Love Me, Love Me Not
Contemporary Art from Azerbaijan and its Neighbours
Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, Baku, Azerbaijan
4 April – 25 May 2014
Faig
Ahmed, Shoja Azari, Ali Banisadr, Ali Hasanov, Orkhan Huseynov, Taus
Makhacheva, Farhad Moshiri and Slavs and Tatars, amongst selected
artists.
Love Me, Love Me Not is an exhibition of
contemporary art from Azerbaijan and its neighbours, featuring recent
work by 16 artists from Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, and Georgia. Produced
and supported by YARAT, a not-for-profit contemporary art organisation
based in Baku, and curated by Dina Nasser-Khadivi, the exhibition will
be open to the public from 3 April until 25 May 2014 at the Heydar
Aliyev Cultural Center, Baku, Azerbaijan.
Artists featured:
Faig Ahmed (Azerbaijan)
Rashad Alakbarov (Azerbaijan)
Afruz Amighi (Iran)
Shoja Azari (Iran)
Rashad Babayev (Azerbaijan)
Mahmoud Bakhshi (Iran)
Ali Banisadr (Iran)
Ali Hasanov (Azerbaijan)
Orkhan Huseynov (Azerbaijan)
Sitara Ibrahimova (Azerbaijan)
Aida Mahmudova (Azerbaijan)
Taus Makhacheva (Russia)
Farhad Moshiri (Iran)
Farid Rasulov (Azerbaijan)
Slavs and Tatars (‘Eurasia’)
Iliko Zautashvili (Georgia)
"Each
piece in this exhibition has a role of giving the viewers at least one
new perspective on the nations represented in this pavilion, with the
mere intent to give a better understanding of the area that is being
covered. Showcasing work by these artists in a single exhibition aims
to, ultimately, question how we each perceive history and geography."
explains curator Dina Nasser-Khadivi.
The exhibition offers a
diverse range of media and subject matter, with video, installation and
painting all on show. Pieces range from those steeped in historical
reference, to those with more site-specific responses, through to those
which are inspired by personal history.
Faig Ahmed takes
the motifs found in Azerbaijani carpets as a starting point for his
work, reinterpreting these to underline the rapid shift Azerbaijan is
experiencing towards modernity. His thread installation Untitled (2012)
deconstructs the notions of craft inherent to the traditional process of
weaving, extending the usual two-dimensional plane of the finished
carpet across a three-dimensional space.
In his most ambitious project to date, Shoja Azari
will show a specially commissioned film which recreates the Haft
Paykar, the romantic epic of the 12th century, by Nizami of Ganja. Haft
Paykar or Seven Beauties is an allegorical romance, which takes
self-knowledge as the essential path to human enlightenment as its
central theme.
Ali Banisadr has produced his largest work
to date for the exhibition, in the form of a triptych inspired by the
pervasive symbolism of fire and light. These elements, prevalent in both
Azerbaijan and Iran, relate to the origins of Zoroastrianism as well as
the etymology of ‘Azerbaijan,’ which derives from the Persian name for
‘Guardians of Fire’. Through effective use of colour and painterly
control, Banisadr translates the imagery of his childhood, his extensive
understanding of art history, and his sharp observations of everyday
life onto canvas, capturing insightful details of humanity with
movement, energy, and abstraction. Banisadr's works are housed in public
collections worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Saatchi Gallery and
the British Museum in London.
Ali Hasanov, from Azerbaijan, uses a contemporary appropriation of everyday materials. His work Masters
(2012) features hundreds of “veniki” (brooms made of bundled twig and
common in post-Soviet countries) which are bound together to form a
sculptural whole.
Taus Makhacheva will show a film, presented at the Liverpool Biennale 2012 about an abandoned silk-road city Gamsutl (2012) including a young male protagonist who “dances” to enact the fragmented qualities of the city, now half forgotten.
Slavs & Tatars’ installation entitled Molla Nasreddin The Antimodernist
(2011) is a life-size sculpture as a playground “ride” for adults and
children alike and refers to the popular Sufi philosopher of the 13th
century. By creating works that can be directly engaged with by the
public, the collective addresses notions such as generosity and
participation through the disarming use of humour. Molla Nasreddin also
refers to the legendary Azerbaijani satirical periodical of the early
20th century, which not only contributed to a crucial understanding of
national identity, but offered a momentous example of the powers of the
press. In their installation Love Me, Love Me Not, the collective
pluck the petals off the past to reveal an impossibly thorny stem:
entire metropolises are caught like children in the spiteful back and
forth of a custody battle, representing the evolution of the region over
time - a theme which is at the core of this exhibition.
