ORIANNE CIANTAR OLIVE
THE CIRCULAR RUINS (SPECIAL EDITION)
Published by Dunes Editions, 2024
Box size: 26.5x34.5x4cm
Book size 24 x 16 cm
138 pages
Hardcover
Signed and numbered (x/10) Fine Art print (32x22cm) on Hahnemühle Baryté Métallique 315gr paper
Edition of 10
The Circular Ruins takes us to a contemporary South Lebanon, nicknamed Nabil (the reverse of Lebanon), where neither the sun nor death can look each other in the eye.
Led by photographer Orianne Ciantar Olive, the project addresses the issues of violence, occupation and forced exile that have plagued the territory cyclically for decades, and how these events impact on individuals and communities alike. Both visual research and experimentation with the photographic medium, this body of work, through a sensitive approach to disaster at work, bears witness to the universal complexity of certain territories in the making. Nourished by the writings of philosophy, literature and poetry - in particular the work of Etel Adnan, Jorge Luis Borges and Mahmoud Darwich - Les Ruines Circulaires is a photographic essay halfway between metaphysical journey and documentary tale, anchored in the territory of southern Lebanon, right up to the wall of Kfar Kila. An emblematic and empirical example of the perpetual recommencement of events, particularly violence, forced exile and the impossibility of achieving peace, the wall becomes here, through a game of inversions, the foreshadowing theater of a reality that reveals itself in the shadows of reality. The reversal of names, fictitious identities, reversed films and solarizations are used to reveal another part of history. By establishing a visual relationship with the question of disaster, and building a dialogue between external tensions and internal conflicts, the universal complexity of the future within a territory constantly prey to partisan or colonialist tendencies is revealed.
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The Circular Ruins takes us to a contemporary South Lebanon, nicknamed Nabil (the reverse of Lebanon), where neither the sun nor death can look each other in the eye.
Led by photographer Orianne Ciantar Olive, the project addresses the issues of violence, occupation or forced exile that have been cyclically crossing the territory for decades and how these events have an impact on both individuals and the collective. Both visual research and experimentation with the photographic medium, this body of work constitutes, through a sensitive approach to the disaster at work, a testimony to the universal complexity of certain territories to come. Nourished by writings from philosophy, literature and poetry – in particular the work of Etel Adnan, Jorge Luis Borges and Mahmoud Darwich – Les Ruines Circulaires is a photographic essay halfway between a metaphysical journey and a documentary narrative that is anchored in the territory of South Lebanon, up to the wall of Kfar Kila. An emblematic and empirical example of the perpetual recommencement of events, in particular violence, forced exiles and an impossible access to peace, it becomes here, through a play of inversions, the theater announcing a current event that is revealed in the shadows of reality. Reversal of names, fictitious identities, reversed films, solarizations, are tested to reveal another part of history. By establishing a visual relationship to the question of disaster, by constructing a dialogue between external tensions and internal conflicts, the universal complexity of the future appears, in the background, within a territory constantly prey to partisan or colonialist inclinations.
Photos © Maximiliano Tineo