After the trying constraints of lockdown and social distancing that brutally reduced urban space to its strict minimum, making it into a place where isolated individuals merely cohabit, Homo Urbanus is a cinematic odyssey offering a vibrant tribute to what we have been most cruelly deprived of: namely, public space.
Taking the form of a free-wheeling journey around the world (10 films, 10 cities), the project invites us to observe in detail the multiple forms and complex interactions that exist every day between people and their urban environments.
Somewhere between visual anthropology and observational cinema, these films put urban man under the microscope and encourage us to take a closer look at individual and collective behaviour, interpersonal dynamics, social tensions, and the economic and political forces that play out every day on the grand stage of the city streets.
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This work is a long-term research project developed until now in 10 different cities over the world: Seoul, Bogota, Naples, Saint-Petersburg, Rabat, Tokyo, Kyoto, Shanghai, Doha and Venice.
Born as an artistic commission for the Agora Biennale in Bordeaux around the theme of the moving landscapes, these videos plunge into cities in a spontaneous and subjective approach with very modest means in order to translate in the closest possible way the feel of their constant moving nature: their human landscape.
Presented in a comparative dynamic through the lens of a selection of themes and issues linked with the street daily life, the videos enable us to perceive each of these different urban contexts as an experimental, local and unique laboratory answering the same global challenge of how can we live all together.
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Homo Urbanus Bogotanus - Bogotá, 43 min
Homo Urbanus Petroburgumus - Saint-Petersburg, 41 min
Homo Urbanus Rabatius - Rabat, 50 min
Homo Urbanus Seoulianus - Seoul, 44 min
Homo Urbanus Neapolitanus - Naples, 50 min
Homo Urbanus Tokyoitus - Tokyo, 60 min
Homo Urbanus Dohanus - Doha, 62 min
Homo Urbanus Shanghaianus - Shanghai, 62 min
Homo Urbanus Kyotoitus - Kyoto, 82 min
Homo Urbanus Venetianus, Venice, 62 min
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PRESS:
“A jem!” - Artribune
“Amazing!” - Architektur Aktuell
“Masterpiece!” - Der Standard
“Amazing odyssey!” - Domus
“Huge, crazy and brilliant project!” - Dezeen
“Gorgeous images probably inspired by the draping to be found in Tiepolo, Tintoretto and Veronese! We always thought that Bêka & Lemoine are classic artists.” - FIG Project
"The camera work remains at eye level, the angle of view corresponds to the field of vision of the human eye. The view is unaffected, sometimes almost too direct. The cut is tough, there is no off-screen comment, no explanations and explanations, no background sound, just the authentic background noise of the city!" - Bauwelt
“Parfois poétiques, parfois cruels, Ila Bêka et Louise Lemoine tirent des scénarios minimalistes étranges teintés d’un humour mordant, qu’ils mettent en scène avec un sens du cadre, du rythme, du détail merveilleux. Ils touchent l’âme de l’architecture!” - Le Monde
“Un approccio che unisce la capacità analitica del documentario alla potenza narrativa del cinema!” - Corriere della Sera
“Homo Urbanus invites its viewer to identify itself as part of an animal species whose habitat could transcend the wall surrounding the projection black box: films could then be diluted in everyday reality.” - Archdaily
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EXHIBITIONS:
Haus der Architektur, Graz, Austria, 2021
Instituto de Arquitectura de Euskadi, San Sebastián, Spain, 2021
The Temple of Beka & Lemoine, ArchFilmFestival London, June 2021
Arc en Rêve, Bordeaux, France, 2020
Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, Berlin, Germany
Image des Ville, Marseille, France, 2020
XII Architecture Biennale of Sao Paolo, Brazil, 2019
Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Rabat, 2019
Amman Design Biennale, Jordan, 2019
Bi-City Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture, China, 2019
Bauwelt Kongress, Berlin, 2019
Cinque Mostre, American Academy, Rome 2019
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, 2018
MMCA, Seoul, 2018
MOMAK, Kyoto, 2018
CAMP, Prague, 2018
Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, 2017
Agora Biennale de Bordeaux, 2017
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More infos:
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