By bringing artists from Azerbaijan and its surrounding region together in one exhibition, Love Me, Love Me Not will create new perspectives on the contemporary art of Azerbaijan, as well as that of Iran, Russia and Georgia.
The catalogue:
Edited by curator Dina Nasser-Khadivi and Farah Rahim Ismail, contributors to catalogue include:
• Nada Raza, Assistant Curator at Tate Modern
• Nicholas Cullinan, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Negar Azimi, writer and Senior Editor of Bidoun Projects
• Monica Steinberg, PhD Candidate, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
• Suad Garayeva, writer and curator specializing in Contemporary Art from Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus.
• Slavs and Tatars, a faction of polemics and intimacies devoted to an area east of the former
Berlin
Wall and west of the Great Wall of China known as Eurasia. The
collective’s work spans several media, disciplines, and a broad spectrum
of cultural registers (high and low) focusing on an oft-forgotten
sphere of influence between Slavs, Caucasians and Central Asians.
Love
Me, Love Me Not is produced by YARAT contemporary art organisation, a
not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion and nurturing of
contemporary art in Azerbaijan.
About YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation:
Founded
in 2011 by Aida Mahmudova, YARAT is a not-for-profit organisation
dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in
Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both
nationally and internationally.
Based in Baku, YARAT, (which
means CREATE in Azerbaijani) realises its mission through an ongoing
program of exhibitions, education events, and festivals. YARAT
facilitates dialogue and exchange between local and international
artistic networks, including foundations, galleries and museums. A
series of residencies further fosters opportunities for global cultural
dialogue and partnerships.
YARAT’s educational initiatives
include lectures, seminars, master classes, and the Young Artist Project
ARTIM (meaning PROGRESS in Azerbaijani). ARTIM aims to encourage the
next generation of Azerbaijani creative talent to seek a career in the
arts and gives young practitioners the opportunity to exhibit their
works in a professional context.
Founded as part of YARAT’s ongoing
commitment to growing local art infrastructure, YAY Gallery is a
commercial exhibition space. In line with this, YAY (meaning SHARE in
Azerbaijani) shares all proceeds from sales between the artist and YARAT
and supports a range of national and international artists.
About the Curator:
Dina
Nasser-Khadivi is an independent curator and consultant, specialising
in Contemporary art from the Middle East, Iran and selected areas of the
Caucasus. Originally a 19/20th century Orientalist art specialist at
Christie’s, Dina began to work with Middle Eastern and Iranian
Contemporary art in 2006, developing an international platform for the
artists by organising numerous awareness-raising initiatives, such as
the landmark symposium An Introduction to the World of Iranian Modern
and Contemporary Art held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New
York, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Contemporary Art
(MOCA) in Los Angeles in the fall of 2010. With projects that have
included curating private collections and advising major institutions,
Dina divides her practice between New York, London, Geneva, and Dubai.
Over
the last three years Dina’s shift towards the Caucasus region has been
driven by an affinity with the people and culture of Azerbaijan, a
neighbouring country of her native Iran, and her interest in the artists
who belong to the growing contemporary art scene in Baku in particular.
Sponsors:
Gilan - a consumer company with a
number of brands in Azerbaijan
Jale - a market-leading brand of
juice in Azerbaijan
Artists’ biographies:
Faig Ahmed
(b. 1982) deconstructs motifs and formulae of Azerbaijani carpets,
which remain a popular art form on walls and floors across Azerbaijan
its neighbours. Making two-dimensional arrangements into sculptural and
spatial objects, and mixing hand-woven carpet elements with fibreglass
forms, he offers a contemporary vision of a cultural icon.
After
graduating from the Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Art (2004), Ahmed
represented Azerbaijan in their first appearance at the 52nd Venice
Biennale in 2007. Selected exhibitions include: 55th Venice Biennale,
Love Me Love Me Not (2013); “Fly To Baku”, London, Paris, Berlin,
Moscow, Rome (2012-2013); Sharjah Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah, UAE
(2012); Museum of Modern Art Baku, Azerbaijan (2012); 012 Baku Public
Art Festival (2012) Kunsthalleim Lipsiusbau, Dresden, Germany (2008);
52nd Venice Biennale, Azerbaijan Pavilion (2007); Caucasus, National
Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (2006).
