INTERVIEW WITH CAMILLE ZAKHARIA

by art journalist and writer Lisa Pollman

Camille Zakharia, Allah Ybarek (God Bless), 2013, photo installation (24 prints),
Limited Edition 3, 280 x 280 cm (approximate)

You left Lebanon during the Civil War in 1985, where you had just
graduated from the American University of Beirut in the Engineering
Department. Do aspects of your formal education as an Engineer come into
play in your series called Division Lines? How?
I have always been fascinated with geometric shapes, forms and patterns. This is
most evident in my "Division Lines" series, where the main elements consist of
paint on asphalt - simple straight lines that offer a vast number of configurations
to consider. I believe my engineering background plays a role in the act of
reconstructing the photographs. In these works, I see an interesting blend
between art and science.

How idea of identity and place illuminated in your artwork?

For someone who fled his country at an early stage in his life, questions of
identity and place play an important role in my art practice, and remain topics that
are dear to my heart. This is illuminated in several projects including "Lebanon
Canada via Bahrain" (1998), a large-size billboard produced for the Canadian
Museum of Civilization on the occasion of an exhibition titled The Lands Within
Me: Expressions by Canadian Artists of Arab Origin, Elusive Homelands (1999
2000), documenting the living environment of Middle Eastern families who
emigrated to Canada, and more recent project "Belonging" (2010 2012), examining
the concept of identity and place as expressed by expatriates living in Bahrain.
After leaving Lebanon, you lived in the United States, Greece, Turkey and
Canada. You now reside in Bahrain. Has being a diasporic artist had an
impact on your work and the narratives that you examine? How?
My love of photography began at a very early stage in my life. I started
documenting my immediate environment soon after I moved to Beirut in 1980 to
study at American University. After my departure from Lebanon, the camera
became an important tool - helping me connect with new places and people.
It helped me overcome the state of loneliness from being away from home.
From then until now, I am constantly documenting the journey that I have
experienced and am currently embarking on. This journey has been enriched by
the fact that I have lived in several countries, been exposed to different cultures
and have had the opportunity to meet people from various backgrounds.
My work is a visual diary that reflects my own experience, living a nomadic life,
which can also describe the life of others, those who chose to leave their
countries for political or economic reasons.
Youve lived in Bahrain since 1999. Do you feel that you have had more
freedom to observe your home country by living outside Lebanon?
I was devastated when I left Lebanon. Totally crushed. It felt like my whole world
had crumbled. I used to count down the days to return until I could return for a
visit, talk on the phone with family members, and receive letters ... everything
seemed difficult, if not impossible. These were dark days that left internal scars
that were hard to heal or forget. I had immense nostalgia and was unable to think
straight. Every detail reminded me of Lebanon and how much I missed it.
As time went by, I became more and more absorbed with my daily activities and
new life. Gradually, Lebanon became more and more distant. This is unfortunate,
but true. Thirty years have passed since I left. In the process, something died
inside me. I feel indifferent to many things that used to matter to me in the past,
returning at some point to Lebanon being one of them.

I feel a sense of nostalgia when looking at your Elusive Homelands

series. Do the narratives found in your work address survival as someone
who has lived through a Civil War or as someone who has spent many
years in exile (or both)?
The stories told through this series revolve mostly around how these particular
Middle Eastern immigrants adapted to their new environment, the transitions that
they had to go through, the determination needed to make things work, and the
strength of human will.
All the stories started with the reasons behind why they left their homeland,
mostly due to instability and war, and their immense feelings of nostalgia. They
all have a kind of happy ending, having found a new home in Canada. The
participants were extremely generous with me, sharing their most intimate and
sometimes difficult memories. This project helped me understand my own
conflicts and answered many questions that I had had for years. The immigrant
experience, displacement and search for home are intrinsic issues addressed in
this project.
Can you please tell us the story about the artist whose work you saw on
top of ice plinths and how it resonated with you and your work?
This was a remarkable exhibition and occurred during my stay in Canada. To
begin, the artist placed well crafted ceramic vases of different shapes that she
had made herself on ice plinths. Once the ice melted, the vases fell on the floor
of the gallery and broke into pieces. For the second day of the show, the artist
"fixed" the vases by gluing different parts together and attempted to reassemble
them. The repaired vases were placed on ice plinths which led them to break
again. The artist kept gluing the vases again and again for the whole duration of
the show. At the end, the vases looked nothing like their original shape.
The transformation of the vases really resonated with me. The act of falling and
reconstruction reminded me of the human condition. We fall, stand up and keep
moving on. We carry the scars of past experience - which oftentimes shape who
and what we are. Some get stronger, learning from their fall, while others may be
crushed, unable to bear the impact. I found the symbolism of the show quite
impressive.
As a photographer, when and why did you decide to pursue the technique
of collage?
My first trip to Bahrain was in the summer of 1991. I was staying in a penthouse
in the Umm Al Hassam area of Manama, overlooking the sea. I was a bachelor
with no clue how to make a simple meal. I converted the kitchen into a darkroom.
The fridge was full of films, chemicals and photo papers. I used to spend long
hours tirelessly printing.

I ended up with many scrap photographs that I found difficult to throw away. I
started experimenting with the collage technique. It was a revelation for me at the
time, joining visuals that had nothing to do with each other, recreating scenes
that would not usually coexist together.
Sometimes the final results make sense, and sometimes they dont. Everything is
permitted. For me, working with collage is a therapeutic process that I need to
practise regularly. It unleashes my fantasies. Some collages need to be well
calculated with a high degree of precision and workmanship, while others flow
freely and uncontrolled.

Camille Zakharia, Muharraq V - Bahrain, 1998, Archival Inkjet Print on Hahnemuhle Fine Art
Paper, 14 x 40 cm, Stories from the Alley - Edition of 25

Tell us a little bit about your interest in urban landscapes and your series
Double Vue. What have you found out about humanity and the globalized
condition through the shape and size of the worlds cities?
Documenting my surroundings is of great interest to me. What made this topic
more exciting, is the fact that a huge wave of construction invaded the Arabian
Gulf at the turn of the 21st Century. The region witnessed unprecedented
changes into the urban landscape, with high-rise buildings being built in what
seemed to be overnight, gigantic shopping malls, entertainment parks.... I
prepared several projects with the main focus on the urban landscape,
attempting to draw visual similarities and differences between the past and
evolving present.
Some of the projects were commissions, including "Al Bilad" for the British
Council about the Sultanate of Oman and "Sharjah History Images", supported
by a Sharjah Production Grant. I also have completed a few about Bahrain:
"Distorted Memories" commissioned by the British Council on the occasion of a

touring exhibition My Fathers House: The Architecture of Cultural Heritage,

Coastal Promenade commissioned by the Ministry of Culture of Bahrain, the
photographic essay for the "Reclaim" project that won Bahrain the Golden Lion
Award for Best Pavilion in Venice Biennale for Architecture (2010) and "Double
Vue" prepared at the request of the Alliance Franaise (2007) to be exhibited at
Maison Jamsheer, a beautifully renovated traditional house located in the
alleyways of Muharraq, Bahrains second largest city. The exhibition was a great
success, placing composite photographs of different landscapes all housed in a
humble space, inviting the viewer to contemplate on the surrounding fast
changes and compare with the disappearing traditional way of living.
Youll be participating in the first edition of ArtBahrain this Fall. What are
your expectations/hopes for the Fair? Do you think it will benefit
contemporary artists and the art scene in Bahrain? How?
It is good news that Bahrain is contributing to the growing art scene in the region
with the Art Fair scheduled this October. Of course, my hopes are high, and wish
Bahrain all the best with the event. I hope too, that it will be a great success in
order to attract more galleries in coming years. These kinds of international
events benefit both the local art scene bringing awareness to an outside
audience of what the place has to offer and to the artists, giving them better
exposure to collectors at large.
What are you working on at the moment?
Currently I am engaged with the making of an ambitious project titled "Spring"
which consists of intricate collage works celebrating the term of the same name.
In the last few years, this word which is a symbol of birth, has also brought about
negative connotations. The main figure representing Spring is of my wife Sulaf,
composed of photographs I took of her some twenty-five years ago. I started the
project last summer and am still working on it. The collages are vibrant in color,
some composed of several layers that require delicate workmanship to attain fine
results. The works are demanding in terms of time, but worth the effort.