Designed by Paris-based Clément Wibaut, Benny Nemer: I Don’t Know Where Paradise Is expands upon Nemer’s 2020 CUAG exhibition and eponymous audio work distilled from his research in the libraries of elder gay scholars in Amsterdam, London, Montreal, Paris and Vienna. This beautiful, intimate book features lush photographs of the thirteen pairings of exquisite floral arrangements created with members of Ottawa’s queer community in response to chapters of the audio work for the exhibition, and essays by five writers that astutely situate Nemer’s work in broader, overlapping contexts. Benny Nemer: I Don’t Know Where Paradise Is features contributions from Benny Nemer, Heather Anderson, Ann Cvetkovich, Jennifer Evans, John Potvin, and Sandra Dyck.
Benny Nemer is an artist, diarist, and researcher based in Paris. His multidisciplinary practice approaches a diversity of themes through an evolving ensemble of materials, among them the human voice, floral arranging, epistolary writing, private libraries, and queer archives.