Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige
Filmmakers and artists Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige (b. 1969, Beirut) weave thematic, conceptual and formal links between photography, video installations, fiction and documentary films. Self-taught, they became filmmakers and visual artists out of necessity in the aftermath of the Lebanese civil wars. Their highly personal research has led them to explore the sphere of the visible and the absent, nurturing a fascinating back-and-forth between life and fiction. For over 15 years, their films and works, produced from personal or political documents, have been developing narratives about stories kept secret from the dominant narrative.
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige build their work on the production of knowledge, the rewriting of history and the construction of imaginary worlds, as well as on the modalities of contemporary narration, drawing on the experience of their own country while transcending its borders. The investigative process they adopt, and their questioning of territory - both geographical and individual - give their work a unique aesthetic.
Their works take into account the complexity of situations to shift the gaze and question both the division of today's world and the contemporary challenges of the image.
SOLO SHOWS
2024
Comme le jour se fait lorsque la nuit s'en va, Galerie In Situ-fabienne leclerc, Grand Paris, France
2022
Messages with(out) a code, Third Line Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2021
Rewind fast forward, galerie In Situ - fabienne leclerc, FR
2020
J'ai regardé si fixement la beauté, FRAC Corse, FR
Festival Travelling, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, FR
2019
On Scams, The Power Plant, Toronto, CA
2018
Film retrospective, Oslo Kunstforening in partnership with the Cinemateket, Oslo, NO
I Stared at Beauty So Much, The Model, The Mall, Sligo, IE
Unconformities, Onassis Cultural Center, Fast Forward Festival, Athènes, GR
2017
Two suns in a sunset - Se souvenir de la lumière, IVAM, Valencia, ES
Still in need to Apologize..., Tranzitdisplay, Prague, CZ
Se souvenir de la lumière, Musée national Pablo Picasso, La Guerre et la Paix, Vallauris, FR
Two suns in a sunset, Haus der Kunst, Munich, DE
I must first apologize..., MIT List Visual Art Center, Boston, US
Two suns in a sunset, Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, AE
Se souvenir de la lumière, Jeu de Paume, Paris, FR
2015
Film retrospective, MoMA, New York, US
I must first apologize...HOME (curators Omar Kholeif & Sarah Perks), Manchester, GB
2014
Je dois tout d'abord m'excuser / I must first apologise, Villa Arson, Nice, FR
2013
The Lebanese Rocket Society : A tribute to Dreamers (part II, III, IV, V, VI), In Situ - fabienne leclerc, Paris, FR
KHIAM, l'emploi du temps, 3 bis F, Lieux d'art contemporain, Aix-en-Provence, FR
The Lebanese Rocket Society, CRG Gallery, New York, US
2012
How soon is now : a Tribute to Dreamers, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, LB
2010
Histoire du vent, Commande publique du ministère de la culture et de la communication, Festival d'Avignon, FR
Is there anybody out there?, In Situ - fabienne leclerc, Paris, FR
I want to see, Gasworks, Triangle Arts Trust, London, GB
2009
Wonder Beirut, Centre de la photographie de Genève, CH
Wish we could tell, Space Gallery (Part of Image Festival), Toronto, CA
Je suis là même si tu ne me vois pas, I am here even if you don't see me, Galerie Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montréal, Québec, CA
Tel des oasis dans le désert, Eglise des Célestins, Festival d'Avignon, FR
Faces, Art première, Art Basel, Basel, CH
We could be heroes just for one day, Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris, FR
2008
Circulo de confusion, Museo Gijón, Gijón, ES
We could be heroes just for one day, Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris, FR
Histoires tenues secrètes, Fort du Bruissin, Francheville, FR
Back to the present, Homeworks IV, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, LB
2007
Où sommes-nous ?, Espace Topographique de l'art, Paris, FR
Circle of Confusion, CRG Gallery, New York, US
2000
Wonder Beirut, Ecole régionale des Beaux Arts, Rennes, FR
1998
Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Beirut, LB
1997
Beyrouth: Fictions urbaines, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, FR
