30/08/10Manifesta 8 will open the doors of old republican prison in Cartagena
The Egyptian artist Khaled Hafed will do the first guided visits to the San Anton's Prison, the former
prison of Cartagena, which opens for the first time to the public since it was built in 1935.
Recently closed as a prison, the particular structure of this San Anton Prison is being equipped these
days to work as the Manifesta 8 venue, the European Art Biennale. The former prison was built during
the 30's due to the pressure exerted by the Cartagena¿s citizenry and by the local media and its
construction was undertaken by the initiative of Victoria Kent, who was at that time the General Prisons
Director. Among the actions which will be undergone in the cells of the former building can be
highlighted, for its didactic and novel character, the guided visit Khaled Hafed is to do as part of his
artistic project the 12th October 2010. A visit through the building based on the documentation gathered
by another of the artist which takes part in this Biennale, the Libyan Abed Anouti.
This collaboration between the two artists is the base to obtain and to transmit more information about
the prison, from which any written documentation existed till now. The research done by Anouti is the
base of a work which can be broaden in the future and which sets the documentary bases of one of the
main buildings of the Cartagena's recent history.
The guided visit Khaled Hafez will do is inside Shaping Perceptions: The self as an affective and effective
work of art, curated by the curatorial collective Chamber of Public Secrets (CPS), a work which includes
diverse actions and which will try to interact with the Murcia citizenry in a mutual knowledge exchange
process. Between the foreseen actions two videos, four radio programs, and a series of debates in which
the artist will be the moderator will take place. In fact, Khaled Hafez has visited Murcia these days to
locate and shoot the film which will be shown in the San Anton's Prison from October.
In the video which will be shown from the 9th October 2010 till the 9th January 2011 Hafez aims to recall
the history of two Islamist brains coming from Murcia and who in the Middle Ages travelled to Egypt,
where they died and who are still venerated in Egypt, particularly Abu Al Abbs Al Murci. In the video two
cities are juxtaposed: Murcia (Spain) and Alexandria (Egypt), cities which shared their cultural history for
Centuries and during the lifetime of the two brains.
The video takes place freely through the streets of the two current cities, in ancient locations where still
lives the shared history of their main characters, and which will be accompanied by a soundtrack
created expressly for this piece and inspired in sounds of traditional Egyptian instruments. Put on top of
these images will appear a figure created by a computer which will walk through the Murcia city to
discover its history and to relate again the cultures of both borders of the Mediterranean Sea.
Another important part of this project will be two radio programs 30 minutes duration each
broadcasted in English and in Arab in which a politician or famous person of the Region will be
interviewed about Manifesta 8. The aim of these spaces is to try to attract the local population the
Biennale venues. Furthermore, Hafez will moderate two public debates between Art historians and
international curators, such as Martina Corgnati of the Accademia Albertini of Turin and Dermis Leon
from Cuba, with local academics.
