In their video Waiting for the Barbarians, Hadjithomas and Joreige use the 1898 eponymous poem written by Constantine Cavafy to relate to the history of Lebanon and the notion of a decaying society. As Cavafy’s poem is recited, hundreds of still, panoramic images of Beirut are animated. Time, space, and movement contend with one another through subtle video overlay so that nature is reversed, many suns appear on multiplied horizons, and temporality becomes over-imposed. The atmosphere of uncertainty produced by these lagging yet constantly shifting images is heightened by the content of Cavafy’s poem, which narrates a society in a state of imminence, waiting for a group of people described as “barbarians” to come and destroy their way of life; yet the barbarians never come. Voiced over images of present-day Beirut, a place with a history of war and corruption, where the unexpected always happens and society always verges on collapse, the poem raises questions around fears and representation of the “other.” Using this poetic narrative, the artists interact with the past to expand their understanding of the present, specifically the nationalism and xenophobia endemic to it.

     In Today's troubled times of war, recessions and loss of ideas, Constantine Cavafy's voice through his poem «Waiting for the barbarians » becomes more relevant than ever. It finds powerful echoes in our societies, and resonates where the unexpected is always possible and where desire and poetry might perhaps counter violence and power.

     Based on the time-lag of the photographic processes, this film consists of overprinted images of more than 50 panoramic views of Beirut.

     Different instants mingle with each other, produce impossible images and evoke otherwordly visions.The photography is brought to life by the effect of subtile superimpositions of images, like overlapping time, space and movement, and shifting the gaze away from habitual forms of representation. Nature is disrupted and several suns appear above multiple horizons »