As with any true collective what we do will be determined by our members.
Presently…
Homage to Guernica
scotiabank nuit blanche 2010 - Independent Projects
October 2, 2010
Arta Gallery
Distillery District, 55 Mill Street, Building 9, Unit 102
an Installation by
Anahita Azrahimi - Concept, Collage & Video Design
Soheil Parsa - Outside Eye
Olga Barrios - Performer
Born out of war, Guernica is an icon for reconciliation and the hope for world peace. Inspired by Picasso’s iconic painting and the darkest images of war, a visual & performance installation will confront the viewer with memories of wars from all over the globe.
History seems to keep repeating itself and the forces of war, destruction, chaos and suffering jump from one part of the globe to the other across time. Will we ever change? Yet, with each conflict we promise ourselves ‘never again’. So what’s keeping us from achieving ‘never again’?
RSVP on Facebook, Add it to your night, Share your night with others!
From Anahita Azrahimi on Homage to Guernica:
When I set out to do this project, I wanted to include at least one image of every war and conflict that had happened since the bombing of Guernica. I soon learned that the number of conflicts happened is almost close to the number of countries on the planet, with very few nations left untouched. I was naïve in my thinking that I could cover them all.
The hardest part of my journey was the re-acquaintance with the Holocaust, encountering heaps of dead bodies, piled up corpses and disrespected souls. Because this time I started looking into the faces for real. I experienced a very deep and personal mourning in the re-discovery, to the point that I did not want to continue the work anymore.
My recent visit to Anne Frank’s house left me haunted with her eternal smile and innocence. She forced me to re-ignite the vision. Her face, the faces of Phan Thi Kim Puc and the faces of all the screaming mothers forcefully came together, as if they all wanted to scream with the mother in Guernica to re-tell their stories. And their stories need to be told again and again in various forms so that we don’t forget, so that we always remember what has happened and what keeps happening around us. That is what I have done. I have gathered broken embraces, helping hands, praying hands, the anguish of our children, the disbelief of our men and the tears of our mothers from all over our earth (as much as I could) and shown them,here, for you to witness.
This is simply a tribute and remembrance to all.
Thanks:
I am honored to have Soheil Parsa as an outside eye sharing his rich wisdom and experience on the performance element of this project.
Olga Barrios’ choreographic insight, rigorous movement and passion have beautifully transformed the static images into a powerful and enriched movement.
Thanks to all the photographers and photo journalists whose work I have partially borrowed from in the photo collage.
and:
Special thanks to Fay Athari, Director and Curator of Arta Gallery for providing the site her encouragement throughout the process.
Million thanks to my family, Sepideh & Akbar, and the following amazing people who have generously supported my endeavours in the past year.
Diederik van Liere, Valerie Lockerbie, Shelley Crawford, Elena Berlanda, Edgar Sotter, Clelia Farrugia, Christine Arzoumanian, Lynda Hill, Noelle Brigden, Nick Coombe, Natalie Hope, Marion Polaud, Matt Fullbrook & Dana Gray, Chizuru Nobe & Shachin Ghelani, Catherine Powell & Alex McKenzie, Kamelia Pezeshki, Marc Rochefort, Monica Dotter, Clare Leporati,Angélina Spadaro and Ritu Mohan.
Inspirations:
The inspiration for re-visiting the themes of war and hope in Picasso’s Guernica comes from my very own personal experience and vivid memories of the civilian bombings in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war. I remember some of the starry nights when we rushed out on hearing the red alert to spot the moving stars! Upon spotting them we would run in opposite direction to keep safe. It almost seemed like a fun game!
The pain, torture, destruction and screaming people in Guernica were familiar scenes of my childhood too as I had walked through the aftermath of bombings around the city.
I also remember a sense of compassion, connectedness and unity in people during those years. For most, we truly lived our lives in the moment and derived joy from the smallest incidents. My fondest memory goes back to the days when people evacuated the city to take refuge in surrounding cities. The dense traffic brought the cars to halt for hours. While waiting for the traffic to clear up, clusters of dance parties would break on the road and the sound of music, laughter and clapping hands filled the air. People shared their food and music tapes, they also shared their fear, denial of the surrounding reality, the joy of being in the moment and a very deep and rich sense of being alive.
Living in Toronto has re-affirmed my belief that it is our innate capacity as human beings to live in harmony if left to our own devices. I will explore this notion in the next phase of this project.
Graphic Design by Nick Coombe
Past exciting news
June 2010 - Heart of Mine by Bobby Jones & Friends
April 2009 - Mashup - exhibition by Anahita Azrahimi
November 2008 - First Flight Project has landed us back in Canada!