Zone of Risk - Transistion

Aqua's preview starts in a few hours, but we're ready. None of the photos so far are that interesting unless you've never seen a crate or chaotic gallerists before. Other, hopefully more engaging, images are forthcoming.

A while ago, however, I promised to write something about the exhibition we attended in Bishkek during our trip there. I did finally write something, which Universes in Universe, the treasure trove of information about contemporary art from the Islamic world, has just published online. I had written more, but space constraints required some abbreviating. To the right is a still from Afghanistan artist Rahraw Omarzad's awesome video Closed Door. Other images from the exhibition start here.

Of all the work in the exhibition, one stands out as capturing the essence of the exbhition's theme, the video by Kyrgyz artist Ulan Djaparov, which was installed at the end of a long winding tunnel. The video is a straightforward metaphor for the only rational human response to risky political and social transitions. Here's a snippet from the report that talks about his work:

The location for the 3rd Bishkek Exhibition of Contemporary Art embodies the essence of its title: "Zone of Risk - Transition". The underground spaces
below Ala-Too Central Square in Bishkek had been the local headquarters of the KGB. Their dusty marble floors and deserted rooms stand as a reminder of just how much has changed since the Republics of Central Asia were once part of the Soviet Union. More than that, however, lying right beneath the center of where the Kyrgyz revolution had erupted in the Spring of 2005, the location contextualizes immediately the very real consequences of cultural and societal transformations.

Descending the gated staircase from Ala-Too Central Square into the exhibition, one first steps into an underground road that had permitted Soviet leaders to drive through a low-ceiling tunnel to just under the square, from where they could easily emerge for demonstrations. Effectively installed at the end of that long, curving tunnel was a video projection by Ulan Djaparov titled "Reaper." Dressed in a bright orange t-shirt and carrying a scythe, the only character is seen harvesting very tall weeds that had grown in a concrete trough of an abandoned, roofless building. Swinging his scythe rhythmically, he moves steadily through the somewhat ominous space, pushing ever forward despite being unable to see what awaited him at the end of his task.