{"id":12679,"title":"Semites: The Album","dimensions":"","date_begin":"2011-01-01","material":"ink on paper","art_status_id":13,"legal_status_id":47,"category_id":454,"platform_id":1,"deleted":false,"asset_count":1,"stream_count":0,"collection":"Collection M HKA / library","cached_tag_list":"","publishing_process_id":1,"annotation":"","date_end":null,"reference":"B 2026/827","stream_count_app":12,"permalink":"semites-the-album","description_ca":"","short_description_ca":"","description_it":"","short_description_it":"","cached_primary_asset_url":null,"cached_actor_names":"Charif Benhelima","hide_from_json":false,"prev_platform_id":null,"description_uk":"","short_description_uk":"","description_tr":null,"short_description_tr":null,"mhka_works":true,"category":{"en":"Artist Book","nl":"Kunstenaarsboek","fr":"Livre d'artiste"},"poster_image":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/mhka_ensembles_production/assets/public/000/027/141/large/Semites-The-album.png?1425644854","poster_credits":null,"translations":[{"locale":"en","short_description":"\u003cp\u003ePublished by MER. Paper Kunsthalle, 2011.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe book\u0026nbsp;\u003ci\u003eSemites: The Album\u0026nbsp;\u003c/i\u003eby Charif Benhelima is published in a signed edition and limited to 500 copies.\u0026nbsp; For this series, the artist uses a Polaroid camera to take photographs of already existing images.\u0026nbsp; In what he himself describes as an imitation documentary, the artist examines concepts such as identity and reality.\u0026nbsp; The direct impulse for this was Benhelima's discovery that his own name is in fact of Jewish origin.\u0026nbsp; By combining Jewish, Arabic and Sephardic portraits with portraits of himself, he creates a personal document and at the same time a confusing collage of contradictory identities.\u0026nbsp; In the reproductions, the reflection of the Polaroid's flash is clearly visible.\u0026nbsp; But instead of clarifying the subjects' facial traits, the light engenders a blurring of the faces' details.\u0026nbsp; \u003ci\u003e\"That connects with the vague memories that we have of our childhood years. The memories that I have of my own parents, too, are rather vague...\"\u0026nbsp;\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"locale":"nl","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003eHet boek\u0026nbsp;\u003ci\u003eSemites: The Album\u0026nbsp;\u003c/i\u003evan Charif Benhelima is uitgegeven als een gesigneerde, gelimiteerde editie op 500 exemplaren. Voor deze reeks maakt de kunstenaar gebruik van de Polaroid camera om foto’s te nemen van reeds bestaande beelden. In wat hij zelf omschrijft als een namaak documentaire bevraagt de kunstenaar begrippen als identiteit en realiteit. De aanleiding was de ontdekking van Benhelima dat zijn naam eigenlijk van Joodse oorsprong is. Door Joodse, Arabische en Sefardische portretten te combineren met portretten van zichzelf creëert hij een persoonlijk document en tegelijkertijd een verwarrende collage van tegenstrijdige identiteiten. In de reproducties is de reflectie van de flits van de Polaroid duidelijk zichtbaar. Maar in plaats van de gelaatstrekken van de personen te verduidelijken, zorgt het licht ervoor dat de details van de gezichten vervagen. \u003ci\u003e“Dat sluit aan bij de vage herinneringen die we hebben aan onze kindertijd. De herinneringen die ik heb aan mijn eigen ouders zijn ook nogal vaag.”\u003c/i\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"locale":"fr","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"ru","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"de","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"es","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"el","short_description":"","description":""}],"actors":[{"id":158,"name":"Charif Benhelima","category":{"en":"Creator","nl":"Vervaardiger","fr":"Créateur"}}]}