Fadi Abboudi ja Bakri Wazzani ‘Mälestused’ Kuku klubis

Näitus 15.-28.juunil 2018 Kuku klubis esitleb kahe kunstniku linoollõikeid, kuivnõelasid ja kollograafiaid, mis on suuresti inspireeritud nende teekonnast Süüriast Rootsi, kus nad nüüd ka elavad. Pildid avavad selliseid teemasid nagu viimane foto, mis tehakse enne kui perest ja sõpradest lahkutakse, mahajäänud ema, kes jääbki ootama, igapäevased inimsuhted – nii romantilised kui ka perelised… Teised tööd uurivad suhteid võimu ja õiguse spektri läbi. Mis juhtub kui inimesed, kes on pärit erinevatest sotsiaalsetest klassidest satuvad läbi samade tingimuste rändama? Mõtiskledes olukorra üle kodumaal, küsivad paljud pildid;”Kes on need, kes otsustavad?”. Lõpuks Rootsi jõudes ja leides end sadade teiste põgenkega keset metsa vanast koolimajast, muutus arulagedus osaks igapäeva rutiinist. Kunstnike jaoks oli limbost saanud normaalsus, üheltpoolt tirivad erinevad võimalused tulevikuks, teisalt tõmbavad mälestused.

Wazzan (1993) ja Abboud (1993) on nüüdseks Rootsis elanud kolm aastat. Juba alguses, laagris olles, avanes neil võimalus osaleda Kåre Holgersoni kuntitundides Kalmari noortekeskuses Unik ja seeläbi jätkata katkenud tööd oma loominguga Berkvara kunstikeskuses KulturMagasinet, mis ühendab endas galeriid, graafikastuudiot, rahvusvahelist kunstnike residentuuri ja töötubade programmi, millest mõlemad aktiivselt osa võtsid.

Kunstnike pildiline keel eristub tugevalt meile harjumuspärasest meediaformaadist põgenikekriisi teemal, seetõttu pole me nende graafiliste lehtede vastu ka ette tuimestatud. Kohates regulaarselt ektreemseid fotosid sõjast Süürias, nõuavad Abboud’i ja Wazzan’i pildid rohkem teadlikku lahti harutamist ja ise oma fantaasia ning informatsioonipagasiga lünkade täitmist. Tööd jätavad ruumi erinevatele tõlgendustele ja õhutavad värsketele küsimustele.
Loodame Kuku Klubis tekitada huvitavaid uusi vestlusi erinevate arvamuste ja maailmavaadetega publiku vahel.

Näituse avamine on reedel kell 19.00

Vestlusõhtu kunstnikega kolmapäeval 13. juuni kell 19:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/1725080227527597/

Graafika töötuba kunstnike juhatamisel Grafodroomi graafikastuudios 16. juuni kell 12.00-16.00

Lisainfo: Mari Prekup, kukugalerii@gmail.com

Näitust toetab Eesti Kultuurkapital ja Põhjamaade kultuuripunkt
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The exhibition “Memories” will be presented from the 15st of June until the 31st July 2018 in Kuku Klubi, Tallinn, Estonia. The exhibited works are by two refugee artists from Syria, Bakri Wazzan (1993) and Fadi Abboud (1993), who are currently residing in Sweden.

The exhibition consists of linocuts, drypoints and collagraphs made by the two artists, informed for the most part by their travel from Syria to Sweden. They cover topics such as the last photo made with close ones before parting, the mother who stays behind, waiting endlessly, and relationships both familial and romantic. Other works look too at relationships of power and entitlement, as people from different social classes find themselves moving through the same conditions. When reflecting upon the situation in their home country, a question running through many of the works is “who are the decision makers there?” Once in Sweden, senselessness became a part of a refugees daily routine as they found themselves living with hundreds, waiting in a former school house n the Swedish forest. For the artists, limbo has become normality, yet they are pulled from one side by various possible futures and from the other by memories.

Wazzan and Abboud have been living three? years in Sweden. Whilst attending art classes led by artist and printmaker Kåre Holgerson at Unik youth-centre in Kalmar, they were invited by their teacher to nearby Bergkvara, to continue developing their works at KulturMagasinet, an art space operated by Holgerson. KulturMagasinet houses artists’ studios, a printmaking workshop, an art gallery, an international artists’ residency programme, as well as regular art workshops and cultural events in which Wazzan and Abboud participated actively.

The artist’ depiction of their journey differentiates from what we are used to seeing about the refugee crisis in the media format and thus we are not yet desensitized to the imagery in their prints. Whilst we are regularly met with explicit photographs from the war in Syria, Abboud and Wazzan’s art requires considered unpicking – the works leave room for interpretation and urge the viewer to ask questions from a different angle. During the exhibition the artist will also be giving artist talks and are open to questions. In Kuku Klubi we hope to open up discussions with new groups of people with varying backgrounds and preconceived notions.

The exhibition opens on Friday the 15th of June at 7pm. Prior to the exhibition opening there will be an artists talk and discussion in Kuku on Wednesday https://www.facebook.com/events/1725080227527597/ , as well as a printmaking workshop in Grafodroom on Thursday.

For additional information contact the curator, Mari Prekup, at kukugalerii@gmail.com

The exhibition is supported by Estonian Culture Capital and Nordic Culture Point