PRIDE IN HUMILITY

My first encounter with Abdul Rahman Katanani was in 2008 during the opening of my solo exhibition at Agial Gallery. I also remember that shortly after the opening, Abdul Rahman had his own exhibition at the Lebanese Artists Association, which he invited me to. However, although I attended the event, Abdul Rahman was not present on this occasion. His father told me that he was representing his son at the exhibition because Abdul Rahman worked as a cartoonist for a magazine. Therefore, it can be said that we became acquainted with each other’s works before properly meeting on a personal level.

In 2010, I had an art installation at the Venice Biennale, and I needed assistance in setting up this large-scale artwork. As a result, the gallerist Saleh Barakat asked Abdul Rahman to lend me a hand. He immediately came to my aid, and in doing so we helped each other even before we had got to know each other well.

Although there was a period of time when Abdul Rahman was rarely in Beirut as he had been awarded a grant and was in residence at Cité Internationale des Arts in France, eventually one day we crossed paths, and I invited him to my studio. Since that day, we became close friends. Between 2014 and 2018, when Abdul Rahman was still living in Sabra, we would meet daily. During these years, we began to witness each other’s artistic processes. Abdul Rahman would visit me in my studio, and his curiosity often inspired him to sketch. The spirit of cooperation between us started to grow, turning our meetings into both work and pleasure at the same time.