2008-2012. Series of digital images based on text files
Grading the Lebanese Constitution
Since 2011. Internet site
Arameans
Lebanon
(2007), Video, 3 min 36 sec
Wanting is Having (Original title: Vouloir c'est avoir)
Lebanon
(2004). Document
VISITORS
Since
August 12, 2003. Internet page
CONNECTED
Since
August 1, 2003. Internet page
More than normal
France
(2002), Video, 10 min 18 sec
Lebanese Group
USA - France
(1999-2001). Discussions
Tabbouleh Day, Previously the Lebanese National Tabbouleh Day
An Invisible Socio-Economic Artwork by Ricardo Mbarkho
Every first Saturday of July, since 2001
AUTOEXHIBITION (Original title: AUTOEXPOSITION)
2001 (February 8-20). By Alexandre Gurita & Ricardo Mbarkho. Information spread on Internet
Each one has from art what art has from itself
Since
1999. Relations
Week-end Pierre-Yves Fave Portes Ouvertes
June 1999. Relations
Gare de Lyon
- Juvisy
France
(1999), Video, 52 min
Keywords: Digital. Recycling. Communication. Politic. Relation. Art history. Religion.
Presentation:
Ricardo Mbarkho uses the computer as a tool to convert texts into images. By this process, the text's binary codes, which are the digits that computers use to stock information, generate a unique corresponding image. Therefore, these digital images become a visual equivalent of the initial texts. With this technique, Ricardo is investigating multiple questions related to language, communication, cultural industries, history of art as well as visual representation.
Keywords: Digital. Mass connections. Politic. Game. Notes.
Presentation:
"Grading the Lebanese Constitution" is a web based project where people can make anonymous grading for any and every article of the actual Lebanese Constitution. An Overall Average Grade is constantly displayed and updated. This grading centered project with its mass evaluation process implies different ways of reading the numbers and graphs of all the statistical results. It's a work that deals with data interpretation to offer multiple levels of meaning relative to our relation to power.
2014 - Multaka Ibn RÅ«chd, Sunflower, Beirut, Lebanon
2012 - X-Perimental X-Hibition, Maqam & Istoria galleries, Beirut, Lebanon
Keywords: Video. Politic. Religion. Mobility.
Presentation:
This video questions the mobility of the Arameans in the Lebanese social context; this is through the example of a woman who has undergone one of the explosions in Beirut. Are the Arameans who hold their language and their religion pursued again by terrorism in Lebanon?
The video on YouTube:
Screened at:
2020 - 1st International Film Festival Bosnia Herzegovina Looks Around, Paris, France
For his participation at the Biennale de Paris 2004, Ricardo Mbarkho conceived a page into the biennial catalog that says: "The deadline to present a project for the Biennale De Paris 2004 is here and I still don't have the slightest idea what I am going to do to participate. I have a project of which I am still ignorant. I am ignorant of its nature, its form, its content, its intention, its meaning, its value, its category, its model, its material, its texture, its medium, its connections, its colors, its public, its criticism, its context, its way, its manner, its trend, its time period, its title, its history, its geography, its esthetic... I don't know what to present, what to show, what to formulate, what to fabricate, what to create, what to exhibit, what to say, what to do, what to be... All I know is that my participation is my willingness to participate; the rest escapes me."
Exhibited at:
2004 - Espace SD, Lebanon, in the frame of the Biennale de Paris, France
A number shows how many people have already visited the site since its creation. This indicator is followed by a description text I put in many languages. The visitors can refresh the site to see the number of visitors in each instant.
A number shows how many people are connected to the site at the same moment. This indicator is followed by a description text I put in many languages. The visitors can refresh the site to see the number of connected persons in each instant.
More than normal (Plus que normal) shows a three couples story that ends by a separation. There is almost no dialogue and no action, at a time when an unstable equilibrium leads to a tense atmosphere. Keywords for this video would be: Desire, charm, wish, love, fear, hopes, anger and separation.
The video on YouTube:
Screened at:
2020 - 1st International Film Festival Bosnia Herzegovina Looks Around, Paris, France
2014 - dokumentART, Poland
2009 - [Since Art], microARTos, Contemporary Art Center, Madrid, Spain
From November 8, 1999 to June 6, 2001, everyone who wishes to contact and to converse with Lebanese was invited by Ricardo Mbarak, to enroll in the discussion list: LebaneseGroup.
> Internet, support of communication for a concrete actual work.
In November 1999, he creates a discussion list on the Internet, LebaneseGroup Discussion List. The work it's the creation of a context auspicious to the exchanges. The work it's the dialogue capable to have concrete implications in the reality. Today, this project is frozen and the discussions are suspended.
> Members
Among people invited to join the list, Lebanese academics: American university in Beirut, University Notre Dame, Lebanese University, University of Balamand, University Haygazian but also all people interested in the actual news of the Lebanese in Lebanon and around the world (Australians, Canadians, French, Greeks, Israelis, Palestinians, Moroccans, Polish, …).
> Topics
Main topics of discussion: the socio-politics and the actuality of the day. On this space that is Internet, every member of the network has the possibility to express himself freely beyond the circumstances determined by a geographical territory.
Exhibited at :
Mars 2000. In the frame of the Internet Fiesta 2000 at:
The genesis of the Tabbouleh Day, initiated in 2001 by Lebanese artist Ricardo Mbarkho, is embedded in a complex and conflict-ridden history. This celebration, far more than a mere gastronomic event, reveals a profound evolution of its meaning over time. It marks a major turning point that not only redefines the role of Tabbouleh in Lebanese culture but also its influence on a universal scale.
