ART-PRESENTATION: Homeless Souls

Taking up themes of exile and expatriation, the exhibition “Homeless Souls”, presents a number of exceptional international artists, whose work speaks directly to our conflict-ridden times. Hailing from countries as diverse as Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Algeria and Kosovo, the artists work from their own stories and experiences, which they examine and treat in art that is both topical and timeless, universal and highly personal.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Louisiana Museum Of Modern Art Archive

The exhibition “Homeless Souls” brings together dozen artistic voices from countries around the world for a conversation about exile as a political and existential reality. Presenting both personal and collective stories, the exhibition adds new perspectives to subjects like exile, demarcation, citizenship, cross-border movements, secret journeys and identity. What all the artists in this exhibition have in common is that they experiment with new visual strategies, poetic effects and artistic devices to take us closer to exile as a lived reality. In turn, they also point to art’s ability to provide new and different images of a reality that is brought to us daily through photojournalism and the media. The media and devices in this exhibition range from experimental documentaries to sculpture, painting and installation art. Meanwhile, across media and individual voices, the artists share a common cause: to use art as a space for examining and sharing historical events and personal traumas. As with all important art, the specificity of their work becomes a jumping-off point for universal recognitions. The artworks in the exhibition not only reflect the present day, they also touch on themes that point both ahead and back in time, connecting us to periods, places and destinies that are not our own. In Nalini Malani’s “All We Imagine as Light” (2017), 11 conjoined panels forming a monument to the exile’s pain at losing their loved ones. Another participating artist, Hiwa K of Iraq (b. 1975), notes, “To remember, sometimes you need other archaeological tools”. In his video work “Blind as the Mother Tongue” (2017), the artist retraces the route he travelled as a child fleeing on foot from the Kurdistan region of Iraq. He walks the route while balancing a tall sculptural object on the bridge of his nose and his forehead, with attached rear- and front-view mirrors reflecting the landscape in a splintered perspective.

Participating artists: Kader Attia, Tiffany Chung, Forensic Oceanography(Lorenzo Pezzani & Charles Heller), Shilpa Gupta, Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Petrit Halilaj, Hiwa K, Nalini Malani, Otobong Nkanga, Erkan Özgen, Lydia Ourahmane, Kara Walker and Ai Weiwei.

Info: Curator: Marie Laurberg, Louisiana Museum Of Modern Art, Gl Strandvej 13, Humlebæk, Duration: 27/6-2/9/19, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 11:00-22:00, Sat-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.louisiana.dk