Biennale de Paris (Artos)

Within the framework of "Dematerialized Art" and the "Paris Biennale" in Nicosia, pioneering artists have been invited to to present their works.

Ricardo Mbarkho (Lebanon)
20-24 October

National Lebanese Tabbouleh Day > In April 2001, the Lebanese artist Ricardo Mbarkho has decided unilaterally that the first Saturday of July would be the National Tabbouleh Day. Right after, he informed by email thousands of Lebanese that he does not necessarily know, and invited them to transfer the message everywhere to the world... It is the snowball that starts! The Lebanese and foreign press mobilizes with articles announcing the news. The 15th edition of the Biennial of Paris presents the National Tabbouleh Day since 2006. The Lebanese Ministry of Tourism officially gives its approval and its patronage for the 2007 edition; The National Tabbouleh Day is henceforth celebrated each year by all the Lebanese. This new form of art has started: The Celebration Art.

The Tabbouleh is the most famous Lebanese traditional dish. During this day, Lebanese and their friends everywhere in the world meet in private or in public around this king of the mezzé. This artistic, cultural, gastronomic and touristy feast presents them an opportunity to show and to reinforce their attachment to their country and to their roots.

Jean-Baptiste Farkas (France)
20 October 17:00 - 21:00

IKH(S).No. 6 > The O. O. Workshop invites the public to empty its overloaded daily life. The preliminary phase, consisting of talking about the why (and the how, a genuine moment of reflection on "less") of the destruction of the object, is essential. Excerpt from an IKHEA letter describing the realisation of the O. O. Workshop during the 2003 Nuit Blanche (an all-night cultural event in Paris):" . . . with IKHEA©SERVICES, devoted to reducing productive consumption, we have turned to the idea of "subtractive services" which openly attack merchandise. Services which, because they are theoretically executed without a public (directly in the client's home and in that person's presence alone), should permit those who realise them to do without intermediaries (the market, the stage) as much as possible" By definition, however, the Nuit Blanche (a high-visibility operation open to a very large public) precluded a number of circumstances favourable to the realisation of the services indicated above (working without an audience, modestly, in direct relationship with the client). To keep the O. O. Workshop from turning into a spectacle, it was necessary to adopt an extremely diligent attitude during the execution of the service and remain both measured and precise in the destructive act.