The book Fragments, designed by Lebanese artist Rayyane Tabet as an installation, coupled with a performance, is inspired by a family legend about Tabet’s great-grand-father. The book accompanies an exhibition at the Kunstverein in Hamburg.

In his primarily sculptural works, Rayyane Tabet explores the connection between minor histories and major events through form and material. He blends official accounts with personal stories to draw attention to unknown narratives. The project “Fragments” focuses on the history of the Syrian settlement of Tell Halaf discovered by German diplomat and Orientalist Max von Oppenheim. Tabet’s great-grandfather, Faek Borkhoche, worked for a period of six months as von Oppenheim’s secretary during his 1929 expedition. Tabet’s activities resemble those of an archaeologist, as he reconstructs the material remains of the Tell Halaf temple, makes rubbings of basalt stones, assembles carpet fragments and military tents. The thematic of this project is to be read in parallel to the migration movements and the turmoil of war in present-day Syria. Against the background of a historical coincidence, Tabet abstracted and transformed personal memories to analyze complex geopolitical relations. Cultural exchange and trade are taken into account as much as past and present conflicts and entanglements. - Les Presses du Réel