Modern Art Oxford opens a thought-provoking show by Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari
(Artdaily.org)

Modern Art Oxford presents a solo exhibition of works by renowned Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari (b. 1966, Saida, Lebanon). This thought-provoking show explores Zaatari’s on-going fascination with how people choose to present themselves to the outside world. A major new video work, The Script (2018) was born out of research into online content connected with the Arab world. Exploring YouTube using relatively neutral search terms such as ‘father and son’, Zaatari discovered a sub-genre of films depicting fathers praying. Despite being produced by different men from different regions in the Middle East, Zaatari observed telling similarities in content depicting men fulfilling the duty of salah – the ritual of five daily prayers undertaken by practicing Muslims – within a domestic setting. As breaking off from prayer is often frowned upon, the