Faig Ahmed lives and works in Azerbaijan.
Rashad Alakbarov (b.
1979) uses installations involving incongruous objects and coloured
shadows to play upon expectation and allude to cultural issues. For the
55th Venice Biennale, he created an installation focusing on the
development of the Azerbaijani alphabet which was changed over three
times in the past seventy years, reflecting as such the nation’s
history, identity and evolution.
After graduating from the
Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Art (2001), Alakbarov was chosen to
represent Azerbaijan at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. Selected
exhibitions include: 55th Venice Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not and the
Pavilion of Azerbaijan (2013); “Fly To Baku”, London, Paris, Berlin,
Moscow, Rome (2012-2013), Sharjah Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah, UAE
(2012); YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation, Baku, Azerbaijan (2012);
012 Baku Public Art Festival (2012); Den Frie Centre for Contemporary
Art Copenhagen (2010); 52nd Venice Biennale, Azerbaijan pavilion (2007).
Rashad Alakbarov lives and works in Azerbaijan.
Afruz Amighi (b.
1974) reflects upon history to create her multimedia installations. She
has an in-depth and critical understanding of Iran’s visual culture,
from both an insider and outsider point of view. Her largest work to
date, specially commissioned for the 55th Venice Biennale, focuses on
the crossroads of culture at the Biennale itself as well as the history
of Eurasian exchange. Developed from a parable about a contest between
Chinese and Greek artists by Jalal al din Rumi, it fuses patterns of
Venetian lace with water, shadow and architectural design.
Selected
group exhibitions include: 55th Venice Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not
(2013); Museum of Art and Design, New York (2012); The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York (2012); Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas
(2010); Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2009). Selected solo
exhibitions include "Suspended City", Bloom Projects, Santa Barbara
Contemporary Arts Forum, California (2012);"The State Within", Nicelle
Beauchene Gallery, New York (2011); "Angels in Combat", Isabelle Van Den
Eynde Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2010). Afruz Amighi lives
and works in New York City.
Shoja Azari (b. 1958) is a
visual artist/filmmaker who uses film, painting and photography to
create striking and culturally referenced works. In 1998, Shoja met the
renowned visual artist Shirin Neshat and together they started a close
collaboration still continuing today. Amongst their most famous projects
was Turbulent a double screen film installation, which won the Golden
Lion in Venice in1998 and Rapture (1999) which was acclaimed as “a
masterpiece” by Arthur Danto. In the following years, Shoja and Shirin
produced more than 15 film/art installations that have been exhibited
widely in museums and art festivals around the globe. In 2000, Shoja
adapted three short stories of Kafka into a trilogy and presented it as
his first feature film K which premiered at the Venice film festival in
2002. Women Without Men, a feature film written and directed in
collaboration with Neshat won the Silver Lion in Venice in 2010. Based
on the controversial novel by Shahrnoush Parsipour the film interweaved
the lives of four Iranian women in the summer of 1953 -a pivotal moment
in Iranian history during an American-led coup d'état. For Love Me, Love
Me Not Azari is doing his most ambitious project to date, a 25 minutes
video projection which will tell the story of the Black dome, or King of
Benighted from the romantic epic poem of the 12th century poet Nezami
Ganjavi’s “Haft Paykar” or “Seven Beauties”. Completed in 1197 by the
poet Nizami of Ganja, it is an allegorical romance of great beauty and
depth, and its central theme of self-knowledge as the path to human
perfection is conveyed in rich and vivid imagery and complex symbolism.
Shoja is using contemporary actors set within the background of Persian
miniature to tell his story. Selected exhibitions include: 55th Venice
Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not (2013); Solo Exhibition, Leila Heller
Gallery, New York (forthcoming 2013); VIP Art Fair, New York (2012), The
Elephant in the Dark, Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi, India (2012);
Live Art/Expanded, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, UK; Special
Project, Marco Noire Contemporary Arts, Basel Art Fair, Switzerland
(2007); Project Rooms, ARCO, Madrid, Spain (2006). Shoja Azari lives and
works in New York City.
Rashad Babayev (b. 1979) is a
painter and installation maker who works in a variety of ways, calling
upon beliefs and symbols to create works, or simply using abstract
compositions to explore colour. For Love Me Love Me Not, Babayev plans
to bring a real fig tree to recreate the symbolic attachment many have
to “the Tree of Wishes.” On this tree in Ashperon, Azerbaijan, many
hundreds of scarves representing individual wishes are secured each
year. Babayev’s installation however, critiques this ritual through
attaching scarves that include, for example, designer brands, to imply
the materialist wishes increasingly prevalent in the country.
