{"id":324647,"date":"2023-02-10T09:57:30","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T12:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=324647"},"modified":"2023-02-10T11:33:03","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T14:33:03","slug":"were-much-more-lebanese-than-we-realize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/were-much-more-lebanese-than-we-realize\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re much more Lebanese than we realize\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 \u201c\u2018Tcharafna<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 is what you say when you meet someone, like \u2018please to meet you.\u2019\u201d That\u2019s how artist Gui Mohallem <\/strong>explains the name of the section of his website featuring photos and videos of his trip to Lebanon. He visited the country his ancestors came from like someone who recognizes a part of themselves. \u201cWe\u2019re much more Lebanese than we realize,\u201d he said in a phone interview with ANBA.<\/p>\n

Born in Itajub\u00e1, Minas Gerais, the artist<\/strong> noticed how the foods and habits were similar when sitting at the table with his Lebanese cousins. \u201cIn Lebanon, I realized something I hadn\u2019t noticed before. The afternoon snack at my cousins\u2019 was the same we had [at my home] in Brazil. And at the same time, too. The only difference was that they had tea instead of coffee. My mother was the one who brough this Lebanese culture<\/strong> in the beginning of the [last] century. And this remains to this day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the table, za\u2019atar, tomatoes, olives, curd, and cake. Sometimes cake with curd. That\u2019s the household led by Rafic Youssef El Mouallem and Miriam Mohallem. He was born in Lebanon<\/strong> and came to Brazil at 19, while she is the daughter of Lebanese parents. They contributed in different ways to stay in touch with their origins, whether it was through cuisine or the Arabic words<\/strong> they used in card games.<\/p>\n

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The photographer visited Lebanon twice<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gui Mohallem was born on the second floor of his parents\u2019 textile factory. His family also has a farm, which used to hold dairy and beef cattle and now holds crops like banana and certified organic coffee. \u201cI always visit Itajub\u00e1. Despite travelling a lot for work, I like being around, cooking with my mother. Being in the farm, where my father plants figs, Lebanese grapes,\u201d he said. The artist has lived in S\u00e3o Paulo for 24 years.<\/p>\n

Photography and art<\/strong><\/p>\n

His love for arts emerged in a trip out of the country. \u201cI\u2019m the fifth child of a large family, the youngest, so I had opportunities like studying abroad. There I tried to learn things I had’nt know how to do. I studied woodworking, theater, and I took a course on audiovisual arts. I loved it, so I went on and studied Cinema and Video at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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The photographer’s father was raised close to the rural area and keeps this bond to this day.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In parallel to college, Mohallem started photographing. \u201cThen I worked for Folha de S. Paulo, Bravo [magazine]. I started a professional career as an artist, I did an exhibition in New York in 2008, then in Brazil. And I started mixing photography and video. I launched my first book in 2012, and that was the year when a I successfully applied to a program of the Ministry of Culture to visit Lebanon, he said.<\/p>\n

Going back to Lebanon<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the material he developed during his trip, the artist did an exhibition<\/strong> in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. In this first trip, the artist brough more work. \u201cOn my father\u2019s birthday, when he turned 80, I went back and brought a gift. A video of people from our family telling stories. I came back and went straight to the farm, I remember him watching, and he started responding [to the people in the video], and I explained, \u2018Dad, they can\u2019t hear you.\u2019 And he just said, \u2018Let me play around.\u2019 On that day I could see it in his eyes that he was crying. It was very beautiful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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In his trips, Mohallem visited his father\u2019s family<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a kind of exchange of video-letters, the artist returned to Lebanon in 2013 with a video of his father responding to their family. On the journey, Mohallem visited another uncle. \u201cMy father\u2019s brothers were spread across Lebanon, France, Bras\u00edlia, while he is in Itajub\u00e1. I became very close to my uncle in France, and in late 2017, he said he wanted me to bring him to Brazil. I brought him, and one month later, my uncle from Lebanon came as well. And then the four siblings were reunited for the first time in 54 years,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Besides the exhibition he did at the time of his first trip, his visits to Lebanon reinforced his family ties<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The closeness to his family and his role as a link helped Mohallem to connect with his own history. \u201cLebanon is a search for belonging. Because living with these identities as an LGBT person and a Lebanese, this seemed like an incompatible narrative. Then as I started building this sense of belonging, becoming an ambassador of my father, on top of being an LGBT activist, was a huge step towards this conciliation. Despite my own work I should take the credit for, this generation has a willingness to look to the new and say, \u2018Ok, this is my child, and we\u2019ll go together,\u2019\u201d the artist stressed.<\/p>\n

In his works, other mixtures. They can be seen in medias like photo, video, sculptures and art installation, like the most recent one he made in the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture and Ecology, and an exhibition that\u2019s being held in Orlando, United States. They are also in the work as a whole, as Mohallem also works \u2013 and was a founder of \u2013 Vote LGBT, an initiative that aims to boost the representation of LGBT+ people in politics. \u201cI incorporated elements of Vote LGBT within the contemporary arts. In this moment of life, I\u2019m in an intersection between art and activism work. And one thing feeds the other,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

Contact details<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instagram:\u00a0@gui.mohallem<\/a><\/p>\n

Website: www.guimohallem.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a9Gui Mohallem<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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