BASMA ALSHARIF
Kuwait, 1983
Corniche Beirut, 2010
10 photographs, inkjet prints, negative 35 mm color
50 x 72 cm c/u
Gift of the artist 2011

Basma Alsharif’s entire body of work is permeated by her nomadic and uprooted status. Alsharif shot the ten large-scale photographs that form Corniche Beirut on the famous seaside promenade built during the French Mandate over Syria and Lebanon, which links the historical centre of Beirut with the more recent, Western-style neighbourhoods. A quintessential place for social gatherings, the Corniche is also a witness of the evolving nature of the city and bears marks of its history, from its colonial state to the civil war and beyond. The protagonists are anonymous passers-by. The dynamics of the images lie in the contrast that may exist between the backdrop of a perfect blue sky and natural light that evokes the neutrality of a photographic studio, and the strong symbolic nature of the place.