Los Angeles, CA – The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) presents the U.S. premiere of Wael Shawky’s critically-acclaimed film installation Drama 1882, as part of Wonmi’s WAREHOUSE Programs. On view from February 20 through March 16, 2025 at WAREHOUSE at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Drama 1882is a riveting moving image work that takes the form of an eight-part opera performed for the camera in a historic theater in Alexandria.
Commissioned for the Egyptian Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale, Drama 1882 reevaluates the implosion of a populist revolution, led by Colonel Ahmed Urabi, against European imperialist influence (1879-82). In the work, Shawky (b. 1971 Alexandria, Egypt) questions whether a cafe brawl between a local donkey owner and a Maltese man was happenstance (as history relates) or deliberately orchestrated by the British to warrant their subsequent bombardment, which in turn foreshadowed over seventy years of colonial occupation (1882-1956).
Written, scored, choreographed, and directed by Shawky and performed in classical Arabic, Drama 1882 is a spectacular restaging of these historical events. Integrating handmade period costumes and expressionist sets, the work both disputes the veracity of historical truth and posits plausible counter-narratives. Emphasizing the futility of war while probing the implications of drama itself, Drama 1882 conjures, in Shawky’s words, “a sense of entertainment, of catastrophe, and our inherent doubt in history.”
MOCA Chief Curator & Director of Curatorial Affairs Clara Kim states: ”Wael Shawky is one of the most significant global artists today. He is a deft storyteller, who utilizes different techniques including marionette theater, music, film, and now opera to create singular and deeply engaging works that leaves audiences mesmerized. We are proud to bring his latest work Drama 1882—a clear standout at the 2024 Venice Biennale—to Los Angeles for our audiences to enjoy and be moved by.’”
“We are thrilled to present the U.S. premiere of Wael Shawky’s Drama 1882 as part of Wonmi’s WAREHOUSE Programs,” said Alex Sloane, Associate Curator. “Blurring the lines between film, performance, installation, painting, and sculpture, Drama 1882 seamlessly integrates fact, speculation, and fiction to propose a revisionist history that reframes pivotal events and invites audiences into Shawky’s world. For more than three decades, Shawky has reimagined and reinterpreted accepted accounts of Arab culture and history with meticulously researched artworks, and we can’t wait to share this important installation with MOCA’s audience.”
In addition to the film installation, MOCA will host a conversation between Shawky and Sloane on February 22 from 3-4pm at WAREHOUSE at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.