Origins and International Recognition:
At its inception, the primary goal of the Tabbouleh Day was to highlight Lebanon's gastronomic and patriotic reputation while denouncing the degradation of Tabbouleh's image due to counterfeit commercialization abroad. It was in France, where the artist encountered this distortion, that the idea took shape. In 2001, the concept of centralizing the existing energy of the Lebanese people for Tabbouleh was born. Thus, during an online discussion with Allam Sleiman, a friend of Mbarkho, they drafted the first announcement of this new Day, informing around 20,000 Lebanese via email, initiating the rapid spread of the event through chain emails.
Initially designated as the Lebanese International Tabbouleh Day, the annual event gathers Lebanese people every first Saturday of July, symbolizing their attachment to Lebanon and patriotic pride. Over the years, the celebration has expanded, bringing together hundreds of thousands of participants worldwide. International recognition strengthened with active support from Lebanese and foreign press, as well as presentations at the 15th edition of the Biennale de Paris in 2006 and 2007. In 2007, the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism granted its official approval, consecrating the Day as a national celebration.
Artistic Transformation: Honoring or Resisting Power?:
The readjustment of Tabbouleh within the context of invisual art, exploring alternative socio-economic models, demonstrates Mbarkho's desire to infuse his creation with a fundamentally artistic essence. This innovative approach transcends the boundaries of visual expression to create a multidimensional experience, where art and gastronomy merge to become tools of resistance against sociopolitical injustices.
Indeed, the genesis and evolution of the Tabbouleh Day demonstrate a deep commitment to the role of art itself, whether to honor or resist power. Mbarkho undertakes a significant artistic transformation by gradually removing the national label from the event, renaming it simply "Tabbouleh Day". By removing the national label, Mbarkho highlights the importance of preserving traditions while adapting them to a constantly changing contemporary context. This resolutely committed approach questions established norms, refusing to conform to narratives imposed by often oppressive authorities.
This initiative aims to surpass the boundaries imposed by political regimes, constituting an act of resistance, creating a work against the nationalist and communal constraints that hinder Lebanese society. By freeing Tabbouleh from its purely national aspect, the celebration becomes a platform for the redefinition of the dish and our belonging, liberating it from dictatorships and the media, economic, religious, military, and police powers imposing fixed certainties. Mbarkho's artistic resistance is tangible in his desire to liberate Tabbouleh from these constraints, making this day a means of questioning established norms.
The immutable ingredients of Tabbouleh, in this transformation of meaning, now carry opposing meanings: the national and the universal, cultural power and the illusion of that power, war and peace, death and life. Tabbouleh thus becomes a catalyst for reflection, arousing uncertainties, doubts, and awareness of our actions and our place in the world.
Conclusion:
The Tabbouleh Day thus transforms into a powerful emblem of artistic resistance, cultural struggle, and the quest for freedom, evolving within a context marked by sociopolitical challenges. Ricardo Mbarkho's innovative approach goes beyond mere culinary celebration, transforming the event into a living work of art. It becomes a means of questioning and subverting the structures imposed by power, ultimately offering a powerful reminder of the transformative power of art in building a freer society. Initiated in 2001, this unique celebration leaves a lasting imprint, a culinary and popular odyssey that transcends geographical and temporal boundaries, as well as artistic boundaries, reaching into economies still free from the grip of the contemporary art market.
Exhibited at:
2023 - Action via Internet
2022 - Action via Internet
2021 - Action via Internet
2020 - Action via Internet
2019 - Action via Internet
2018 - Action via Internet
2017 - Action via Internet et à Souk el Tayeb, Beyrouth, Liban
2016 - Action via Internet, and in the frame of the Biennale de Paris at Beirut, at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, Lebanon
2015 - Action via Internet and at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, Lebanon
2014 - Action via Internet and at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, Lebanon
2013 - Action via Internet and at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, Lebanon
2012 - Action via Internet and at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, Lebanon
2011 - Action via Internet and at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, Lebanon
2010 - Action via Internet and at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, Lebanon
2009 - Action via Internet and at [Since Art], microARTos, Contemporary Art Center, Madrid, Spain
2008 - Action via Internet, at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, Lebanon, and at la Biennale de Paris, France
2007 - Action via Internet, at Souk el Tayeb, Beirut, Lebanon, and at la Biennale de Paris, France
2006 - Action via Internet, and at la Biennale de Paris, France
2005 - Action via Internet
2004 - Action via Internet
2003 - Action via Internet
2002 - Action via Internet
2001 - Action via Internet
Keywords: Invisual. Post-immaterial.
Presentation:
Alexandre Gurita and Ricardo Mbarkho posted emails that inform the receivers that they exhibit whatever is exhibited by itself, from 8 to 20 of February 2001.
Since 1999, Ricardo Mbarkho spreads the contact information of many people who accept to be contacted by anyone informed about their availability. “Each one has from art what art has from itself » is the title of this art activity.
This work questions the social accessibility, relations, and communication. Ricardo Mbarkho organized a "Week-end Pierre-Yves Fave Portes Ouvertes" from Friday June 4, 1999, 4 pm, to Saturday June 5, 1999, noon. And from Saturday June 5, 1999, 8 pm, to Monday June 7, 1999, 10 am. The invitation paper was simply mentioning: “You are invited to visit Pierre-Yves in his home". Address: 46 bis, Rue Jean Moulin. 93260 Les Lilas - France. Opening: Friday June 4, 1999, 4 pm.
Documentations exhibited at:
2009 - [Since Art], microARTos, Contemporary Art Center, Madrid, Spain
A trip from Paris to Juvisy is the context of this video. The images that move horizontally with the train movements put us in the beginning of the film in a Parisian landscape. This landscape becomes a portrait after an accident that occurs during the travel and a "smooth" plot catch the spectators for 52 min to discover the climax at the end of the trail, at the end of the "unachieved" trip.
