Swiss art critic in residence at Darat al Funun through its exchange program with Pro Helvetia Sybille Omlin will give a talk entitled Understanding and Misunderstanding. What Can Art Do To It?

"By deconstructing some pictures that western artists have of Arabic nations and vice-versa, by the deconstruction of some works of Arab artists about the European world, this talk is about the preconceived image we have of each other when we are involved in cultural exchanges. What can we understand by works of artists from each other? Edward W. Said argued that a long tradition of false and romanticized images of Asia and the Middle East in Western culture had served as an implicit justification of domination and imperialism. There are probably false and romanticized images by Arabs of the western culture as well. Through putting together and ripping apart words and images, I would like to enter in a world of discourse on misunderstanding, hoping that it may lead to some understanding."
-Sibylle Omlin