Residue

As a filmmaker and artist, Roy Samaha explores the non-linear relationships between images, memory and history through embodied experience. Residue began as a trip from Beirut to Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast. From there, Samaha headed northward to Ayvalik, an old seaport village in the country’s northwest region, where he caught a ferryboat that took him to Greece’s ancient city of Mytilene. The artist retraces the journey of successive waves of migration, following the route of people moving from the Aegean, Anatolian and southern European regions to the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt. Based on Samaha’s journey, Residue is a moving image diary comprised of over 85 GIFs that explore the recurring movement of waters, peoples and cultures.