BIOS*

NB This is not a website but a notebook.
Most bodies of works presented here are only sketches, drawings or thoughts.
Their final form takes shape when exhibited in real space & time.







Georges Salameh

Greek-Lebanese lens based artist & filmmaker.
Born in Beirut, 1973.
Studied Film at Paris VIII St. Denis.
Lived in Beit Mery, Larnaca, Athens, Paris, Cairo and Palermo.
Since 1998, has created video & photographic installations, directed documentaries, experimental, animation and essay films.

Artiste visuel et cinéaste Gréco-libanais.
Né à Beyrouth, 1973.
A étudié le cinéma à Paris VIII St. Denis.
A vécu à Beit Mery, Larnaca, Athènes, Paris, le Caire et Palerme.
Depuis 1998, a créé des installations vidéo et photographiques, réalisé des documentaires, des films expérimentaux, d'animation et d'art et essais.









I’ve been working in the field of filmmaking and fine art photography for many years now, but my utmost aspiration is still poetry. So in a way I always put my visual craftsmanship at the service of this unattainable goal, since I don't really write eloquently, in any of the five languages I speak! 
My approach and research has been idiosyncratic, experiential, shaped around the notion of sedimentation, both in the physical and metaphysical sense, through a creative comparison of reality, languages, and narratives. My raw materials are archives, recordings, reconstructions, gestures, peripatetic practices and a sense of listening and hearing. My projects are produced over long periods of time (4-12 years), waiting for this minimum sedimentation to occur. What I call creative comparison of reality is a long process of dialectic creativity that accompanies and informs my work through different stages. 
From the first moment of shooting until the final edit proposal, it’s a continuous flow of layering and shaping. However, what is visible to the viewer and emerges, is only what is visible on the surface, the last layer & its cracks. A final form is just the end of that process. What is initially subjective, all along the way, becomes distant and timeless.
All my projects are intuitive responses to emotionally resonant ideas and experiences. They look more like a letter to a friend, words said or left unsaid, all floating down the stream of oblivion. 
Oblivion leaves sediments too, on the surface of cities, mounts, valleys or in the depths of the sea. It may in time become memory.


Je travaille dans le domaine du cinéma et de la photographie depuis de nombreuses années , mais ma plus grande aspiration reste la poésie. Donc, d'une certaine manière, je mets toujours mon savoir-faire visuel au service de cet objectif inaccessible, puisque je n'écris pas vraiment avec éloquence, dans aucune des cinq langues que je parle !
Mon approche et mes recherches ont été idiosyncratiques, expérimentales, façonnées autour de la notion de sédimentation, à la fois au sens physique et métaphysique, à travers une comparaison créative de la réalité, des langages et des récits. Mes matières premières sont des archives, des enregistrements, des reconstructions, des gestes, des pratiques péripatéticiennes et un sens de l'écoute et de l'ouïe. Mes projets sont produits sur de longues périodes de temps (4-12ans), attendant que cette sédimentation minimale se produise. Ce que j'appelle la comparaison créative de la réalité est un long processus de créativité dialectique qui accompagne et informe mon travail à travers différentes étapes.
Du premier moment de la prise de vue jusqu'à la proposition du montage finale, c'est un flux continu de superposition et de mise en forme. Cependant, ce qui est visible pour le spectateur et émerge, n'est que ce qui est visible en surface, la dernière couche et ses fissures. La forme final n'est que la fin de ce processus. Ce qui est d'abord subjectif, tout au long du parcours, devient lointain et intemporel.
Tous mes projets sont des réponses intuitives à des idées et des expériences émotionnellement résonnantes. Ils ressemblent plus à une lettre à un ami, des mots dits ou non-dits, le tout flottant sur le ruisseau de l'oubli.
L'oubli laisse aussi des sédiments, à la surface des villes, des monts, des vallées ou dans les profondeurs de la mer. Avec le passage du temps cela peut devenir une mémoire.










works

CAHIERS DE LA PAIX (1998-2006)

CAHIERS DE LA CRISE (2007-2017)

CAHIERS DE L'OUBLI (2006-...)





photography exhibitions (selected)

No Country For Young Men - Bozar (Bruxelles, Belgium March 2014)

Depression Era - Benaki Museum (Athens, Greece, Nov 2014 - Jan 2015)

Alien Territory - Medphoto (Rethymno, Greece June-Sept 2016)

CRITICAL ARCHIVES III: IDENTITIES - Medphoto (Rethymno, Greece, Jan-March 2018)

PHOTO-GRAPHE - Benaki Museum (Athens, Greece, Nov. 2018-Jan.2019)

Depression Era - SLOUGHT (Philadelphia, USA Jan-Feb. 2019)

Anatomy of Political Melancholy (Athens, Greece, Feb.-April 2019)

TOURISTS - 13,700,000 km^3 - Pythagorion Art Space (Samos, Greece, Aug.4–Sept. 30, 2019 )

