Shifting Worlds
dal 4/2/2005 al 10/4/2005
Segnalato da
4/2/2005
Shifting Worlds
Fri Art - Kunsthalle Fribourg, Fribourg
Teresa Chen, Zineb Sedira, Janaina Tschape. Extra Muros: Valerie Mrejen
Three artists with varied and mixed cultural backgrounds, Teresa Chen
(Chinese-American), Zineb Sedira (French and Algerian) and Janaina Tschape
(Brazilian and German) offer us their contrasting and discerning personal
experiences. Their work lifts the veil on terms such as multiculturalism,
globalization or internationalism. Combining the infinite wealth of hybrid
cultures, their stories spin yarns that pass easily from identity and
difference, absence to presence, femininity to masculinity, past to
future...
Multiplying perspectives as in a kaleidoscope, "Shifting Worlds"
highlights the work of three artists who transfer their viewpoint to that
of others, transforming it and metamorphosing our vision of the world. One
by one, they redesign political or geographic landscapes with a degree of
tenderness and intimacy that is nothing if not universal.
On the ground floor of Fri-Art, Zineb Sedira questions our identity and
otherness. Born of post colonialism, Damascene (2001-2005) introduces us
to the l'autre face de l'histoire: une histoire racontee avec des
differences ('the other side of the story: a story told with
differences'). Against a gold background, these words are featured on
oriental wall paper. They express the word and the tongue that are the
very essence of Zineb Sedira's work. The exhibition continues with Mother
Tongue (2002), a triptych that recounts the relationship between three
generations (mother, daughter, granddaughter) in three languages (Arabian,
French, English). Mother, Father and I (2003) is the story of the
Algerian War and exile in France as told by the artist's parents. In the
last room, black ink and words dissolve in limpid water. This is Don't do
to her what you did to me (1998/2001), the tale of a talisman, a feminine
figure interprets a verse of the Quran.
On the first floor, the feminine body is again the focus, seemingly
defying weightlessness. Water is the recurring theme - perhaps it
signifies reconciliation.
Janaina Tschape takes us into a universe in full metamorphosis. In
Camaleoas (2002), the "chameleons" symbolize the destinies of four women
whose discourse is vital but contradictory (Fatima "Sol" personifies the
sun, a star; Jani "Executiva" incarnates executive combat; Cristal
"Planta" searches her roots in order to claim her liberty; Claudia the
"Robot" begins to dream). Coming from a favela in the north of Rio, these
heroines defy our imagination, revealing means of surpassing themselves,
of transcending the feminine condition. Their stories become myth although
they are just fragments of truncated, poignantly intense lives. In After
the Rain (2003), nymph and nature are great reservoirs made up of
membranes, containing the past, but also the future...
Teresa Chen's photographs often represent parts of her. The Atmospheres
series (1996), Undeterminate Body (1997) or here Emerging II (2000-2001),
revisit her body like a territory that she passes through, trying to
establish new boundaries. Between the figurative and the abstract, between
the narrative and the silent, between what is and what is not, we are
invited to a closer examination of this indeterminate identity, this
tested femininity. Whether we like it or not, her new series entitled
Gorgeous (2004) comes as a surprise. Passing from fragments of the body to
water that is opalescent and murky, she casts us into a semblance of
blood. This fragile femininity is sorely tried. Like her sensual and
profoundly human nature (bloodied water) the macroscopic photographs of
iridescent flowers evoke concrete objects. Projecting both attraction and
aversion, sensuality and repulsion, Teresa Chen stages the drama of our
human condition, of our differences.
At the borderline between cultures and identities, "Shifting Worlds"
reproduces the tradition of transmission. The "speculum" - the mirror - of
the other brings us to decipher a social state in a personal manner,
opening new perspectives on relationships. These stories, both personal
and universal, intensify meetings and cultural exchange. They also give
meaning to the interface between experiences of oneself and of others, and
initiate us to the infinity of otherness.
(Translated from the French by Zosia Rozankowska, January 2005)
Extra Muros: Valerie Mrejen, Dieu, 2004 (projection in the public space
from March 6 - 13, 2005)
Kunsthalle Fribourg, Fri-Art
22 petites-Rames - CH - 1700 Fribourg
With the support of the Coriolis Promotion, the State of Fribourg (DICS),
the Loterie Romande, the Federal Office of Culture, the Foundation Nestle
and British Council