predgovor Želimir Koščević
Ja 1997 – 2000 40’
Tri monitora prikazuju svaki po 13 minuta filma. Kada je 1997. francusko Ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova uskratilo dozvolu boravka i zatra žilo od nje da napusti Francusku, Ghazel, umjetnica iranskog porijekla nije čekala daljnji, u svakom slucaju nepovoljni, razvoj događaja skrštenih ruku. Na svoj je način odgovorila izazovu toliko tipičnom za život i sudbinu mnogo milionske populacije dislociranih. Dala je oglas i tiskala poster na kojem je uz obaveznu njenu fotografiju tiskan slijedeći tekst: „HITNO, Žena, 33 godine, umjetnica, porijeklom sa Srednjeg istoka i B.P. (bez papira) tra ži mu ža; pripadnosti EU, prednost Francuska, javiti se na e-mail …..“ i tako dalje. Ovdje, za nas koji nismo u tolikoj mjeri dislocirani, i nije toliko va žno kako je njena akcija završila. Izgleda dobro, jer – barem privremeno – živi u Montpellieru. Ono što jest, i na što njena akcija upućuje, nije samo pitanje osobnog identiteta određenog do sada nekim općim odrednicama kao što su nacija, etnos, obitelj, društvo, kultura, spol, već njegove transformacije u posve drugu kvalitetu koja s tim općim ID odrednicama više nema nikakve veze. S čime dakle onda ima? Izgleda da su na pomolu ponovno individualna rješenja i osobne paradigme. Osobni odnos i osobni promišljaj i osobna odgovornost. Kinez u Francuskoj, Kenijac o Londonu, Amerikanac o Oslu, Albanac u Milanu, Palestinka tko zna gdje, Englez na Taiwanu, Hrvat u New Yorku, Ghazel, Iranka, u Montpellieru, i td. velika su zajednica „drugih“, koja vrijednosti na kojima su sazdani mitovi „prvih“ i „pravih“, da se ne ka že „urođenika“ ma gdje se nalazili, ozbiljno dovode u pitanje. Pokazalo se da je tzv. kulturni identitet istodobno i fikcija i potreba ili – točnije: izmišljena nu žnost ali i nu žna izmišljotina.
„Moj rad govori o poziciji stranca na Zapadu i poziciji stranca u Iranu“ – govori Ghazel i nastavlja: „Moji filmovi su kao kućni kino, slikama dokumentiram svoj život, moja razmišljanja, dojmove, ideje, misli, strahove, uspomene, želje, iskustva, moju sadašnjost, prošlost i budućnost, moje osjećaje, nade i žudnje, moju energiju i komplekse, paradokse, moje osobnosti i moje sne, moja sjećanja i moje pamćenje. Oni su moj paraleni život.“
Sve je očiglednije da u međuprostoru još uvijek ima dovoljno zraka i mjesta za sve one koji su iz jednog prostora skočili u drugi. što više, taj se međuprostor pokazao stvaralački stimulativnijim od onog što je napućen „prvim“ i „pravim“ i što iz jadnog isrcpljenog izvornog tla svog prostora prizivaju duhove tradicije i svoje svetosti. Međuprostor posjeduje snagu amalgamiranja, snagu pretvorbe i snagu stvaranja vrijednosti koje sigurno, a već i sada, zasjenjuju lokalne mitove. Ghazel nije sama. Njena populacija broji mnogo miliona i htio svijet to ili ne, s tom se činjenicom treba pomiriti. Čim prije to bolje. U spoju najmanje triju tradicija (izvorne-lokalne, globalne-suvremene i obiteljskih stereotipa dobrog ponašanja za djevojčice) Ghazel je uspjela stvoriti šarmantnu priču o poznatom modelu generacijskog raskola. „Njene video-sekvence u stilu nijeme filmske komedije prikazuju razlaz između kulture koja se čvrsto drži tradicionalnih vrlina i moderne mlade žene koja traži „modernost“ svog života“, piše o radu Ghazel Elisabeth Delin Hansen u predgovoru izložbe u Centru za suvremenu umjetnost u Kopenhagenu u jesen prošle godine. Nimalo nježna ni prema sebi samoj, niti prema tradiciji s kojom je vezana, Ghazel bez kompleksa živi svoj život i svoju umjetnost i na taj način, najbolje kako zna i umije, koristi prostor u kojem se našla. U njemu se dobro diše bez obzira na mu ža, putovnicu, ID papire i ostale trivijalnosti.
Došlo vrijeme da „prvi“ od „drugih“ nešto nauče. Do sada smo se gledali u ogledalu, a sada ćemo licem u lice, stara je apostolska poruka. Ima u njoj mnogo smisla. Između dvije, a rekao bi i tri tradicije, Ghazel je odabrala svoj put, dala svoj odgovor toj troglavoj aždaji i otišla se, curica, s dečkima igrati skrivača.
