Metahaven: Hometown
15 November 2018 19:30 - 21:00
In celebration of the retrospective exhibition EARTH at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Metahaven will deliver a lecture based on fragments from Hometown (2018), exploring the themes and issues of the film.
Hometown focuses its hypnotic gaze on two cities, Beirut and Kiev, which merge into a fictional home for the film's two protagonists, Ghina Abboud and Lera Luchenko, who selfdeprecatingly describe life in their city. Fluorescent, lava-like animations alternate between images of industrial estates and overgrown gardens. Ice creams are eaten, puzzles are solved, and there is talk of a sunken city inhabited by adults who have forgotten what they can learn from children. There are rumours of helicopters coming and going and of newspapers closing their doors. On the Maidan square in Kiev, Lera tries to remain invisible in front of the camera. _Hometown _is a serene guide to the uncertain.
Hometown is a sequel to previous films by Metahaven including the documentary The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) (2015) and the short film Information Skies (2016), which was nominated for a European Film Award in 2017. Hometown was commissioned by the Sharjah Art Foundation for the Sharjah Biennial 13 Tamawuj in 2017, with additional contributions to production from Het Nieuwe Instituut.
Metahaven
Metahaven produces films, texts, installations and graphic designs with an interest in stories, poetry, digital culture and propaganda. In October 2018 they will present two solo exhibitions, _Version History_ at the ICA in London, and _EARTH_ at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Metahaven published, among other things, the books Uncorporate Identity (2010) and Black Transparency (2015), and their essay Digital Tarkovsky will be published in the autumn of 2018. In 2015, Metahaven created a digital video environment for the Benno Premsela Lecture for Het Nieuwe Instituut, presented by Benjamin H. Bratton.
Thursday Bite
Before the Thursday Night you can grab a bite to eat with the speakers and staff of Het Nieuwe Instituut. At 18:00 Het Nieuwe Café will serve soup with bread or a quiche with salad. Dinner vouchers are available for ¬ 7.50 up to a day before the particular Thursday Night event via the Tickets link.
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