Sewing Borders

Artist Mohamad Hafeda will screen his short film, Sewing Borders, at the Mosaic Rooms, followed by a panel discussion on displacement in Lebanon and the Middle East. The film uses maps to explore experiences of displacement with residents of Beirut.

A group of residents of Beirut with different experiences of displacement encounter the map of the city and that of the region. Through their sewing skills, they negotiate and narrate notions of spatial, temporal and historic borders. The exercise opens up the history of displacement in the Middle East and issues related to the representation of individuals in urban space. The video moves across maps, documents and residents' stories, exploring the role of representational techniques (map drawing) and processes (treaties, declarations) in the making of borders, while revealing their temporal nature through the residents' lived experience.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion on displacement and representation of borders in the Middle East. The panel will look at the different representations of borders from maps and treaties to personal and political narratives. Panelists include Urban Lab Co-Director Camillo Boano, Laila Alodaat, Michaela Crimmin and Mohamad Hafeda.

Entry to the screening and discussion is free, but you must reserve a place on The Mosaic Rooms website or by emailing rsvp@mosaicrooms.org.