Sabine Knust Gallery from July 8 until September 7, 2011, proudly presents
JASMINE Oriental Summer
An exhibition with internationally established artists from Iran, Pakistan & the Arab World
Afsoon * Shiva Ahmadi * Tarek Al-Ghoussein * Hoor Al-Qasimi * Sami Al-Turki * Jamshid Bayrami * Oussama Diab * Fouad ElKoury * Simeen Farhat * Lamya Gargash * Mahmoud Kalari * Jeffar Khaldi * Ali Rahbar * Soody Sharifi
Curated by Eva Karcher
Opening: Thursday, July 7, 6 pm until 9 pm
Panel Discussion: Saturday, July 9, 4 pm until 6 pm
HOW MAY ART OPERATE POLITICALLY?
With Artists of the Exhibition and Experts from the Region
On December 2010 young, 27 years old Tunesian greengrocer Mohamed Bouazizi burnt himself in the city of Sidi Bouzid, after the urban administration having closed his veg stall several times and the police having arrested and mistreated him. His helpless desperate protesting led to riot and civil commotion of masses of people, that extended rapidly into the Jasmin-Revolution, named after the national flower of Tunesia.
In racy speed the spark of the Arab spring since then ignites the countries of the whole region from Algeria, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iran, Jordan until Palestine. Many artists participated in the revolt, so as the Egyptian multimedia pioneer Ahmed Basiony, born 1978, who was shot during a demonstration on Cairos Tahrir-Square. His video piece from a Performance, „30 Days of Running in the Space“, now as a memento mori has been installed in the Egyptian pavilion at the Venice Biennial.
Against the background of these events not only in the Arab region but as well in China and other countries with restrictive systems the question of How art may operate politically poses itself with new urgency.
From this point the exhibition JASMIN-Oriental summer will emanate.
The 14 artists participating in this exhibition, ranging from Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the Lebanon, the Emirates and Palestine aboard such a topic through a variety of mediums.
The six women and eight men – painters, sculptors, photographers and film makers – however don`t work in a programmatic or illustrative way, but use the subtle, subversive, expressive, symbolic, narrative and conceptual means to elucidate and shed light on such topical socio- political and humanitarian issues.
This mix of emerging and established artists are presented for the first time altogether in Germany, which offers viewers a unique insight into the shifting trends across the Middle East.