How to Perform a Truth?

Created by artist Walid Raad, The Atlas Group (1989–2004) is an imaginary organization and archive of fabricated documents concerning Lebanon’s recent history and, specifically, the Lebanese Civil Wars. Attributed to a motley cast of fictional characters, the documents in The Atlas Group archive manipulate real records, either drawn from Raad’s personal collection (street photography, family albums) or public sources, especially newspaper archives. Bearing lengthy, poetic, and often cryptic titles, they are introduced through whimsical stories that we can read in extended captions in installations or on the foundation’s website, and listen to in scholarly-like “lecture-performances.” These “lecture-performances” tell us something about how we might tell a truth, how we might perform it, and how we might teach it.