Selected
exhibitions include: 55th Venice Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not (2013);
Fly To Baku, London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Rome (2012-2013), Commonist
YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation, Baku, Azerbaijan, Merging Bridges,
MOMA, Baku, Azerbajian (2012).
Rashad Babayev lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Mahmoud Bakhshi
(b. 1977) creates remarkably subversive work, commenting on the
hypocrisy he sees around him. In Verdicts of Looking (2008) mannequins
wearing the hijab have hollowed-out plastic eyes with explicit videos
showing inside them, aimed at confronting the hypocritical modesty
imposed on the public sphere. For Air Pollution of Iran (2004 -2006), he
framed Iranian flags stained by the capital city’s pollution of the
atmosphere. For Love Me, Love Me Not he will parody the oil wealth of
the region by creating a fountain of oil that flows down a stepped,
tin-plate pyramid.
Mahmoud’s work is included in the permanent
collection of the Tate Modern. His exhibitions have included: 55th
Venice Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not (2013); Art Gwangju, South Korea
(2012); Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (2011); Delfina Foundation
(2010); the Barbican, London (2008). Prizes include the Magic of Persia
Contemporary Art Prize, which enabled him to have a solo show at the
Saatchi Gallery in London in September 2010. Mahmoud Bakhshi lives and
works in Tehran.
Ali Banisadr (b. 1976). Through effective
use of colour and painterly control, Banisadr translates the imagery of
his childhood, his extensive understanding of art history, and his
sharp observations of everyday life onto canvas, capture insightful
details of humanity with movement, energy, and abstraction. For
Banisadr, painting is his means of visually understanding the world, and
is a medium through which emotions, ideas, and sensations successfully
come together. Banisadr's works are housed in prestigious public
collections worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Saatchi Gallery,
the British Museum in London and the Museum der Moderne Salzburg amongst
others.
Selected Exhibitions include: 55th Venice Biennale,
Love Me Love Me Not (2013); Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (2012);
Green Art Gallery, Dubai (2012); Leslie Tonkonow Artworks, New York
(2011); Gemeente Museum, The Hague (2011); the Saatchi Gallery, London
(2009). Ali Banisadr was born in Tehran, Iran and currently lives and
works in New York.
Ali Hasanov (b. 1976) is an artist,
musician and filmmaker. His works have explored media in all three
areas, with a notable project Arsenium (performed in 2012) inspired by
the landmark performance of Symphony of Sirens by a Russian Avant Garde
composer Arseni Avraamov, in Azerbaijan in 1922. Creating an animation
and musical score to commemorate this, a performance took place on the
docks, with full choir and brass band to accompany it.
Hasanov
graduated from the Azerbaijani State University of Culture and the Arts
and received a degree in Filmmaking from Baku International Film School.
He represented Azerbaijan at the 52nd Venice Biennale and selected
exhibitions include: 55th Venice Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not (2013);
Fly To Baku, London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Rome (2012-2013) Museum of
Contemporary Art, Perm, Russia (2011); Deop, Istanbul (2009); Mars
Gallery, Moscow (2009); National Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow
(2006). Ali is also the founder and leader of a musical collective
called PG Large Used Project.
He lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Orkhan Huseynov
(b. 1978) creates work that is playful and peculiar, in media including
video, computer prints and plastic sculptures. With plexi-glass and
computer imaging he creates child-like images that at first seem
innocuous but may refer to oil wealth, political power, or religious
space travel.
Orkhan Huseynov graduated from the Azimzadeh State
Art College (1995) and the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and
Art (1999), before going on to complete his Master's degree at the
Azerbaijan State Academy of Fine Art in Baku. He represented Azerbaijan
at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. He works in a variety of media from
painting to installation but his works are united by their celebration
of Azeri customs and history Selected exhibitions include: 55th Venice
Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not (2013); Fly To Baku, London, Paris,
Berlin, Moscow, Rome (2012-2013), Commonist YARAT Contemporary Art
Organisation, Baku, Azerbaijan, Merging Bridges, MOMA, Baku, Azerbajian
(2012). He lives and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Sitara Ibrahimova
(b. 1984) creates work that is largely photographic, with some recorded
performance work. She looks at many subjects, from everyday domestic
spaces to memorabilia of people who left for war and never returned.
