Katia Jarjoura
Lebanon, 2014
Dimensions: 180 mm x 210 mm
It’s hot, tense and sticky. I’m here to film the repercussions of the Syrian conflict on its neighbor for the channel ARTE. The country is on the brink of another civil war. Hezbollah’s Shiite militia has crossed the border to support the dying Assad regime, and the Sunnis, who side with the rebels, are furious. The sectar- ian divide is at its peak, with frequent bombings and violent protests.
It’s a mess. And I’ve picked the wrong notebook. All the pages are falling apart. Except for the one on display that holds a bit of everything: analysis, names, directions, Arabic letters, even the national flag. And a quote by my late friend and activist Lokman Slim, who was assassinated a few years later, in February 2021, in South Lebanon.
What’s curious is the cover of this notebook, featuring the Comédie-Française — where did I even get it? Maybe it stands as a metaphor for my country, which I’ve always seen as a kind of surreal theater play, or a wild masquerade.