GROUP SHOWS
2025
Soil: The World at Our Feet, Somerset House, Londres, UK
Exils, Louvre Lens, FR
Dans la Seine, Crypte archéologique de l'ile de la Cité, Paris, FR
The Circle Was a Point, Foundry, Dubai, UAE
Rebel Garden, Groeningemuseum, Gruuthusemuseum et Museum Sint-Janshospitaal, Bruges, BE
Home Works 9, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut, LB
Les formes de la ruine, Musée des Beaux Arts, Lyon, FR
Beirut and the Golden Sixties, Mathaf, Doha, QA
Sharjah Biennal 15: Thinking Historically in the Present, Biennale de Sharjah, UAE
The Memory Palace, Art Safari, Bucharest, RO
Dans l'air, les machines volantes, Hangar Y - Art Explora, Paris, FR
Fake News 2, La Condition Publique, Roubaix, FR
Lucid Knowledge, Currency: 8th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2022, Hamburg, GE
17e écrans du réel, Metropolis Cinema Association, Beyrut, LB
A Manifesto of Fragility, 16e Biennale d'art contemporain, Lyon, FRBeirut and the Golden Sixties : A Manifesto of Fragility, Gropius Bau, Berlin, GE
Méditerraner, Friche la Belle de Mai, Marseille, FR
Miroir du ciel, Exposition dans le cadre du 20è anniversaire du Prix Marcel Duchamp, Espace de l'Art Concret, Mouans Sartoux, FR
Scratching the Surface, Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, DE
Reflections: contemporary art of the Middle East and North Africa, British Museum, Londres, GB
Fake news, Fondation EDF, Paris, FR
2020
Under the Cold River Bed, 12th Taipei Biennial, TW
Trembling Landscapes, Between Reality and Fictions, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, ND
Potential Worlds 2: Eco-Fictions, Migros Museum, Zurich, CH
Le temps se lève, Mac Val, Vitry-sur-Seine, FR
Et maintenant, le dessin..., In Situ - Fabienne Leclerc, Romainville, FR
2019
Libres, Centre d'art contemporain Yverdon-Les-Bains, Yverdon-Les-Bains, CH
Récits Invisible, La Chapelle Saint Jacques Centre d'Art Contemporain, Saint-Gaudens, FR
Time Forward!, V-A-C Foundation, Venise, IT
?Your footsteps are the road, for there is no road?-- A tour amid the artists of the Marcel Duchamp Prize, Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing, CN
C'est Beyrouth, Institut des Cultures d'Islam, Paris, FR
Collecting Photography: From Daguerreotype to Digital, V&A Photography Center, London, UK
Cartes postales, nouvelles d'un monde rêvé, Les rencontres de la photographie, Arles, FR
2018
Le Grand Ecart/Bridging the gap, TsingHua University Art Museum, Pékin, CH
Fast Forward Festival, Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens, GR
I Stared at Beauty So Much, 30th Anniversary of the Darat al Funun Arts and Cultural Center, Amman, JO
But a Storm is Blowing from Paradise, GAM Milano, Milan, IT
2017
The Haunted House, National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow, RU
Home Beirut. Sounding Neighbors, MAXXI, Rome, IT
La terre la plus contraire, Fondation Fernet-Branca, FR
Conductivités, MUCEM, Marseille, FR
Tous, des sang-mêlés, MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine, FR
Ismyrne, Documenta 14, Athens, GR
En marge, In Situ - fabienne leclerc Paris, FR
2016
But a Storm Is Blowing from Paradise, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, US
Archéologie du présent, Musée d'art moderne Saint-Etienne Métropole, FR
Répétition, Fondation Boghossian, Villa Empain, Brussels, BE
Electronic Superhighway, Whitechapel Gallery, London, GB
2015
Villa Stuck, Munich, DE
All the World?s Futures, 56th Venice Biennale, IT
Streamlines, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, DE
Lest the Two Seas Meet, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, PL
Territoire d?affects, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut, LB
2014
Libelle, 2009-2012, Galerie des Multiples, Paris, FR
Art by telephone...Recalled, La Panacée, Montpellier, FR
Adelaide Festival, Adelaide, AU
Une Histoire, Centre Pompidou/Musée national d?art moderne, Paris, FR
Visual Dialogues 2013, Onassis Cultural Centre, Athens, GR
Lasting Images, Guggenheim Museum, New York, US
Libelle, 2009-2012, Galerie des Multiples, Paris, FR
Art by telephone...Recalled, La Panacée, Montpellier, FR
Adelaide Festival, Adelaide, AU
2013
Long ago, and not true anyway, Waterside Contemporary, London, GB
Terms & Conditions, SAM, Singapore Art Museum, SG
Vue d'en haut, Centre Pompidou Metz, Metz, FR
Ici, Ailleurs, Marseille Provence 2013, Friche belle de Mai, Marseille, FR