Varying from emotive portraits to images of deserted areas and abandoned
objects, each project sets out new questions for the viewer. In her
work titled The Edge Ibrahimova’s photographs capture the human
experience beyond political or geographical borders, often alluding to
forms of historical and collective memory. Her images focus on emotive
instances conveyed through an individual’s facial expression or pose, or
expressed by a fragment or an absence. The compositions capture the
poignant moments that characterize the everyday and encourage viewers to
construct a narrative around each dramatic composition. The series of
photos collected for this exhibition similarly seeks to both capture and
convey the challenges and complications associated with historical and
collective memory in the Karabakh region. The project consists of scenes
of a now abandoned town that exists on the border of multiple
political, cultural, and social groups. Sitara Ibrahimova completed her
first degree in Psychology at Baku State University (2004), before
graduating in Still Photography from the Famu University in Prague
(2010). Selected exhibitions include: Commonist, YARAT Contemporary Art
Organisation, Baku, Azerbaijan (2012), USSR Remix, Prague, Czech
Republic (2011), 7, Photo Festival, Tbilisi, Georgia (2010). Exhibitions
include: 55th Venice Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not (2013). She lives
and works in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Aida Mahmudova (b. 1982) is
both an artist and the founder and director of YARAT Contemporary Art
Organisation. She creates multimedia sculpture, paintings and
installations; many of which recall memories of specific places or a
sense of place. One of Mahmudova’s concerns is the rapid modernisation
of Azerbaijan since the republic gained independence from the Soviet
Union; this fuels her paintings of what she calls ‘untouched places’
that are often barren or featureless locations outside of the city. Her
public art work Recycled, which now stands by the site of an old puppet
theatre in Baku, uses windows from a beautiful building that once stood
opposite her home. When it was knocked down she felt she had to acquire
the windows, several years later she was able to make an art piece out
of them. Aida Mahmudova graduated with a degree in Fine Art from Central
Saint Martins, London. She has solo upcoming exhibitions in Zurich and
Baku and has exhibited in numerous galleries in Baku including Philips
de Pury (2012). In 2011, Mahmudova founded YARAT contemporary art
organisation. Selected Exhibitions include: 55th Venice Biennale, Love
Me Love Me Not (2013); Fly To Baku, London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Rome
(2012-2013), Commonist YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation, Baku,
Azerbaijan, Merging Bridges, MOMA, Baku, Azerbajian (2012). She lives
and works in Baku and London.
Taus Makhacheva (b. 1983) is
an artist exploring her nascent regions (Dagestan, the Russian Caucasus
Mountains) and the people, places and behaviours that are significant
in it. Makhacheva’s work is often imbued with nostalgia and loneliness
and in others with critical themes, such as masculinity, or ideas of
luxury in USSR. Previous works have included a set of films exposing
games of masculinity in her local region, such as dog fighting and car
racing; for Love Me, Love Me Not she will re-produce a film about an
abandoned silk-road city Gamsutl through a young male protagonist who
“dances” to re-enact the fragmented and largely forgotten history of the
settlement.
Exhibitions include: 55th Venice Biennale, Love Me
Love Me Not (2013); the Liverpool Biennial (2012); Aluminium at the Baku
IV International Biennale, Milan, Impronte Contemporary Art (2011);
Moscow Museum of Modern Art (2010). She was educated at Goldsmiths
College in London and later studied at the RCA. Taus Makhacheva lives
and works between Moscow and Makhachkala.
Farhad Moshiri (b.
1963) is known for his satirical depictions of consumerist culture in
Iran and abroad. He uses unusual materials and his play on iconic
images, be they of popular or traditional figures. Using objects from
knives and icing dispensers to Swarovski crystals, he offers a novel and
boundary-pushing interpretation of culture in Iran. Fusing religious
imagery with childish cartoons, using weapons to spell-out statements or
imitation cupcakes to mark out a chalk silhouette, he employs the
playful to spell out the sinister and satirize the iconic.
Group
Exhibitions include: 55th Venice Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not (2013);
ARTandPRESS, Martin Gropius-Bau Museum, Berlin (2012), The World Belongs
to You, François Pinault Collection, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
(2011), Raad O Bargh, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France, Iran
Inside Out, Chelsea Art Museum, New York (2009). Solo Exhibitions
include: The Fire of Joy, Galerie Perrotin, Paris 2012; Shukran, The
Third Line Gallery, Dubai; Love is not Everything, Farjam Collection,
Dubai, 2011. He lives and works between Tehran and Paris.
