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Kunst Museum Bochum, Bochum

Unexpected, 2010
 

 

Unexpected

 

Kunstmuseum Bochum

18.6.2010 – 10.10.2010

Curator: Necmi Sönmez

 

"UNERWARTET / UNEXPECTED – From Islamic Art to Contemporary Art" is a project of the Kunstmuseum Bochum in the framework of the Ruhr art museums’s joint presentation titled Mapping the Region and marking the occasion of the European Cultural Capital RUHR.2010.

The exhibition operates on three levels. The starting point is large-format photography by the Finnish artist Tuomo Manninnen that presents ten families with roots in Islamic countries. Some of these families are already living in the third or fourth generation in various cities of the Ruhr Valley; they show themselves in their current surroundings.

On a second level, works are shown by contemporary artists (Hamra Abbas, Arahmaiani, Lara Baladi, Mounir Fatmi, Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Özlem Günyol & Mustafa Kunt, Arash Hanaei, Shady El Noshokaty, Zineb Sedira, and Nebojša Šeric Shoba) from the respective ancestral countries of the chosen families. This creates a link between migration and contemporary art. To further illuminate the reference points between the successfully integrated families and current art from the respective Islamic-molded home countries, examples of classical Islamic art are presented as the exhibition’s third level. This intertwines tradition, the present, and fractures in the tradition in the context of their current meaning. The interdisciplinary exhibition operates with mirrorings and interactions among these three levels and consciously rejects simplifying and clichéd statements and determinations.

The terms "Islam", "culture", and "contemporary art" have divergent associations in the cultural-political interactions between East and West. A final clarification of these problematic concepts is complex and not the goal of this project, especially since the contemporary part of the exhibition is not able to and does not seek to depict general Islamic art or culture as such, but primarily focuses on the strategies of the younger generation of artists. The latter demonstrate quite autonomously their view of the world in which they live. The "contemporary image making" of their works is determined by a perception that often makes use of fragmentary, surrealistic, or poetic means and components, independent of regional, ethnic, and historical circumstances.

For observers of present-day constellations between the Orient and the Occident, it is easy to understand why writers and artists whose roots lie in Islamic-molded cultures reject being politically, sociologically, or aesthetically categorized on the basis of their religious affiliation; they rightly point out that these categories originate primarily in Western ideas and prejudices. Central Europeans find it hard to understand why such categorizations have negative associations in Islamic cultures. The supposed superiority of the European value system over the art of other cultures, especially countries molded by Islam, derives from colonialism. To this day it is hardly possible to view contemporary art from these countries from a viewpoint of equality, without oversimplifications and overgeneralizations.

The title "UNERWARTET / UNEXPECTED" reflects a Eurocentric art public’s usual first reaction to current art from Islamic cultures. A primary aim of the exhibition is the attempt to perceive the transfer of new cultural experiences and exchange relationships. Up to now, kindred exhibitions in the German-speaking world (for example, DisORIENTation, Contemporary Arab art production from the Middle East, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin 2003; TASWIR, Islamische Bildwelten und Moderne, Martin Gropius-Bau, Berlin, 2010) have concentrated on simple "presentations" or on a "call for dialog"; but a different form of depiction is being tested in the Kunstmuseum Bochum. Making the viewers aware of migration from Islamic countries to the Ruhr Valley is thereby the thread running through the exhibition.

Immigrants to the Ruhr Valley initially came with no further perspective than residence for a limited time, but soon they began coming with the firm prospect of spending the rest of their lives in this region. Despite initial difficulties, the successful integration of the second and third generation of "Gastarbeiter" children shows the progress that has meanwhile been made in terms of equal chances and equality between natives and immigrants in the Ruhr Valley. This is one of the most important statements of the photos by Tuomo Manninen. In their prose, the poets Nazim Hikmet, Mahmoud Darwish, and Adonis often call creative people "internal immigrants" who, with differing motives, take new paths. So a comparison is definitely possible between the "Gastarbeiter" of the old days and artists, and this exhibition has experimentally carried it out. Curiosity about a "new life" in unknown, alien surroundings and the wish to flee social, political, and cultural constraints are comparable motives and driving forces for both groups. The biographies of migrants and artists often read like processes of emancipation. The certainty of returning soon to their homeland was a prerequisite for most "Gastarbeiter" to be willing to go to another country.

Almost half of the artists invited to the exhibition live and work "away from home". They constantly commute between the place where they work and the place where they were born, seeking new ideas that frequently become the objects of their artistic projects. Some aspects of the exhibition may seem "transitory", because they reflect various traditions of the old homeland in transition to the new one. Almost all these works combine interest in history and its continued effects in the new living circumstances. But the point is not the history of the Orient as a delimited area, but rather world history, whose political consequences are especially palpable in countries shaped by Islam. The "wind" that seems to blow in all corners of the exhibition rooms comes mainly from the south and southeast.