Encounters, Royal Academy of Arts & Katara, Doha, QA
Galerie de la Méditerranée, MUCEM, Marseille, FR
Shifting Sands, CACSA Contempory Art Center for South Australia, Adelaide, AU Accrochage permanent, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
Brouillon, Argos, Kaaitheater Belgium & Musée de la danse, Rennes, FR
Sweet Sixties : Stories and Morals, Gallery Nova, WHW, Zagreb, HR
2012
Kochi Muziris Biennale, Kochi Kerala, IN
Light from the Middle East, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, GB
Six Lines of Flight : Shifting Geographies in Contempory Art, SFMoMA, San Francisco, US
Round Table, The 9th Gwangju Biennale, KR
Arab Express: The Latest Art from the Arab World, Mori Art Museum, JP
L'Histoire est à moi (Printemps de Septembre), Toulouse, FR
Beirut 2, Cap Kuwait, KW
L'institut des archives sauvages, Villa Arson, Nice, FR
Triennale Palais de Tokyo « intense proximity », Okwui Enwezor, Claire Staebler, Emilie Renard et Mélanie Bouteloup, Paris, FR
2011
Seeing is believing, KW Institute, Berlin, DE
12e Biennale d'Istanbul, TR
11e Biennale de Lyon, La sucrière, Lyon, FR
Paysages avec objets absents, Centre d'art de Fribourg, Fribourg, CH
Open frame, premier volet, Centre régional d'art contemporain Languedoc-Roussillon, Sète, FR
2010
Soft Machine, Panorama 12, Le Fresnoy, Studio des Arts Contemporains, Tourcoing, FR
La revanche de l'archive photographique, Centre de la photographie de Genève, CH
Perpetual Battles, Baibakova Art Project, Moscow, RU
Utopie(s), Curated by Jany Bourdais, Centre Culturel Français, Beirut, LB
Brouillon, Musée de la danse, Rennes, FR
Nobody's Property: Art, Land, Space, 2000-2010, Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, US
2009
Fonction Critique, Aperto, Montpellier, FR
Fictions du réel, Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, FR
Promised Lands, 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contempory Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, AU
Crossing (Traversées), Bab Rouah, & Bab el Kébir, Rabat, MA
Image in Question, 41st national Artists' Salon Cali, Colombia, US
9th Edition of the Sharjah Biennial, Sharjah, UE
Zones of Conflict, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York, US
2008
Zones of Conflict, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, US
Roads were opened/roads were closed, Gallery The Third Line, Dubai, AE
Art now in Lebanon, Darat al Funun, The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman, JO
Forum Homeworks 4, organised by the Ashkal Alwan association, Beirut, LB
Conspire, House of World Cultures, Berlin, DE
Orients Sans Frontières, Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris, FR
Fondation jordanienne « Darat el Funun », (organised by Sfeir-Semler gallery, Beirut), Amman, JO
Orients Sans Frontières, Espace Louis Vuitton, Paris, FR
Stratégies de l'histoire, Stratégie de l'art, 6th Biennale de Goumri, AM
2007
Ah les belles images, In Situ - fabienne leclerc, Paris, FR
Ah les belles images, La Tolerie, Clermont Ferrand, FR
Distorted Fabric, De Apple, Amsterdam, NL
Whenever it starts, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, DE
2006
Côté court, Pantin, FR
Taking place, Charlottenborg, Copenhaguen, DK
Out of Beirout, Modern Art, Oxford, GB
2005
Sequence of tense, Art Space Pool, Seoul, KR
Forum HOMEWORKS 3, Galerie Sfeir Semler, Beirut, LB
2004
Present Absent, Gallery Tanit, Munich, DE
Love it or leave it, Monténégro Biennale, ME
Appel à témoin, Le Quartier, Quimper, France Mediterraneans, Macro, Rome, IT
Lift Theatre, London, GB
Nazar, Nooderlich Photofestival, Akerkhof, NL
2003
Tramway, Glasgow, GB
Deslocamentos, VideoBrazil, Sao Paolo, BR
Forum HOMEWORKS 2, Beirut, LB
2002
Iconoclash, ZKM, Karlsruhe, DE
Fundamentalism of the New Order, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, DK
2001
Missing links, Gallery Townhouse, Cairo, EG
2000
Espace vital, La Criée, Rennes, FR
Ecole régionale des Beaux Arts, Rennes, FR
Espace Mira Phalaina, Montreuil, FR
Filmography
2021
Memory Box, Fiction 95 min, Post production
2016
Ismyrna,doc 50 min
2012
The Lebanese Rocket Society: The Strange Tale of the Lebanese Space Race. Documentaire, 35 mm, 95?,16:9, Dolby Digital.
2008
Je veux voir. Documentary, 35 mm, 75?, 2.35, Dolby SR. Mille et une Productions (FR), Abbout Productions (LB). 2008.
Selected for Un Certain Regard, Festival de Cannes.