ŽIVOTOPIS
Details of important solo and group shows since 1998: 2003 Clandestini/Clandestines, 50th International Exhibition Venice Biennale, Venice: Installation of Me 2000-2003 (curator Francesco Bonami) 8th Havana Biennal, Havanna : Me installation special edition (curator Nelson Herrera)/ VEIL, organized by inIVA (London) at The New Art Gallery, Walsall; Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool; MOMA, Oxford: Me 49, Me 42, Me 44/ Made In Paris TheSpace@inIVA, London: Me 49, Me 42, Me 44/ Orient-Okzident, Prince Max palace, Karlsruhe & FrauenMuseum, Bonn/ Narcissism: Self-Love to Death, Gozo Contemporary, Malta/ Espace Electra, Paris (curator Jean-Louis Pradel)/ The New Scheherzads, CCCB, Barcelona (curator Rose Issa)/ 2002 HOME, Sarajevo Center For Contemporary Arts, Sarajevo: Triptych video installation of Me 30, Me 28 and Me 33 (curator Dunja Blazevic)/ confiture demain et confiture hier- Mais jamais confiture aujourd, Centre Regional Art Contemporain, Sète, France : Triptych video installation of Me 27, Me 26 and Me 29 (curator Noëlle Tissier)/ „Wanted (Urgent)“, at Meschec Gaba“s Salon, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (curator Alexandre Pollazzon) Wanted (Urgent), Qamariyeh Gallery, Birzeit University, Palestine International Video Festival, Palestine 2001 The Iranian Contemporary Art, Barbican Arts, London (curators Rose Issa and Carol Brown) & Regards Persan, Espace EDF Electra, Paris (curator Michket Krifa): the installation of „Me 1997-2000“, divided into three 25inch monitors in a dark, closed space/Open studios, ISCP, NYC/ Me 1997-2000 (curators Zelimir Koscevic and Branko Franceschi), Miroslav-Kraljevic Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia: solo show/ Wanted performance, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, New York (performed by Tehut-Nine Sunrason, renowned slam poet)/ My Generation, London (curated by Mark Nash and Alexandre Pollazzon) 2000 Ekbatana?, Nikolaj Copenhagen Contemporary Arts Center (curator Elisabeth Delin Hansen) Triptych video Installation (Me VIII, Me X, Me XII) Performance ‘Wanted“, Galeries Lafayette Windows, Avignon 1999 Wedding I, Tacheles Kunsthaus, Berlin (with Yoshiko Shimada) Installation of Wedding I film (and wedding pictures) along with the film shot at Mardabad“s Installation (showing the Afghan Refugee“s home and the bourgeois spectators). On other walls of the installation, posters of ‘Wanted“ (version 4) were stuck.
„Vote“ posters, Jadeh Ghadeem ave, angle of Soheil street, Tehran Posters of my face (only eyes not hidden) stuck among the campaign posters for the City Council elections. Sans Titre, Tiroir Regional d“Art Contemporain (Trac), Fonds Regional d“Art Contemporain, Montpellier (curator Marie-Pierre Donadio) Wanted posters (version 6) filling up the Trac (drawer) space.
Untitled I (with Rox Bahro), Aav Gallery, Vanak sq., Tehran Video installation. Two screens placed in the gallery on opposite sides. One of them is big and is placed on the ground, the other one is small and placed on a shelf in a tiny room in the end of the gallery, my voice (on both screens) repeating birth and death dates of 13 young martyrs and victims. The image is a bad quality black image. Chronicle of Void and Beyond (with Kaveh Golestan), Golestan Gallery, Tehran Installation of marked (like a prisoner“s time-passing marks) semi-transparent white veils and a nicely golden-framed portrait of a dead soldier. The spectators were invited at 8:00 p.m. sharp. At 8:20 they gave up their expectation of seeing a performance and they finally occupied the whole space of the gallery (until then they were leaning on the walls, leaving the center of the gallery empty). At 8:30 three young people (two guys and a girl) who were scattered among the crowd (the gallery was so full that the installation could hardly be seen) dropped dead simultaneously. My assistant asked everyone to leave the gallery. I ripped off 3 of the veils and covered the 3 bodies; meanwhile the spectators were calmly leaving the gallery. Once everyone out I turned off the lights; locked the door and left with my assistant; Kaveh was waiting for us a few streets away. By 8:50 the gallery owner asked the stunned spectators (who could see nothing of the installation and the bodies on the ground because the window and door were covered and it was dark inside) to leave for security reasons. 1998 Red Home Installation III, Mardabad, Iran Installation in our ex-home in ruins in Mardabad, a tribute to martyrs like my friend Ardalan, who died in the Iran/Irak war. Red Home Installation IV, Mardabad, Iran Installation of Wedding I film, shown on a golden TV screen, installed along with golden framed cheesy bride and groom portraits (me as the bride). The installation took place in our ex-house in ruins, where an Afghan refugee family lived for a year. The installation was mixed with the family“s personal objects, and the family continued their daily life during the whole day, the spectators had to go in the intimacy of this family“s home to see my installation. Marknaden, World Trade Center, Stockholm Group show, video Sheep (Moutons) 5 and installation of photgram veils. Cet ete là…, Centre Regional d“Art Contemporain Languedoc-Roussillon, Group show, a series of wanted flyers. 97- 00 Wanted performances, posters, distribution of flyers, internet sites (in Berlin, Paris, Montpellier, Stockholm).
This work started in 1997 when I received a letter from the French Ministry of Interior asking me to leave the French Territory immediately (they refused to renew my permit to stay). I then decided to start putting advertisements and announcements for a marriage of convenience, in order to find a husband (passport). I have 9 versions of these posters. I hire good-looking young men to distribute these flyers in openings (and only give them to men). Sometimes the posters are put up on walls in different cities. I answer the men who e-mail me, some have seen the flyers or posters, and some have seen the different web sites with different versions of this project.