 

Bochum, June 2010

 
Solo shows (selection)
 
2023
L'appartement 22 2023Piero Atchugarry Gallery 2023
Baró Galeria 2023
2022
Wilde Gallery 2022Ceysson & Bénétière 2022
Musée La Kasbah 2022Es Baluard Museu 2022
2021
Conrads Gallery 2021Officine dell'Immagine 2021
ADN 2021
2019
Skanstull Metro Station 2019Analix Forever 2019
Ceysson & Bénétière 2019Wilde Gallery 2019
2018
CDAN 2018Göteborgs Konsthall 2018
2017
Art Front Gallery 2017Officine dell'Immagine 2017
Galerie De Multiples 2017Analix Forever Gallery 2017
Jane Lombard Gallery 2017Galerie Delacroix 2017
Goodman Gallery 2017Lawrie Shabibi 2017
Analix Forever Gallery 2017Maisons des Arts du Grütli 2017
2016
ADN Platform 2016Keitelman Gallery 2016
Labanque 2016MMP+ 2016
2015
MAMCO 2015MIAMIBUS 2015
Analix Forever 2015
2014
CCC Tours 2014ADN Galeria 2014
ADN Platform 2014Analix Forever 2014
Yvon Lambert 2014
2013
Museum Kunst Palast 2013Keitelman Gallery 2013
Paradise Row 2013Institut Français de Casablanca 2013
Galerie Fatma Jellal 2013Analix Forever 2013
2012
Goodman Gallery 2012Shoshana Wayne Gallery 2012
Lombard-Fried Projects 2012
2011
Galerie Conrads 2011Fondazione Collegio San Carlo 2011
Galerie Hussenot 2011AKBank Sanat 2011
2010
Galerie Hussenot 2010
2009
Galerie Conrads 2009FRAC Alsace 2009
2008
Galerie Delacroix IFM 2008Creux de l'enfer 2008
2007
Galerie Ferdinand van Dieten 2007Musée national Pablo Picasso 2007
Shoshana Wayne Gallery 2007La maison rouge 2007
Lombard Freid projects 2007
2006
Bank galerie 2006
2005
CAC d'Istres 2005
2004
Espace des arts Colomiers 2004 CAC Le Parvis 2004
2003
Migros museum 2003
 
Biennials, Triennials (selection)
 
2022
Setouchi Triennale 2022
2020
Altai Biennale 2020
2019
Setouchi Triennale 2019SCREEN IT - Stadstriennale Hasselt Genk 5 2019
2018
13eme Biennale de Dakar 20187th Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale 2018
1er Biennale de Rabat 2018
2017
57th Venice Biennale 20177eme Biennale Architecture, Shenzhen 2017
11eme Biennale de Bamako 201715eme Biennale d'art contemporain Alios! 2017
2016
Biennale Poznan 2016Setouchi Triennale 2016
2015
10èmes Rencontres de Bamako 20155th Thessaloniki Biennale 2015
16th Media art Biennale Wro 20151st Trio Biennale, Rio de Janeiro 2015
2nd Bodrum Biennial 2015
2014
Fotofest Biennial 2014
2013
5th Auckland Triennial 2013White House Biennial 2013
2012
10th Dakar Biennial 2012Manif d'Art 6 2012
2011
3rd Thessaloniki Biennial 201111th Lyon Biennial 2011
54th Venice Biennial 2011
2010
XIIth Cairo Biennial 20101st Mediterranean Biennial of Haifa 2010
Port Izmir 2, international triennial of contemporary art 20109th Dakar Biennial 2010
Biennale Cuvée 2010
2009
Xth Lyon Biennial 2009Art Tel Aviv 2009
9èmes Rencontres de Bamako 2009
2008
1st Brussels Biennial 2008Pontevedra Biennial 2008
2007
24th Biennial Memorial of Nadezda Petrovic 20071st Luanda Triennial 2007
52th Venice Biennial 20078th Sharjah Biennial 2007
2004
Gwangju biennial 2004
2006
2nd Seville Biennial 20067th Dakar Biennial 2006
2000
4th Dakar Biennial 2000
1999
7th Biennal Art Media 1999
 
Group shows (selection)
 
