Marwan Rechmaoui was born in Lebanon, in 1964. Deriving inspiration from the geography and rich cultural history of Beirut, Rechmaoui’s work often reflects themes of urbanization and contemporary social and behavioral demographics. He uses industrial materials such as concrete, rubber, tar and glass to create tactile works on a large scale.

Rechamoui’s works have primarily focused on local landmarks, such as a reproduction of the modernist Yacoubian Building in Spectre (2006); and A Monument for the Living (2001), a large-scale architectural model of the derelict Burj Al Murr, which towers over downtown Beirut. His UNRWA series (2011) includes hand drawn maps on concrete, wood, and tin from Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, and a series of found objects exposing different cluster munitions collected after the 2006 war in Lebanon.

Rechmaoui’s solo exhibitions include Fortress in a Corner, Bishop Takes Over, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Lebanon (2016); Landscapes, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Lebanon (2011); Entre Asphalte et Béton, French Cultural Center in Lebanon (1998). He participated in several group exhibitions including Tamawuj, Sharjah Biennial 13” in UAE (2017); The Silent Echo at the Baalbek Roman Ruins, Lebanon (2016); 14th Istanbul Biennial in Istanbul (2015); Heartland, Beirut Exhibition Center, Lebanon (2015); and Here & Elsewhere, the New Museum, New York (2014).

Chris Keulemans (Tunis, 1960), is a traveling writer, journalist, curator and moderator. Until September 2014, he was the artistic director of Tolhuistuin, a new arts centre in Amsterdam. He grew up in Tunis, Baghdad and Jakarta, before settling in Amsterdam. There, he founded the literary bookshop Perdu, in 1984. During the nineties he worked at De Balie, centre for culture and politics in Amsterdam, first as a curator, later as director.

He has published six books, fiction and nonfiction, and numerous articles on art, social movements, migration, music, cinema and war for (inter)national newspapers and magazines. In the sphere of visual arts, architecture and design, he contributed to publications on Jonas Staal, Lidwien van de Ven, Anna Tilroe, Gert Urhahn, Fiona Tan, Sandberg Design Institute and NDSM Open. He traveled extensively to study art after a crisis in cities such as Beirut, Jakarta, Algiers, Prishtina, Sarajevo, Tirana, New York, New Orleans, Kiev and Ramallah.

For his work as the founder of Tolhuistuin he received the honorary pin of the Amsterdam city council and was appointed as the chronicler of the Northern part of town. In 2017 and 2018 he is performing, with Enkidu Khaled, on stage in the documentary theatre play Baghdad. Currently, he works as a mentor and moderator for the Central European Forum, European Cultural Foundation and Trans Europe Halles.

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Born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1981, where she currently resides, Maya Chami obtained a BS in graphic design from the Lebanese American University and completed a MA in digital arts at Camberwell College of Arts at the University of the Arts, London, UK. With a varied portfolio of graphic design and digital arts, her works include commissioned and personal projects, in addition to collaborations.

The live audio-visual animation created by Maya “Transitional Digital Objects” (2011), and presented in Beirut, London, Munich, and New York, explore the transitional aspect of digital objects in relation to autobiography. “Of Men, Champagne and Victory Aside” (2012), presented in Beirut and New York, offer a playful examination on the theme of the ‘victory sign’ in the Arab world.

Commissioned and collaborative works include “Au Quotidien” a digital moving image video presented in Chouftouhouna Festival in Tunisia, “Synapses 0” at Dawawine Beirut and in Clermont-Ferrand’s “Literature and Cinema” festival, videos for the set of “A Memory for Forgetfulness”, a play presented in Krefeld, Germany that was produced and directed by Maya Zbib of the Zoukak Theater Company and Cultural Association in Beirut. Other such works include an animated video collaboration with artist Dia Batal entitled, “What Myriam did not forget” presented at the Mosaic Rooms London and iconic works commissioned by artist Marwan Rechmaoui for the “Blazon” project presented at Home Works 7 in Beirut.

In 2018, she curated the exhibition “Keyword: Palestine”, An Art Exhibition and Auction in support of the Institute of Palestine Studies which took place at Dar El-Nimer in Beirut and virtually keywordpalestine.com