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New
Freedom 2006, AES - The Witnesses of the Future, 1996.
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The
lens-heavy touring exhibition produced by inIVA (Institute of International
Visual Arts) is currently on show at the New Art Gallery Walsall, England
through 27 April 2003. Veil consists of the work of 20 international artists,
all of whom take up the subject of the veil and its meaning in a global society.
The
artistic trio known as AES Group is responsible for the censored images. AES is
an acronym for the last names of this Russian Jewish art collaboration from
Moscow. Tatiana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovitch and Evgeny Svyatsky’s
contribution to Veil is a set of two digitally enhanced images entitled
The
Witness of the Future: Islamic Project (1996-97). The first controversial image,
New Freedom, 2006, is an altered image of the statue of liberty veiled with a
Qur’an in her arm. The second image, London, 2006, features the House of
Parliament with the domed roof of a mosque.
The
Walsall Borough Council felt that the images evoked feelings of tension in
consideration of the current political situation, although the works have been
in circulation and widely exhibited since 1996. What is unclear, and perhaps
most threatening about these images, is the ambiguity of their intent. According
to the press release, the censored images “aim to ridicule the idea of an
inevitable and cataclysmic confrontation between different cultures, challenging
our fears and presumptions about the world.”
According
to a BBC Black Country survey to poll the support of the Borough in the
censorship of the artwork, the opinions of Britons vary. Some respondents feel
that artwork of any variety that seeks to evoke discussion or question our
perceptions of reality is invariably valuable and should not be censored.
However, the majority of the comments submitted to the BBC are supportive of the
Borough’s decision to ban the works from the exhibition. The images have
proven to be offensive to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It seems that the
biggest controversy comes from a lack of understanding of the artists’ intent.
Are the images critical of Islam or of globalization?
According
to the AES Group, as cited by an essay for the Galerie Sollertis, “The project
is neither anti-Islamic or anti-Western, but tries to function as a
psychoanalytical therapy in which phobias from both Western and Eastern society
are uncovered and worked through. In ‘Islamic Project: AES—The Witness of
the Future’ we tried to reveal the contradictory ethics and aesthetics of our
times. We believe that contemporary art does not solve the problems, but it can
raise the major questions.”
In
an interview with the BBC, one of three curators, Gilane Tawadros, denounces
accusations that the exhibition is antagonistic. This show has been four years
in the making and is not a reaction to September 11.
In
the context of the rest of the exhibition, the AES Group images seem to fit the
criteria as “challenging exotic voyeuristic positioning”, as it is the
mission of the inIVA, according to its official web page, to bring forth
challenging works from artists of differing cultural backgrounds and to extend
geographical boundaries.
As
the first major exhibition to explore the veil in our complex global community,
Veil is also an exploration of the role of video and film as tools of exploring
thoughts about and perceptions of the veil.
Developed
and curated by a team of four, including internationally renowned artists and
curators Zineb Sedira, Jananne Al-Ani, David A. Baily and Gilane Tawadros, the
exhibition combines newly commissioned work with work already relevant to the
subject. Elin Strand was commissioned to do a site-specific sewn piece and
Majida Khattari was commissioned to stage a live fashion show that critiques the
clothing manufacturing industry. Works already in existence — such as the 1965
film The Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo and photos taken by Marc Garanger
of women who were forced to unveil for French identity photos while Garanger was
a soldier during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-62)Ò
were
selected to participate in a dialogue with newly commissioned works.
Other
renowned artists are included in the exhibition such as Sherin Neshat, curator
Jananne Al-Ani, Ghada Amer, Farah Bajull, Samta Benyahia, Shadafarin Ghadirian,
Ghazel, Emily Jacir, Ramesh Kalkur, Majida Khattari, Harold Offeh, Zineb Sedira,
and Mitra Tabrizian. The show will go on however, without the visual input of
the AES Group.
Veil
will travel on to the Bluecoat Gallery & Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, 5 July
– 16 August 2003; and Modern Art, Oxford, 22 November 2003 – 26 January
2004.
For
more information visit the New Art Gallery Walsall’s web site at: http://www.artatwalsall.org.uk/
The
New Art Gallery Walsall,
Gallery Square
Walsall
WS2 8LG
United Kingdom
Phone (0044) 01922 654400
Fax (0044) 01922 654401