2006
Open the Door, Please. Fiction, 35 mm, 11?, 2.35, Dolby SR. Tara Films (FR), Arte TV (FR). International distribution by umedia (BE), Zelig Films (FR) for Enfance, a feature composed of six short films made by six film makers. 2006.
Distributed in theatres by Les Cahiers du Cinéma.
2005
Yawmoun Akhar / A Perfect Day. Fiction, 35 mm, 88?, 1.85, Dolby SR. Mille et une Productions (FR), Abbout Productions (LB), Twenty Twenty Vision (DE). International distribution by Celluloid Dreams (FR). 2005.
Selected for the Locarno International Film Festival (FIBRESCI Prize, Don Quijote Prize), Toronto International Film Festival, Athens International Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, Namur International Film Festival (Bayard d?Or, Best Actor, Special Mention: Best Film), Reykjavik International Film Festival, London International Film Festival, Dubai International Film Festival, Tokyo Filmex, Gijón International Film Festival, Trois Continents Nantes Film Festival (Mongolfière d?Argent Meilleur Film, Montgolfière d?Or Meilleur Acteur, Meilleure Bande Son), Entrevues Belfort Film Festival, Premiers Plans Angers Film Festival, Muscat International Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival.
2003
Ramad / Cendres. Fiction, 35 mm, 26?, 1.85, Dolby SR. Mille et une Productions (FR), Abbout Productions (LB). 2003. Distributed by CinéCinéma Auteur.
Selected for the Locarno International Film Festival, Marrakech International Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Montpelier International Film Festival, Trieste International Film Festival (Special Jury Prize), Amiens International Film Festival, Rouen International Film Festival (Grand Prix), Musée du Jeu de Paume Film Festival, Créteil International Film Festival, Tribeca International Film Festival, Pantin International Film Festival (Prix GNCR), Biennale de l?Institut du monde arabe, Carthage International Film Festival, Beirut International Film Festival, Rabat International Film Festival, Casablanca International Film Festival, Dubai International Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, Aubervilliers International Film Festival, FACT Liverpool International Film Festival, Cologne KunstFilmBiennal, Art Space Pool Korea, Berlin International Film Festival. Selected as part of the twelve best short films for the César 2005.
2003
Al Film El Mafkoud / Le film perdu. Documentary, DV cam, Digital Beta, 42min. Idéale Audience (FR), Abbout Productions (LB). Distributed by Idéale Audience (FR). 2003.
Selected for the Rotterdam International Film Festival (Prix Machin), Viennale International Film Festival, Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, Montpelier International Film Festival, Amiens International Film Festival, Allès Itinérance International Film Festival, Curtas Vila do Condo International Film Festival, Brisbane International Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival, Festival Né Beirut, Jihalva International Film Festival, Amakula International Film Festival.
Shown at the Georges Eastman Museum, US; Reina Sofia Museum, ES; Musée du Jeu de Paume, FR; Tramway, Glasgow, GB; Le Quartier, Quimper, FR; Film Casino, Vienna, AT; Lift Theatre, London, GB; Galerie Tanit, Munich, DE; Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, DE; FACT, Liverpool, GB; Art Space Pool, KR; Nazar Noorderlicht Photofestival, NL; ifa-Galerie, Stuttgart, DE; Le Plateau, Paris, FR; Musée du Louvre, Paris, FR.
Al Film El Mafkoud is a part of the FNAC, acquired in 2004.
2001
Barmé / Rondes. Fiction, Mini DV, 7?30??. France 3 (FR) Future TV (LB).
Shown at Laughter, LIFT, London, GB; Present Absent, Galerie Tanit, Munich, DE; Gallery Home, Toronto, CA; Boch og Fjord, DN; Frankfurt Kunstverein, DE.
2000
Khiam. Documentary, Béta SP, 52?. Abbout Productions (LB). Distributed by Idéale Audience Internationale (FR).
Selected for the FIPA 2001 Biarritz, San Francisco International Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Marseille International Film Festival, Munich International Film Festival, Beirut International Film Festival, Les Rencontres Internationales de Paris, Amiens International Film Festival, Les Écrans Documentaires Gentilly, Vesoul International Asian Film Festival, London International Film Festival, Milan International Film Festival, Songe d'une nuit DV Saint-Denis, Vancouver International Film Festival, San Francisco International Arab Film Festival, Carthage International Film Festival, Vidéobrasil.