Upper Lane, Lower Lane (Athens, Greece, March 2020)

Mediterranean Flux (Naxos, Greece, Sept. 2020)

PUBLIC DOMAIN - MOMus (Thessaloniki, Greece April 2022)

THE SEA AROUND US - TAVROS (Athens, Greece, Oct. 2022 Jan. 2023)

(CO)LABROTARY FOR CITIZENSHIP - VICTORIA SQUARE PROJECT (Athens, Greece, May-June 2022)

WHERE DO THE WILD THINGS GROW   (Athens, Greece, April - May 2023)

THE WAY WE WERE: A PHOTO ALBUM FROM CARLOVASSIA & BEYOND - Schwarz foundation (Samos, Greece July-Aug. 2023)

Λαυρεωτική Γη  (Lavrio, Greece, September 2023)





audio-visual installations (selected)

OLIVESCAPES - Cultural center KETHEA-Diavasi (Athens, Greece, June 2001)

SARANDIS - Athens. Metropolis by default - Bios (Athens, Greece, Nov. 2002)

SCRUSCIU - International Kansk Video festival (Kansk, Russia, August 2008)

MAESMAK - Blown Up A la recherche des élèves de Deleuze - Exhibition curated by Silvia Maglioni & Graeme Thomson (Paris, France December 2009)

HAFEZ FROM ANFEH - Third Nature - Antonopoulou Art Gallery (Athens, Greece June 2010)

STILL BURNT - Mirfestival 2010 (Athens, Greece September 2010)

RED POKER - Détours S8mm Film Festival (Santorini, Greece August 2010)

CASA AUT - ex casa Badalamenti (Sicily, Cinizi, 11-27 November 2011)

LET US STOP AND WEEP - Origini - Dimora OZ (Palermo, Italy March 2015)

NABIL & CORNI - Depression Era - Biennale 5 (Thessaloniki, Greece July-Sept 2015)

NABIL & CORNI - TOURISTS - Culturescapes (Basel, Switzerland, Oct. 2017 - Jan. 2018)

MAESMAK - A Field Guide To Getting Lost Vol.2 (Aegina, Greece, Sept.2019)

LET US STOP AND WEEP - Eglise (Palermo, Sicily, Feb.2020)

ΤΟ ΙΚΡΙΩΜΑ - THF_RAW (Athens, Greece, March-May 2023)





 film festivals (selected)

MOUNT FALAKRO - Trieste Documentary Film Festival (Trieste, Italy Jan. 2008)

MAESMAK - London International Documentary Festival (UK, April 2009)

MAESMAK - CON-CAN Movie Festival (Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 2009)
AUDIENCE AWARD

MAESMAK - Luksuz Film Festival (Ljubljana, Slovenia Sept. 2009) Best Experimental Film

MAESMAK - Strange Screen Experimental Film Festival (Thessaloniki, Greece Oct 2009) 2nd prize for Best Experimental Video

MAESMAK - Teheran Short Film Festival (Teheran, Iran, Nov 2009) Best Documentary International Competition

TI VITTI - FICTS (Milano, Italy, Dec 2012) Guirlande d’Honneur for Best Short Documentary

THE INVISIBLE HANDS - Documenta14 (Athens, Greece, April-June 2017)

THE INVISIBLE HANDS - Berlinale Forum Expanded (Berlin, Germany, February 2018) - Awarded the 10th Giuseppe Becce Prize for Best Music by independent critics Jury at Berlinale (International Premiere)

THE INVISIBLE HANDS - 20st Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (Greece, March 2018)

THE INVISIBLE HANDS - CPH:DOX – Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (Copenhagen, Denmark, March 2019)

CLAW MACHINE - Sole Luna Doc (Palermo, Sicily, August 2023)
2 AWARDS / PREMIO FILM FOR OUR FUTURE & AUDIENCE AWARD

CLAW MACHINE - REEF (Kobayet, Lebanon, Sept. 2023)
AWARD / SHORT FILM COMPETITION FIRST PRIZE

CLAW MACHINE - Animasyros Animation film Festival (Syros, Greece, Sept 2023)
AWARD / BEST GREEK FILM

HIPPODAMIA - Chania Film Festival (Greece Oct 2023)

CLAW MACHINE - Dubai Film Festival (UAE, Jan 2024)
HONORABLE MENTION 

CLAW MACHINE -LOS ANGELES GREEK FILM FESTIVAL (U.S.A, June 2024)
SPECIAL JURY AWARD

CLAW MACHINE -Aigio International Short Film Festival (Greece, June 2024)
AUDIENCE AWARD





collaborations (selected)

DEPRESSION ERA collective's co-founder & contributing artist & curator (Athens, Greece 2011-2019)

PHASES MAGAZINE - contributing editor (France/Greece 2015-2017)

URBANAUTICA INSTITUTE - contributing editor (Treviso, Italy June 2015-2019)





curator & jury (selected)

VENTO DEL NORD - film festival program curator (Lampedusa, Italy July 2011)

VIDEOEX Festival - Jury (Zurich, Switzerland 2011)

DEPRESSION ERA - co-curator of the collective's installation within the 5th Biennale of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki Greece July-Sept 2015)

ORMOS - curator Exhibition (Palermo, Italy January 2016)

Mobilities in/of Crises: Critical Investigations - CAESURA (Athens, Greece 2018)

DEPRESSION ERA - co-curator of the collective's exhibition at SLOUGHT (Philadelphia, USA Jan-Feb. 2019)

PLATEAU 034 - co-curator of the exhibition at Zoetrope (Athens, Greece, June 2019)

DEPRESSION ERA - co-curator of the collective's TOURISTS installation within 13,700,000 km^3 exhibition at Pythagorion Art Space (Samos, Greece, August 4–September 30, 2019 )

Τhe Id – RECONSTRUCTING FAMILY - curator of the collective exhibition at MedPhoto Festival & EFEK (Iraklio, Crete, Greece Nov 2019 – Dec 2019) &  (Rethymno, Crete, Greece Sept. 2020-oct-2020)

THE WAY WE WERE: A PHOTO ALBUM FROM CARLOVASSIA & BEYOND - co-curator of the exhibition at Schwarz foundation (Samos, Greece July-Aug. 2023)

ΠΑΝΟΡΑΜΑ ΤΑΙΝΙΩΝ ΜΙΚΡΟΥ ΜΗΚΟΥΣ - Jury (Athens, Greece 2023)





workshops (selected)

ORIGINI (Palermo, Italy March 2015)

PERIPATETICS (Athens, Greece Feb-March 2016)

OPEN ARCHIVE (Philadelphia, USA Jan 2019)

ΣΙΝΕΜΆ ΑΚΡΟΤΉΡΙ (Santorini, Greece Oct 2021)

DAEDALA (Chania, Greece Nov 2021)

PERIPATETICS (Larissa, 2023-2024)





talks (selected)

MILANO CITTA APERTA - DEPRESSION ERA (Milano, Italy 2015)

MINIMUM - PHASES MAGAZINE (Palermo, Italy 2016)

ORAMA - BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY (Athens, Greece 2017)

Rethymno's Photographic Lessons - BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY (Rethymno, Greece 2019)

Sync Cu­ra­to­r­ial Fel­low­ship - Swedish Institute at Athens (Athens, Greece 2019)

Mediterranean Flux (Naxos, Greece, Sept. 2020)

Art Athina - The origins of others (Athens, Greece, 2021)

Irida Visions - BEYOND PHOTOGRAPHY (Athens, Greece 2023)

ΑΚΣΠΑ - Το βλέμμα (Athens, Greece 2024)





interviews (selected)

URBANAUTICA (Italy 2015)

Arts in Society (Netherlands 2021)

Loupe Magazine (UK 2021)

Photologio (GR, 2021)

Ta Nea (GR, 2023)

ATHENS DESIGN FORUM (GR, 2024)





TV broadcast

THE RECEPTION - ERT2/ERTFLIX - Greek national TV (Greece, 2020) 





book

HEAR YOU ATHENS (Greece, 2021)

OLIVER OMAR SALAMEH (Greece, 2024)





features & publications (selected)

PHOTOGRAPHIC ASPECTS AND VIEWS - exhibition catalogue (Greece 2001)

SPLEEN/DEPRESSION ERA - exhibition catalogue (Greece 2011)

PAPER JOURNAL MAGAZINE - feature (UK 2014)

AINT BAD MAGAZINE - magazine edition (USA 2014)

ΝΟΜΙΚΗ ΒΙΒΛΙΟΘΙΚΗ - book cover (Greece 2015)

APERTURE MAGAZINE - magazine edition (USA 2016)

PHASES MAGAZINE - feature (France/Greece 2018)

LIFO - feature (Greece 2018)

L'OEIL DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE - feature (France 2018)

KASTANIOTIS - 2 book covers (Greece 2018)

POINT DE FUITE - book edition (France 2019)

REVUE CAMERA - magazine edition (France 2018)

HARPER'S MAGAZINE - magazine edition (USA 2019)

Mouvement - magazine edition (France 2020)

Kathimerini - Newspaper edition (Greece 2020)

SACRED - Urbanautica Institute (Italy 2020)

Aletheia - book cover (Russia 2020)

OPPORTUNA - book cover (Greece 2022)

Magellan & Cie - book cover (France 2022)

ARKAD - essay (Italy 2023)





digital collections

FOUND & LOST (2010-2015)

OPEN ARMS (2013-...)

AANZOUA (2020-...)

MIKINSEH (2024-...)





 contact & news


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