Home
International women artists’ exhibition explores the question of ” Home”
Private view Friday 11 October 2013 at the Sofia Gallery, Bulgarian Cultural Institute,188 Queen’s Gate, South Kensignton.
A couple years ago, after I came to London back from Australia, I met up with Paola Minekov to catch up over coffee in Herne Hill. At the time we had both been considering buying a house, Paola had found something, I was a little more indecisive and never made the move, while she is now living in her home. We spoke about our respective projects, experiences and our transience in various places. I told her about my anecdote and enlightenment in Australia and working on and investigating on the concept of home. I was very excited to hear that Paola too had been working on the same idea, and felt very strongly about a topic I come to realise is more and more relevant to many of us, to our time in its complexity and calls for complex answers.
Paola decided to curate a show at the Bulgarian Cultural Institue this year and I was delighted to be invited along with 6 other Artist including Paola to explores the universal and powerful concept of Home.
The exhibition, entitled Home: Contemporary Female Masters, portrays women’s experience of choosing to migrate and build a home in a foreign country. This relatively new social phenomenon is examined in depth by seven mid career international women artists with strong links to Europe, the Middle East, America and Africa: Paola Minekov (Bulgaria) Minna George(Bulgaria), Tamar Le Von (Israel),Tina Mammoser (USA), Diana Ali (UK), Caroline Underwood (UK). They explore their experience of establishing themselves and building the elements of what they perceive as ‘home’ wherever they are in the world.
Born in Morocco, from a Moroccan father and Austrian mother, I have always been and felt in between. I spent over 10 years living in London, and since 2010 I have divided my time between London, Rabat and Los Angeles, and the many places on the ongoing project of Latitude 34 that had me travel around the world. It has led me to investigate and question the notion of home, space, culture, identity, the notion of non place and their relationship between each other. Where is home has no straighforwad answer and certainly not the expected home is where we are. My sens of belonging, as much physial as cultural calls for a complex answer. It called for another question: what is home. I try to find answers through my artistic practice and through my two blogs: The yellow corner and this one
The blog for the exhibition, which gives information about all the artists, is at http://home-exhibition.blogspot.co.uk/p/exhibition-concept_30.html and is updated regularly as the launch date approaches.
