Learning Deutsch Mazen Kerbaj
Pressedownload
Der Pressedownload darf nur im Zusammenhang mit einer Buchbesprechung verwendet werden. Für die Illustration einer Buchbesprechung können nur bis zu drei Bilder genutzt werden. Für andere Textformate und Nutzungszwecke (wissenschaftliche Vorträge, Werbung oder ähnliches) bitten wir Sie, vorab mit uns in Kontakt zu treten, um mögliche Fragen zu Honorarkosten, Nutzungsund Urheberrechten zu klären. Die bereitgestellten Bilddaten dürfen nicht manipuliert, beschnitten oder zweckentfremdet verwendet werden. Die Pressebilder dürfen nur mit dem vollständigen Bildtitel, dem Namen des Künstlers und/oder Urhebers sowie mit dem Hinweis auf den Hatje Cantz Verlag veröffentlicht werden. Bitte beachten Sie außerdem im Einzelfall die Reproduktionsbedingungen der VG Bild-Kunst Bonn bzw. der internationalen Verwertungsgesellschaften für Bildende Kunst.
Learning Deutsch
After experimental musician and visual artist Mazen Kerbaj moved with his family from Beirut to Berlin, he found himself confronted with a new language, a new culture. He decided to learn German in his very own way: one new word per day, illustrated with a related self-portrait. The resulting 365 drawings are framed by Arabic, English and German words, making the book a language- learning tool—albeit an unconventional one—but also an open diary that lets us in the intimacy of the artist’s day- to-day life. Day after day, word after word, we follow Mazen Kerbaj through his learning process, getting to know his family, his friends, his passions, his habits, and even his political opinions.
The drawings are often funny, but also sad and touching at times; they rarely simply illustrate the words, but rather answer them with Kerbaj’s signature satirical counterpoints, ultimately reiterating the story of a Middle Eastern artist finding his way through the German language and its peculiarities.
Working in fields as varied as music, visual arts, comics or theater, MAZEN KERBAJ (*1975, Beirut) is one of the key figures of the post-civil war Lebanese artistic scene. His work has been published in more than ten languages and has been shown in galleries, museums and art fairs around the world.