Shown at the Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris, FR; Centre d'art contemporain La Criée, Rennes, FR; Photo Cairo, EG; Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris, FR; Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, Rennes, FR; INOVA Gallery, US; Reina Sofia Museum, ES; MK2 Bibliothèque, Paris, FR; Galerie Tanit, Munich, DE; Lift Theatre, London, GB; Art Space Pool, KR; Montenegro Biennale, ME.
1999
Al Bayet Al Zaher / Autour de la Maison Rose. Fiction, 35 mm, 92?, 1.85, Dolby SR. Mille et une Productions (FR), Les Ateliers du Cinéma Québécois (CA). Diffusé sur: Canal+, Canal Horizon, TV5, CFI, LBCI, Showtime, Al Arabia. Sabbah Media Group (LB), 1999, DVD.
Selected for the San Francisco International Film Festival, Festival des Films du Monde Montréal, Montpellier International Film Festival, Bastia International Film Festival, Carthage International Film Festival, Pacific Film Archive Berkeley, Beirut International Film Festival, Human Rights Watch Film Festival New York, Cairo International Film Festival, Cologne International Film Festival, Osaka International Film Festival, Göteborg International Film Festival, Mannheim International Film Festival, Sao Paolo International Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, London International Film Festival, Brussels International Film Festival, Kassel International Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Bibliography
Cata
- Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige. Se souvenir de la lumière, Coédition Jeu de Paume / Sharjah Art Foundation / Haus der Kunst / Institut Valencià d?Art Modern / Koenig Books, 2016.
- Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige. Les Rumeurs du monde. Repenser la confiance à l?âge de l?Internet. Sous la dir. d?Omar Kholeif, Berlin, Sternberg Press, 2015.
- Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, sous la dir. de Clément Diri., Zurich, JRP | Ringier / Montréal, Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, 2013.
- Le Cinéma de Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige. Entretiens avec Quentin Mével, Independencia, Paris, 2013.
- El Blanco de los Orígenes. Cuaderno de Textos e Imágenes sobre el Cine de Joana Hadjithomas y Khalil Joreige. Festival International de Ciné de Gijón, Gijón, 2008.
- Joana Hadjithomas et Khalil Joreige. Je veux voir. Cahiers du cinéma, coll. « Carnets de cinéastes », Paris, 2007.
Livres d'artistes
- Libelle, Paris: Rosascape, 2012.
- Images latentes: journal d?un photographe, Paris: Rosascape, 2010.
- Aida, Save Me, Paris: Tamyras, 2010.
- Wonder Beirut. Histoire d?un photographe pyromane: La Bataille des hôtels, Paris: Espace Louis Vuitton, 2008.
- Beyrouth, fictions urbaines, Beirut: Mind the gap, 1997.
2021
Prix Pictet, UK
2017
Prix Marcel Duchamp, FR
Best Documentary Award for The Lebanese Rocket Society: The Strange Tale of the Lebanese Space Race, Doha Tribeca Festival, QA
Abraaj Capital Art Prize, Dubai, AE
2008
Best Singular Film Prize for Je veux voir, Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma et des Films de Télévision, Paris, FR
Non-fiction and Documentary Award for Je veux voir, Gijón International Film Festival, ES
2006
Best Director Prize for A Perfect Day, Alexandria Mediterranean Film Festival, EG.
2005
Fipresci Prize for A Perfect Day, Locarno International Film Festival, CH
2003
Cendres was selected by the César Awards Academy, FR
2000
Around the Pink House represented Lebanon for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 72nd Academy Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, US
Abraaj Capital Art Prize, Dubai, UE
British Museum, London, GB
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'Art moderne, Paris, FR
Collection Saradar, Beiruit, LB
Fonds national d'art contemporain, Paris, FR
Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, FR
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, ES
National Contemporary Art Museum, Athens, GR
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, US
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, GB
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Two Suns in a Sunset
Sumaya Almarzouqi, Ismail Al Rifai, March 2016
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Se souvenir de la lumiere - Two suns in a sunset
Koenig Books Ltd, January 2016
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The Rumors of the World - Rethinking Trust in the Age of the Internet
Omar Kholeif - Sternberg Press, September 2015
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Joana Hadjithomas et Khalil Joreige
JRP Ringier, May 2013
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Le cinéma de Joana HADJITHOMAS & Khalil JOREIGE - Entretiens avec Quentin Mével
Independencia, March 2013
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Ah, les belles images!...Renaud Auguste-Dormeuil, Joana Hadjithomas et Kahail Joreige, Walid Raad
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Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige - Aida, save me
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WONDER BEIRUT- Histoire d'un photographe pyromane la bataile des hôtels
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Khalil JOREIGE & Joana HADJITHOMAS
Le centre d'art du 3bis f, Aix-en-Provence et le FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur,
