Kaya Behkalam
dal 1/4/2014 al 27/4/2014
Segnalato da
1/4/2014
Kaya Behkalam
Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
For IBB-Videolounge programme, 3 films by Berliner artist. His work investigates ways of describing history and how they influence our understanding of reality.
Over the course of one year, the IBB-Videolounge presents 12 artists who have drawn
attention to themselves with innovative use of the media film and video in recent years.
The selected artists are both established representatives of contemporary video art as well
as emerging artists who have scarcely made their mark on Berlin’s active art scene.
A new, changing programme of different works will be compiled each month.
In April (02.04.–28.04.2014) the IBB-Videolounge shows films by Kaya Behkalam (*1978,
Berlin). Kaya Behkalam’s work investigates ways of describing history and how they
influence our understanding of reality.
Kaya Behkalam studied at Berlin University of the Arts and is currently pursuing a
doctorate in free art at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. Among the venues to have
displayed his work are Queens Museum, New York; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin;
Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; and Kunstverein Heidelberg. Excursions in the Dark received
the Dialogue Award at the European Media Art Festival. Behkalam is currently living and
working in Egypt, where he teaches at the American University in Cairo.
Works shown at IBB-Videolounge:
Excursions in the Dark, 2011
In Excursions in the Dark Behkalam combines images of post-revolutionary Cairo in 2011
with associative threads of narration. Filmed during the night curfew imposed by the
Military Council after President Mubarak’s resignation, the video shows the Egyptian
capital from an uncustomarily deserted perspective. As people continue to protest by day
on nearby Tahrir Square – this time against their transitional military rulers – the silence of
these empty nocturnal streets focuses our gaze on the architecture, otherwise confined to
the background of our perceptions. “Wust al-Balad”, or “the heart of the country” as the
centre of Cairo is colloquially known, was inspired by Paris. The French capital was
reorganised in the mid-19th century by the urban planner Baron Haussmann, following the
experience of the French Revolution: the narrow medieval alleys that had made it so simple
to erect barricades, to the rebels’ advantage, were replaced by the clear sightlines of
orderly boulevards. These catered for the needs of modern traffic, but also lent themselves
to easier control by the authorities. The quiet video footage of Cairo is accompanied by
apparently unconnected narrative fragments, which turn out to be dream sequences of
local residents and offer insights into their desires and fears. Behkalam is making a
reference to Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) and his Arcades Project, that unfinished
magnum opus on the city of Paris: by linking words and images, he traces unconscious
associations between collective dreamscapes, political agency and the architecture of the
city.
Fear filled her heart as, gazing back, she saw (A farewell to the monument), 2013
In this work Behkalam examines the allegorical figures of women chosen to symbolise
European nations, such as Germania and Marianne. The title of this piece is taken from
Metamorphoses, the work of mythology by the Roman poet Ovid. It refers to the moment
when Jupiter, king of the gods, assumes the shape of a bull to carry Europa to Crete.
Dancers in Cairo re-enact the postures typically adopted by these allegories and, by means
of improvisation, probe the conceptual, utopian and sometimes violent origins of these
personifications. Constructs of European identity are resymbolised by means of this
corporeal exploration.
The 40 Feet Trilogy, 2004/05
The 40 Feet Trilogy is an essay-like portrait of the River Avon in South West England. Its
elusive challenge is to write a potential biography of the river. Rather than adopting a linear
narrative, Behkalam weaves together fragments of very disparate origin: the threads in this
atmospheric impression of place include the river’s ancient formation, the transatlantic
slave trade and the frequent use of one particular bridge for suicides.
This project has been facilitated by Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB).
Upcoming Artists:
30.04.–26.05.2014: kate hers RHEE
28.05.–23.06.2014: Cathleen Schuster
Image: Kaya Behkalam, Excursions in the Dark, 2011 © Kaya Behkalam
Contact:
Susanne Kumar-Sinner
Head of
Marketing and Communications
Fon +49 (0)30 789 02 – 829
kumar-sinner@berlinischegalerie.de
Carolin Wagner
Trainee
Marketing and Communications
Fon +49 (0)30 789 02 – 834
wagner@berlinischegalerie.de
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