HEROES OF A TRANSITIONAL TIME by HAIG PAPAZIAN

Heroes of a Transitional Time is a body of work following research on representations of masculinity, heroism, and martyrdom in the context of the Armenian Diaspora community of Lebanon and its secret revolutionary armies during the '80s until their dissolution in the mid '90s. One part of this concerns not just the actual material manifestations of this cultural milieu (i.e. newspaper articles, novels, children’s books, posters, and illustrations) but also the cultural (re)production of such narratives in the public sphere (i.e. shows on pirated radio wavelengths, patriotic songs, and other non-visual components).

The three pieces are set in an indefinite post-heroic transitional time. They knit together personal experiences with childhood imaginations and desires to search for gaps in order to narrate processes of hero-fabrication. It is in such a prolonged temporality that these men seem to exist; some auditioning for a battle that is already in the past, some remaining caught in an endless ideological repetition, while others explore the erotic potential of their trained hyper-muscular bodies.

Heroes of a Transitional Time will be part of Ashkal Alwan's Open Studios event; follow the link for more

http://www.facebook.com/events/322029717888972/

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