Rabih Mroué

Rabih Mroué, born 1967, lives and works in Beirut. He is an actor, director, playwright, visual artist and a contributing editor for The Drama Review (TDR) and the quarterly Kalamon. He is also a co-founder and a board member of the Beirut Art Center (BAC), Beirut. His complex and diverse practice, spanning different disciplines and formats in between theatre, performance and the visual arts, has established Mroué as a key figure in a new generation of artistic voices in Lebanon. Employing both fiction and in-depth analysis as tools for engaging with his immediate reality, he explores the responsibilities of the artist in communicating with an audience in given political and cultural contexts. His works deal with issues that have been swept under the rug in the current political climate of Lebanon, connected to the enduring marks left by the Lebanese Civil War as well as more recent political events. Recent exhibitions include: basis voor actuele kunst (BAK), Utrecht, a solo exhibition (2010); Performa 09, New York, 2009; 11th International Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul (2009); Tarjama/Translation, Queens Museum of Art, New York (2009); Sjarjah Biennial, Sjarjah (2009); Soft Manipulation – Who is afraid of the new now?, Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg (2008); Medium Religion, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe (ZKM), Karslruhe (2008); Manifesta 7, Fortezza/Franzenfeste, Bolzano/Bozen, Trento, Rovereto (2008); Les Inquiets. 5 artistes sous la pression de la guerre, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2008); In Focus, Tate Modern, London (2007); and Biennale of Sydney, Sydney (2006). In 2010 he was awarded an Artist Grant for Theatre/Performance Arts from the Foundation of Contemporary Arts, and the Spalding Gray Award (both New York).