1, Ambitiously, this exhibition is only the opening chapter of the series of What Brings You Here. 4 artists are contributing to this first chapter: Emna Kahouaji (TN), Mira Agdal (PL), Anna Ustrehova (RUS) and Yiran Yang (CN).
2, They are all female, practicing in visual art, based in Tunis, their works reflect their interests and well being, English is their adopted language. I don’t know what else they have in common.It’s a tricky task to write a short paragraph to include everyone but not to generalize their individual qualities.
3, What brings you here, is a semi-serious social question that I’ve received many times at parties in Tunis. It’s a line that’s puzzling, fluid, universal and unresolvable – therefore smart. I can’t think of any other words that could be more dialogue-opening and welcoming than this as an exhibition title.
Cheers,
Yiran Yang
Inspired by the strong calligraphy traditions in Arabic art, these hybrid calligraphies mix Chinese writing structures with English vocabulary. The content of these works is collected from everyday thoughts or information, compressed into single words or short lines.
The work raises questions of identity. As a Chinese artist in Tunis without French or Arabic language skills, I’m curious about what I’ve seen and what I might have missed. Writing Practice is my response to the echoes of the diverse environment which I have encountered here. Contrasting characteristic materials and mediums, the work explores the different dimensions of the interactions between cultures.
Yiran Yang
People ask me why I paint dead birds.
It’s related to personal experiences and impressions of what birds are: they are gifted beautiful creatures, both free and feminine – the perfect victims. Their deaths are symbolic of fragility and victimhood.
Opposed to the abstractions of calligraphy, these are about concrete existence – I worked from pictures and still lives.
The questions raised create a space for the artist to narrate a violent story of invasion.
Mira Agdal
Mira Agdal questions and provokes through her paintings, regularly presented at the AGorgi gallery in Sidi Bou Said, she receives unanimous recognition from the press, the professionals and the art enthusiasts.
However, the young painter was not destined for such career. Passionate about science, Mira Agdal studied Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology at Warsaw University and made documentaries about issues of the Arab world. After an accident that disrupted her life significantly, Mira Agdal creates her first paintings.
She draws inspiration from the facts and events that mark her life and she likes to play around various levels of tension and fears. She tries to capture the essence of her characters, who are hanging, abnormally stuck in flat, unreal and monochrome landscapes. They are frozen in eternal anticipation of the event. This apparent simplicity of the shapes hides a desire to provoke reflection. Through her use of void, the artist wants the viewer to develop his own interpretation and to elaborate his own story. Mira’s painting also evoke an existential anguish and infinite loneliness that can leave no one indifferent. Through her artworks , Mira Agdal offers a genuine emotional experience and invites the viewer to complete her characters stories in order to end their unbearable waiting.
“The world we live in revolves around exploring the feminine body and its relationship with the artist’s perspective of the sexuality. Taboos surrounding this dynamic between femme & artist, are broke through art. Is this not the duty of Art in the context of patriarchy? Masculinity’s dominance hinders gender equality, but art dismantles typical views of femininity and sexuality. ”
Anna Ustrehove
What brings you here? – question that Sea asks when you come to visit
( infinite love and eternal solitude )
