practice
JOURNEY OF A CEDAR
I had planted this Cedar tree when I was seven years old. It died in 2022 due to unfavorable environmental conditions. When the municipal workers cut it down and dismembered it, the idea to retrieve it and reconstitute it emerged.
Early 2024 its recontructed trunk was selected for an open call. In Space Invasion it ook over the Take Over gallery space with a video projection of a virtual tour of the Chouf Cedar reserve. “What remains of my Cedar forest” set the presence of the cedar tree in depictions of our national identity against the lack of national policies that are put in place to protect our environment.
2024
The Cedar standing in front of the Matyr’s monument in Martyr’s square Downtown Beirut, a major gathering point in Lebanon’s history of protests and national struggles.
How does a dismembered tree become a personal and social mirror?
How can a reclamation of dismemberement be a catalyst for creative exploration?
How can our collective actions nurture our regenerative imagination?
How can a reclamation of dismemberement be a catalyst for creative exploration?
How can our collective actions nurture our regenerative imagination?