Counterflows: Mazen Kerbaj

Mazen Kerbaj - the Interview

Mazen Kerbaj interviews the experimental musician and filmmaker... Mazen Kerbaj - and succeeds in delivering, on top of his short movie about Mazen Kerbaj, by Mazen Kerbaj, an accurate and amusing self-portrait. Discover exciting insights into the making of the video - as well as more information about Mazen Kerbaj - by watching the interview:
 

Mazen Kerbaj – the Musical

His short movie follows an imaginary day in the life of experimental musician Mazen Kerbaj. In more than 15 apparitions, Kerbaj delves into activities as varied as sleeping, talking, praying, playing, or fighting, sometimes alone and sometimes with himself. The result is an accurate yet amusing self-portrait, exploring both the unique music practice of the artist and his humorous approach to megalomania. The film is available until the end of April 2021 at the Counterflows website.

The film and any additional material was created for the 10th edition of the Counterflows festival in 2021 – “Counterflows at home”.

About Mazen Kerbaj

Mazen Kerbaj is a Lebanese comics author, visual artist, and musician born in Beirut in 1975. He also works on selective illustration and design projects and has taught at the American University of Beirut. Kerbaj is the author of more than 15 books, and his short stories and drawings have been published in anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. His work has been translated into more than ten languages in various local and international publications. His paintings, drawings, videos, live performances and installations have been shown as part of numerous solo and collective exhibitions, in galleries, museums and art fairs around the world.

His visual art is heavily influenced by his musical improvisation practice; this is apparent in his long standing “four hands” collaborations with other visual artists, such as Laure Ghorayeb (his mother) and Hatem Imam, as well as his live visual performances, such as Wormholes. Mazen Kerbaj is widely considered as one of the initiators and key players of the Lebanese free improvisation and experimental music scene and as a trumpet player, whether in solo performances or with long-lasting groups like “A” Trio, Kerbaj pushes the boundaries of the instrument and continues to develop a personal sound and an innovative language.

Counterflows: Soundportrait by Mark Vernon and Barry Burns

Sound protrait shows the musicality of language and urban noises. The beauty of this collage inspires optimism. Echos from sound archives unfold their full diversity in this time of crisis and deceleration. A collaboration by Mark Vernon and Barry Burns, experimental musicians, sound artists, radio producers and co-managers of Glasgow’s art radio station Radiophrenia and the Berlin based sound and radio artist Antje Vowinckel.
 

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