Years ago now, Lebanese publisher Mohamad Abdouni set about the tricky task of trying to capture the queer culture of the Arab world. The artist, photographer and curator – inspired in his practice by greats such as Nan Goldin and Caravaggio – worked with Helem, an LGBTQIA+ NGO, to connect him with women, tanteit (a French word meaning ladies or aunties) and femme men in Beirut who wanted their stories from the past – particularly the 80s and 90s – shared and carefully preserved. Titled Treat Me Like Your Mother: Trans* Histories From Beirut’s Forgotten Past, the archive comprises over 300 photographs, all currently housed at the Arab Image Foundation.
“Throughout the interviews, motherhood was something that was very prevalent, more specifically, their own relationships with their mothers,” Mohamad says. “In [Lebanese] culture, you always respect the mother. It doesn’t necessarily always have the best connotations, but when you’re arguing in the face of misogynistic behaviour you can use that: reminding the other person that that person could be your mother.”
It was through this project that Mohamad met Em Abed, a subject who has since become a “very close” friend. “The day after her interview, she shows up unannounced with over 400 printed photographs saying: these are yours, tell my story, tell everyone’s story,” Mohamad says. But this certainly wasn’t the case for the majority of his subjects. Em Abed came from a family that was “quite well-off” at the time, “so cameras, point-and-shoots, and the bulk of the film were a little more accessible,” Mohamad says. More often, the women and femmes participating in the project would bring only one or two physical images, if any. So the question was raised: how might artificial intelligence help when it comes to marginalised communities and their archives?
“For example, Em Abed has a lot of portraits up until the age of 15,” Mohamad says. “And then no portraits from 15 to 28, or 29. And then portraits again after that. So I tried to create the portrait in that gap, a portrait that would have been shot by me in 1989, which was the year I was born.” What resulted was one of Mohamad’s favourite images in a capsule series, titled Extended Archives and designated, by the artist, as “pseudo-archives.” At this year’s Paris+ par Art Basel, Mohamad will present these findings – generated through combining his past photographic work with his subjects’ donated personal photographs and transcribed oral histories, as well as additional images from the Arab Image Foundation – alongside the genuine source material.
If the rising current of calls for AI regulation are anything to go by, it’s clear that the technology is already being misused: rather than a replacement for creative work, it should be a supplement to art and related endeavours. As such, Mohamad is conflicted in applying generative AI to the existing archive. “This project raises some really urgent questions when it comes to artificial intelligence, specifically the effects that it might have on the archiving practice. But I decided that I’m showcasing these very serious questions in a very playful manner. Because I don’t really have answers.”
Mohamad recalls Em Abed’s reaction to her AI-generated portrait: “I printed it for her on a 10×15. When I gave it to her she just picked it up, she looked at it, and she didn’t say anything. She was silent for 10 seconds. And then she’s like, ‘God, damn, I was so pretty.’”
Mohamad’s work will be on view at Paris+ par Art Basel at the Grand Palais Éphémère from Friday, October 20 to Sunday, October 22, 2023.
Credits
All images courtesy of Mohamad Abdouni