Farid Rasulov
(b. 1985) produces installations, sculptures, photographs and paintings
that play upon modernity and its relation to visual elements of the
past. He denies symbolic meanings in his work, which are piqued with
humour and often relate to the rapid modernisation of Azerbaijan by
calling upon familiar Azerbaijani visual elements. His installation for
the 55th Venice Biennale will combine concrete and “Shebeke”
(stained-glass window frames and gratings assembled from standard wooden
components held together only by dowels and frequently ornamented with
pieces of varicoloured glass and they were in wide use in the 18th and
19th century Azerbaijani architecture. They can only be found in the
city of Shaki). By combining simple cement with this ornamented stained
glass, the artist shows the contrast between the old and the new, past
and present, evolution of a nation from tradition to modernization and
globalization.
Farid Rasulov originally trained as a Doctor at
the Azerbaijan State Medical University. Since becoming an artist, he
has represented Azerbaijan at the 53rd Venice Biennale, 2009 and
selected exhibitions include: Selected exhibitions include 55th Venice
Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not (2013); Fly To Baku, London, Paris,
Berlin, Moscow, Rome (2012-2013), Sharjah Islamic Art Festival, Sharjah,
UAE (2012); Commonist YARAT Contemporary Art Organisation, Baku,
Azerbaijan (2012); 012 Baku Public Art Festival (2012); 53rd Venice
Biennale, Azerbaijan pavilion (2009). He lives and works in Azerbaijan.
Slavs and Tatars
(est. 2006) is a faction of polemics and intimacies devoted to an area
east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China known
as Eurasia. The collective’s work spans several media, disciplines, and
a broad spectrum of cultural registers (high and low) focusing on an
oft-forgotten sphere of influence between Slavs, Caucasians and Central
Asians. The piece Molla Nasreddin The Antimodernist (2012) was produced
by Slavs and Tatars into a life-size sculpture as a playground “ride”
for adults and children alike. Molla Nasreddin The Antimodernist also
refers to the legendary Azerbaijani satirical periodical Molla Nasreddin
of the early 20th century, which not only contributed to a crucial
understanding of national identity in the case study of the complexity
called the Caucasus, but offered a momentous example of the powers of
the press both then and today.
Recently published works include
Molla Nasreddin: the magazine that would’ve, could’ve, should’ve (2011),
Love Me, Love Me Not: Changed Names (2010) and Kidnapping Mountains
(2009), Not Moscow Not Mecca (2012) and Khhhhhh (2012), Their
forthcoming book is titled: Friendship of Nations: Polish Shi'ite
Showbiz. Selected solo exhibitions include: the Dallas Museum of Art,
USA, (2014 -forthcoming); GfZK, Leipzig and Arsenal (2014-forthcoming);
REDCAT, Los Angeles (2013); Kunstlerhaus, Stuttgart (2013); Museum Of
Modern Art New York (2012); Selected Group shows include: participation
in the 9th Gwangju Biennale (2012), Secession, Vienna (2012) New Museum
Triennial (2012), Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Gent (2011);
and a group exhibition at Tate Modern (2011) the 10th Sharjah Biennale
and 3rd Thessaloniki Biennials (2011). The collective live and work in
‘Eurasia.’
Iliko Zautashvili (b.1952) is an artist and
professor of Art History at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. A regular
speaker at conferences he has participated in many exhibitions as a
visual artist, but also as a director of video and cinema. He has
founded several important centres and initiatives in Tbilisi such as the
National Art Center and the “Artactive Evolution”. Selected exhibitions
include: 55th Venice Biennale, Love Me Love Me Not (2013); Nampo Art
Museum (2012); Atlantis, Palazzo Zenobio, Collateral Event at the 54th
Venice Biennale (2011); Museum of Georgian Literature (2010); Born in
Georgia, Cobra Museum, Netherlands (2009); Emergency Biennale in
Chechnya Artisterium (2009), Art Center Zamok, Uyezdovski, Warsaw,
(2009); Voyage a Tbilisi, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, France (2009);
2nd Asian Contemporary Art Fair, New York (2008); Beyond Stereotypes,
Art Caucasus, Tbilisi, Georgia (2005); Aspect de la Photographie
Contemporaine du Caucase du Sud, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Brussels,
Belgium (2004). Iliko Zautashvili lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia.