Kashya Hildebrand is delighted to announce RCD>PLY>RWD>FFWD>STOP>EJ, a group exhibition of work by Middle Eastern Contemporary artists. Running from 14 October – 22 November 2014 and curated by Aya Haidar, the show emphasises recording the present as a reference for the future.
Looking at the recent and current trends that have swept the Middle East, a combination of ongoing simmering tensions as well as a boom in construction and development have led to an urban landscape that is changing at an alarmingly rapid pace. In the process, history and local heritage sees itself becoming erased, and identities are in a constant state of flux.
Those living with – and observing – these changes, are forced to ask themselves: What is retained today to be referenced tomorrow? Artists are challenged to respond to how these events are reflected to not just a global audience, but, indeed, future audiences. How can these realities be presented without falling into a clichéd view of a region already plagued by stereotypes and pre-conceived notions of endless strife, oppression and upheaval?
It is precisely these insights into the Middle East’s untold realities that this exhibition aims to explore. As the wider geopolitics are determined from above, another layer of history is being made, in the streets and behind closed doors. The artists here seek to reflect the actual realities of those who live and struggle to maintain them. They represent the everyday and question preconceptions and misconceptions of an otherwise preconceived and misunderstood region.
These are the subjects that artists are choosing to record. This is the today that they are saving for the future. The works range in media from video to photography, drawing and sculpture.
The artists participating are:
Ibrahim Abumsmar (Saudi Arabia), Doa Aly (Egypt), Ayman Yossri Daydban (Palestine/Saudi Arabia), Hazem Harb (Palestine), Khaled Jarrar (Palestine), Randa Mirza (Lebanon) and Yara El-Sherbini (UK/Egypt).
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About Kashya Hildebrand
The gallery's artists challenge pre-conceived notions of nationality and cultural identity, creating an environment in which established norms become blurred and characterizations from seemingly contrasting cultures occupy the same visual space. This juxtaposition leads to a simultaneous renunciation and acceptance of the traditional and the contemporary, creating an environment that is in constant flux. Religion, politics, nationality and culture are treated as the foundation of identity, depicted and disseminated to varying degrees. Through painting, collage, sculpture, photography and installation work the artists convey the contestations of the contemporary political landscape.
Exhibition:
RCD>PLY>RWD>FFWD>STOP>EJ
Curator:
Aya Haidar
Location:
Kashya Hildebrand, 22 Eastcastle Street London W1W 8DE, UK Telephone: +44 (0)20 3588 1195
Dates:
14 October - 22 November, 2014 at Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, London, UK
Private View, Monday 13 October 2014, 6-8pm
In presence of the curator and select artists
To RSVP please email info@kashyahildebrand.org
Hours:
Monday – Friday 11am – 6pm, Saturday 12 – 6 pm
Admission is free
For press information and images, please contact:
Anna Wallace-Thompson
+44 (0)20 3588 1195
anna@kashyahildebrand.org
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Participating Artists
Ibrahim Abumsmar
Al Qiblah Kite
Winston Churchill once said “Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.” This idea takes on new meaning with Al Qiblah Kite, by Saudi-born Ibrahim Abumsmar, who repurposes everyday objects as sculptures. In the case of his life-sized kite, Abumsmar explores the experience of one’s individual faith and its role within a collective. Al Qiblah Kite embodies the tenuous balance of one’s moral compass in the face of social pressure and a time of rivalled and challenging circumstances. The Qiblah is the direction Muslims face for prayer, fixed in the direction of the Holy Kaaba in Mecca. By appropriating such a recognizable symbol onto a kite, Abumsmar explores the moral triumph of faith and collectivism against prevailing defiance.
Doa Aly
Hysterical Choir of the Frightened (HCF)
On the 25th of January 2014, thousands of people gathered in Tahrir square to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, while state police crushed nearby protests with tear gas and live ammunition. The proximity of the celebrations and the killings led many to call it the day of “death and dance”. On the 26th, journalist Wael Abdel Fatah started his daily column with the words, “Jihadi madness versus the hysterical choir of the frightened”. Aly is recreating this Hysterical Choir of the Frightened as a choir of four young women reciting excerpts from the Marquis De Sade’s novella “Justine” (1791). In these passages, De Sade’s protagonists are defending murder as a necessity to the regenerative forces of Nature.
Her HCF series drawings are based on Victorian post-mortem photographs, namely the ones where the deceased is made to pose as alive.
Ayman Yossri Daydban
Al Qablah Al Oola (The First Kiss) and The First & Last Prayer
In 1999, Ayman Yossri Daydban created a series of paintings that portray figures standing alone in a large, isolated cube. Titled The Room, the series dealt with identity and communication. These two concepts make up the backbone of the artist’s practice. As Daydban sits alone in his studio, working in a room filled with miscellaneous objects and artwork, he ponders the environment that has become his sanctuary, the medium through which he communicates with the outside world. He questions whether it is the room that he belongs to, or rather the world beyond, through a connection via modern-day technology. Daydban’s work hinges on this interaction between his life in the room and his life in the space outside of it. This interchangeable existence suggests, for him, that belonging (as a result of communication) is nothing more than shifting a momentary state of consciousness. Indeed, as a Saudi resident of Palestinian origin, concepts of belonging hold particular significance for Daydban. In these works, Daydban returns to The Room by revisiting objects found within it.
Hazem Harb
Forever
Born in Gaza, Hazeb Harb’s artistic practice is intrinsically linked to his Palestinian identity. Everyday life has become ever more compacted as space becomes even more economical as Palestinian settlements close in on themselves. Houses, families and lives are compressed into small cubic blocks. Reminiscent of Bauhaus architecture, the sharpness and clean lines of these blocks becomes a metaphor for daily life for Palestinian residents. Forever presents two chairs united as though they are blocks of Lego that can be easily pulled apart to give each his or her own space. The reality, for those in Gaza, however, has proven much more of a challenge.
Khaled Jarrar
Whole In The Wall and Olive Branch
Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar works with photography, video and performance to interrogate the situation of his native country, particularly with respect to the recognition of the State of Palestine. He uses his artistic practice as a means of questioning conflict, nationhood, home and belonging. His Whole In The Wall photography series is inspired by meeting an elderly woman at the wall that separates Gaza and Israel on one of her many trips to visit her daughter. When the wall was erected this woman and her daughter were cut off from each other and forced to live on either side. Though separated by the concrete structure, a small hole enabled them to see each other from a distance. With the recent death of this woman, Jarrar reconsiders her long visits to this hole in the wall and began to explore what was beyond. Meanwhile, Olive Branch, made of reconstituted concrete from the so-called apartheid wall and olive wood reflects on how life can exist in even the most difficult of circumstances. Extending a proverbial olive branch, Jarrar highlights the power this barrier has in hindering the hand of friendship and peace. If a tree can grow from concrete, then there is hope for unity and a free Palestine.
Randa Mirza:
Beirutopia
Since the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1990, Beirut has been striving to regain the glamour and splendour associated when it was known as the ‘Paris of the Middle East’. Beirut’s current urban landscape is undergoing rapid change with numerous reconstruction and renewal projects. Part of this construction boom comes from large inflows of foreign capital and the profitability of the speculative real estate sector. Here advertisements for construction projects show large billboards in situ reproducing fantastic proposed realities to come. Computerized ‘biopolitic’ renderings simulate the building, its interior, surroundings, illusory residences and lifestyle. Beirutopia does not differentiate these illusory images and the pastiche narrative that they embody. This confrontation allows for new forms of identification to arise and become reappropriated within the wider social and architectural fabric of the city. The photographs become sites of resistance.
Yara El-Sherbini
Buzzwords
Yara El-Sherbini’s interdisciplinary practice uses pop culture and humour to engage and question social and political systems of power and influence. By appropriating universally recognisable objects and events in a specific cultural context, El-Sherbini aims to elucidate systems in the production of knowledge. Buzzwords is a series of participatory sculptural works which subvert the game ‘Buzz Wire’ where players navigate metal words with a metal loop, without forming an electric circuit. When metal meets metal, it creates an electric charge triggering a warning buzz sound and light. The artist has created two new works in the series: Current and Resistance. Considering these words in light of the historical, present and ongoing political situation in the Middle East, the game ultimately asks us to consider our individual agency, playfully creating a parallel between political power and power in the form of an electrical charge. In questioning the importance of power, the game physically challenges us to determine how – and if – we choose to steer along certain routes and our response when we place ourselves in risky and dangerous terrain.
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