Punk Orientalism
Saskatchewan show brings together international artists who use critical theory and punk strategies to resist both the Western gaze and nationalist projects.
Babi Badalov, “OrnaMental Punk,” 2018
site-specific mixed-media installation, dimensions variable (installation view in “Punk Orientalism,” MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, 2018; photo by Don Hall, courtesy of the MacKenzie Art Gallery)
Punk Orientalism is an antidote of sorts to the phantasm of “the Orient” – the Eastern world as seen through the eyes of the West’s patronizing colonialist assumptions. Partly inspired by Edward Said’s canonical 1978 text Orientalism, curator Sara Raza, recently of the Guggenheim, presents acts of resistance in the form of work by 15 artists and collectives from the Near East and former Soviet possessions in the Caucasus region.
On view at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina until Feb. 17, it demonstrates the continually shifting nature of “the Orient” as a territory and an idealized Other, both through the Western gaze and as defined by nationalist projects. Raza has modified the term “Orientalism" by grafting on punk’s strategies of resistance and the empowering tools of critique.
Vyacheslav Akhunov, “Breathe Quietly,” 1976–2013
wooden Cyrillic text, dimensions variable (as installed in “Punk Orientalism,” MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, 2018; photo by Don Hall)
Tashkent-based artist Vyacheslav Akhunov’s oppressively large wooden sculptures offer an abrupt textual greeting to those entering the show: “Breathe Quietly.” The dictates of the Soviet state lack authority nowadays; some of the Cyrillic letters have been toppled to serve as seating. Words are power; playing with them undermines power.
In Azerbaijani artist Babi Badalov’s text-based installation, artistic and geopolitical giants are transmogrified in transcription: German artist Kurt Schwitters is re-cast as Kurd Schwitters, and the USSR is christened YouSSR, a place that excludes "me." Employing punk badges of non-conformity, graffiti and patches, Badalov extends his linguistic remixing to distinctive lettering that collages Arabic and Semitic curves onto Roman letters.
Taus Makhcheva, “Tightrope,” 2015
video, 58 min 10 sec, produced with support from Cosmoscow Artists’ Patrons Program (photo by Don Hall)
Establishing a national identity beyond the repudiation of Soviet or Western models is a challenge for regions where regime changes resulted in overnight political and cultural shifts.
Dagestanian artist Taus Makhacheva’s video is a measured and mesmerizing spectacle. A man shuffles along a high wire suspended across a jagged chasm. It takes nearly an hour for him to transport 61 art objects, copies of works enshrined in Dagestan’s Museum of Fine Arts, from one side to the other.
This little collection, comprised of work by leading regional artists supplemented with imported pieces of Soviet art, is a summary portrait of Dagestan. Their perilous transport takes place against a backdrop sure to inspire a love of land and country: beyond the rope, a town spreads out on a grass carpet ringed by blue mountains.
Tightrope walking, it turns out, is essential in this mountainous area in the North Caucasus. The steps to build a national identity for this reluctant member-republic of the Russian Federation are perilous indeed.
1 of 3
Nazgol Ansarinia, “Article 45, Pillars,” 2015
epoxy resin and paint, edition 2/3, 20” x 16” x 16” (private collection; photo by Don Hall)
2 of 3
Nazgol Ansarinia, “Article 45, Pillars,” 2015
epoxy resin and paint, edition 2/3, 20” x 16” x 16” (private collection; photo by Don Hall)
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Erbossyn Meldibekov, “Family Album,” 2007
photo album, 14” x 10” (courtesy of the artist and Rossi & Rossi; photo by Don Hall)
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Erbossyn Meldibekov and Iran’s Nazgol Ansarinia critique nostalgia as a form of self-Orientalising used to arouse nationalistic support for new political regimes. Ansarinia’s truncated alabaster column looks like a birthday cake that is missing one slice. This rupture reveals several rows of Farsi script sourced from the Iranian constitution. Thus, kitschy relics of empire are supported by modern structures of governance.
Punk Orientalism doesn’t try to set out or explain the mysteries of the Orient for Western viewers. Instead, it invites them to relinquish mastery and engage with the unfamiliar. Those willing to abandon art world hegemonies become punks rather than Orientalists. ■
Punk Orientalism is on view at the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina from Nov. 10, 2018 to Feb. 17, 2019.
MacKenzie Art Gallery
3475 Albert St, T C Douglas Building (corner of Albert St & 23rd Ave), Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 6X6
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Tues to Fri 10 am - 5:30 pm, Thurs until 9 pm, Sat and Sun 11 am - 5:30 pm