2023
Pola Museum 2023museum in progress 2023
2022
UB Art Galleries 2022Fondation Boghossian 2022
Cobra Museum 2022
2021
Brooklyn Museum 2021Fondation Boghossian 2021
Museo Reina Sofía 2021Iselp 2021
Es Baluard 2021
2020
Fondation Boghossian 2020La Galerie 38 2020
Sala de la Provincia de la Diputacion 2020MOCAK 2020
Ceysson & Bénétière 2020Goodman Gallery 2020
Palais de Tokyo 2020American University in Cairo 2020
Musée des Confluences 2020
2019
Fondation Boghossian 2019MAMA 2019
Ceysson & Bénétière 2019Maison Populaire 2019
Bedford Gallery 2019 Evliyagil Museum 2019
Jane Lombard 2019James Cohan 2019
2018
Mathaf 2018MACAAL 2018
Fondation Boghossian 2018Sammlung Philara 2018
Nasher Museum of Art 2018Ellen Noël Art Museum 2018
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea 2018MOCAK 2018
Bozar Center for fine arts 2018Philharmonie de Paris 2018
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery 2018Goodman Gallery 2018
Institut Français de Saint Louis 2018Pensacola Museum of Art 2018
Von der Heydt-Kunsthalle 2018
2017
Gifu Museum 2017Huntsville Museum of Art 2017
Bandjoun Station 2017Institut des Cultures d’Islam 2017
Bellevue Arts Museum 2017Mudac 2017
Primo Marella Gallery 2017Goodman Gallery 2017
MACAAL 2017Museum De Wieger 2017
Conrads Gallery 2017Galerie Ceysson & Bénétière 2017
Keitelman Gallery 2017Musée du Pays de Hanau 2017
Château de Servières 2017CEAA 2017
Fondazione Fotografia Modena 2017H&R Block Artspace 2017
2016
Bedford Gallery 2016Beijing Today Art Museum 2016
Hôtel des Arts 2016Museum of Old and New Art 2016
Labanque 2016Les Photaumnales 2016
Al Maaden 2016Kunsthalle Faust 2016
Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg 2016Archives Nationales 2016
Bardo National Museum 2016Arles 2016
Musée d'Art Moderne de Troyes 2016Rotor 2016
Goodman Gallery 2016Musée Bartholdi 2016
Institut d’Art Contemporain 2016Santander Art Gallery 2016
Brandts & Viborg Kunsthal 2016
2015
Fondazione VIDEOINSIGHT 2015A Tale of a Tub 2015
Contemporary Istanbul 2015ADMAF 2015
Goodman Gallery 2015Keitelman Gallery 2015
Galeria Municipal do Porto 2015Fabra i Coats 2015
AMOCA 2015Monastère Royal de Brou 2015
CAC La Traverse 2015FRAC Franche-Comté 2015
ZKM 2015The National Library 2015
Station 2015La FabriC - Fondation Salomon 2015
Van Abbemuseum 2015The Brooklyn Museum 2015
MMP+ 2015Sharjah Museum 2015
Kamel Lazaar Foundation 2015Sextant & + 2015
2014
Gwangju Museum of Art 2014QAGOMA 2014
N.B.K. 2014CAyT Centro de Arte y Technologia 2014
Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery 2014Station 2014
Institut du Monde Arabe 2014Art Gallery of Western Australia 2014
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art 2014Palais de Tokyo 2014
2013
L'art dans les chapelles 2013MAD Museum 2013
Marseille - Provence 2013V&A Museum 2013
30 ans des FRAC 2013MAC Marseille 2013
MAXXI 2013
2012
Museu de Arte Moderna de Salvador de Bahia 2012Institut du Monde Arabe 2012
Edge of Arabia 2012Apexart 2012
B.P.S. 22 2012Dorsky Gallery 2012
International Center of Graphic Arts 2012
2011
Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art 2011Fondation Blachère 2011
Brooklyn Museum 2011Dublin Contemporary 2011
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts 2011Museum on the Seam 2011
Tri Postal Lille 2011Meeting Point 6 2011
2010
The New School 2010Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil 2010
Fondazione Fotografia Modena 2010Aargauer Kunsthaus 2010
KAdE 2010Kunst Museum Bochum 2010
Moscow museum of modern art 2010Art Gallery of Ontario 2010
2009
Fondation Gulbenkian 2009Centro de Arte de Santa Monica 2009
Beirut Art Center 2009Salina Art Center 2009
2008
Kunstverein Medienturm Ilz 2008Te Papa museum 2008
Studio Museum Harlem 2008Haus der Kunst 2008
Centre Pompidou 2008CAAM 2008
Centro de Arte de Santa Monica 2008
2007
Johannesburg Art Gallery 2007
2006
CAC Le Parvis 2006CAPC musée d'art contemporain 2006
Bank Galerie 2006Les Abattoirs 2006
Moderna museet 2006Mori art museum 2006
2005
Wereldmuseum 2005Centre Pompidou 2005
The Stenersen Museum 2005Saw gallery 2005
Konstmuseum 2005Hayward Gallery 2005
2004
Museum Kunst Palast 2004Tri Postal Lille 2004
2003
2nd international contemporary art meeting 2003
2002
Espacio C 2002
1999
O.N.A. Foundation 1999CAC Castres 1999
Musée des beaux-arts de Dôle 1999Musée des arts décoratifs 1999
 
 
Public Space Projects (selection)
 
2015
Metavilla Collateral Project to the 12th Havana Biennial
Prison Qara Meknès Art Paris
2014
Analix Forever
2013
Sculpture Beach Art Dubai
2012
Le Printemps de Septembre Narracje 4
2010
Ivry FIAC Tuileries
2004
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt