HAMBURG.- The Kunstverein in Hamburg is presenting the solo exhibition by Rayyane Tabet.

In his primarily sculptural works, Rayyane Tabet (*1983 Achkout, lives in Beirut) explores the connection between minor histories and major events through form and material. He blends official accounts with personal stories to draw attention to unknown narratives.

The exhibition BRUCHSTÜCKE / FRAGMENTS focuses on the history of the Syrian settlement of Tell Halaf discovered by German diplomat and Orientalist Max von Oppenheim. Tabet’s great-grandfather, Faek Borkhoche, worked for a period of six months as von Oppenheim’s secretary during his 1929 expedition.

Tabet’s activities resemble those of an archaeologist, as he reconstructs the material remains of the Tell Halaf temple, makes rubbings of basalt stones, assembles carpet fragments and military tents. The thematic of this project is to be read in parallel to the migration movements and the turmoil of war in present-day Syria. Against the background of a historical coincidence, Tabet abstracted and transformed personal memories to analyze complex geopolitical relations. Cultural exchange and trade are taken into account as much as past and present conflicts and entanglements.

The exhibition brings together all the works of research and exhibition that evolved via stops in Marrakesh, Paris, Berlin, Rotterdam and Beirut, and will come to a preliminary end in the Department of Near Eastern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2018.