PHILADELPHIA, PA.- Live Cinema/In the Round (September 17, 2010 – February 6, 2011) features the works of Ziad Antar, Inci Eviner, Hassan Khan, Gülsün Karamustafa, Maha Maamoun, and Christodoulos Panayiotou, artists from the East Mediterranean region who explore how cinema informs representations of reality through video, installation and performance. The title, In the Round, takes its cue from theater-in-the-round, in which the audience surrounds the stage. The installation of Live Cinema echoes this practice with a multi-room presentation starting with the Live Cinema galleries (178 and 179) and continuing in several of the Museum’s period rooms (galleries 223, 259 and 288). Live Cinema/In the Round is organized by Istanbul-based guest curator November Paynter and coordinated at the Museum by Adelina Vlas, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

The works on view reconstruct known film genres and make use of both found film footage and theater backdrops. The artists are united by their interest in performance-based practices and by their interest in exploring the conventions of film. Over the course of the last decade, the contemporary art institutions and initiatives in the countries of the East Mediterranean have created more opportunities for mutual cultural exchange and dialogue. A number of artistic residencies and funds now exist that encourage artists to travel between cities such as Cairo, Istanbul, Beirut and Nicosia.

“We are excited to present this extraordinary group of artists at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and are pleased to be collaborating on the organization of a series of great public programs with two local institutions: the Slought Foundation and University of Delaware,” said Adelina Vlas, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.