To see and see again Jana Omar Elkhatib, Alex Jacobs-Blum, Rajee Paña Jeji Shergill, Felix Kalmenson, Jinyoung Kim, and Zinnia Naqvi
Curated by Abedar Kamgari
Hamilton Artists Inc.
155 James St N., Hamilton, ON
September 4 – November 2, 2019
The phrase “to see and see again” (from the Farsi: دید و بازدید) describes the customary practice of visiting one’s relatives, wherein each person is indebted to returning the visit in a seemingly endless cycle of guesting and hosting. In her 1999 memoir of the same title, Tara Bahrampour recounts her experiences of growing up between two different countries, and eventually abandons the comforts of her Western life to experience her childhood home once more. To see and see again explores the artistic impulse, particularly in individuals who have experienced displacement, to want to visit or revisit a lost place of origin.
The six artists in this exhibition take up returning – whether in a physical, psychological, or metaphorical sense – as a creative strategy for making sense of their experiences of displacement. For some, the return is directly connected to the place they were born or knew as a child; for others, it is tied to an ancestral homeland that is further distanced through the passage of time, or is now entirely out of reach. Using photography, video and performance, the artists attempt to recreate accounts of the past in order to reconcile the challenges of the present. Archival materials such as family photographs and home movies, oral histories passed down through the generations, and personal recollections inform the intricate process of navigating longing and belonging.
The projects in this exhibition represent deeply personal, intimate depictions of each artist’s exploration of identity, origins, and place. Yet when nostalgia rubs up against the bitterness of reality, we suddenly glimpse the larger forces that necessitate the movement of bodies from one place to another. Undeniable are multigenerational experiences of displacement, trauma, and injustice, and the desire to revisit these difficult histories in an effort to work toward a better future.
Auxiliary Programming:
Opening Reception Saturday, September 7, 7:00-9:00 pm
Another retelling to the young
Performance by Jana Omar Elkhatib
Saturday, September 7, 8:00 pm
I see in the sea a sea
Performance by Jana Omar Elkhatib
Saturday, September 14, 8:00 pm
Supercrawl Festival (Extended Gallery Hours)
Friday, September 13, 4:00-11:00 pm
Saturday, September 14, 12:00-11:00 pm
Sunday, September 15, 12:00-5:00 pm
Panel Discussion
Conversation between Alex Jacobs-Blum and Jinyoung Kim, moderated by Abedar Kamgari
Saturday, October 5, 2:00-4:00 pm
An Ethic for New Soil
Performance by Felix Kalmenson
Saturday, October 19, 2:00-4:00 pm
In conjunction with To see and see again, Jana Omar Elkhatib will be a performer-in-residence at Hamilton Artists Inc. over the course of the exhibition. Jana is a performance artist and writer. In her works, she often intervenes with sound, especially speech, to explore separation and longing, and the role of memory in rooting identities and complex histories eroded by colonization. She is interested in the re-imagining of these histories, and the generations of artists inheriting and re-contextualizing them within new artistic forms.
Visit Jana in the gallery every Wednesday afternoon (starting September 25) and learn more about the works she will be developing. Full details here.
To see and see again
Image: Jinyoung Kim.
To see and see again
Jana Omar Elkhatib, Alex Jacobs-Blum, Rajee Paña Jeji Shergill, Felix Kalmenson, Jinyoung Kim, and Zinnia Naqvi
Curated by Abedar Kamgari
Hamilton Artists Inc.
155 James St N., Hamilton, ON
September 4 – November 2, 2019
The phrase “to see and see again” (from the Farsi: دید و بازدید) describes the customary practice of visiting one’s relatives, wherein each person is indebted to returning the visit in a seemingly endless cycle of guesting and hosting. In her 1999 memoir of the same title, Tara Bahrampour recounts her experiences of growing up between two different countries, and eventually abandons the comforts of her Western life to experience her childhood home once more. To see and see again explores the artistic impulse, particularly in individuals who have experienced displacement, to want to visit or revisit a lost place of origin.
The six artists in this exhibition take up returning – whether in a physical, psychological, or metaphorical sense – as a creative strategy for making sense of their experiences of displacement. For some, the return is directly connected to the place they were born or knew as a child; for others, it is tied to an ancestral homeland that is further distanced through the passage of time, or is now entirely out of reach. Using photography, video and performance, the artists attempt to recreate accounts of the past in order to reconcile the challenges of the present. Archival materials such as family photographs and home movies, oral histories passed down through the generations, and personal recollections inform the intricate process of navigating longing and belonging.
The projects in this exhibition represent deeply personal, intimate depictions of each artist’s exploration of identity, origins, and place. Yet when nostalgia rubs up against the bitterness of reality, we suddenly glimpse the larger forces that necessitate the movement of bodies from one place to another. Undeniable are multigenerational experiences of displacement, trauma, and injustice, and the desire to revisit these difficult histories in an effort to work toward a better future.
Auxiliary Programming:
Opening Reception
Saturday, September 7, 7:00-9:00 pm
Another retelling to the young
Performance by Jana Omar Elkhatib
Saturday, September 7, 8:00 pm
I see in the sea a sea
Performance by Jana Omar Elkhatib
Saturday, September 14, 8:00 pm
Supercrawl Festival (Extended Gallery Hours)
Friday, September 13, 4:00-11:00 pm
Saturday, September 14, 12:00-11:00 pm
Sunday, September 15, 12:00-5:00 pm
Panel Discussion
Conversation between Alex Jacobs-Blum and Jinyoung Kim, moderated by Abedar Kamgari
Saturday, October 5, 2:00-4:00 pm
An Ethic for New Soil
Performance by Felix Kalmenson
Saturday, October 19, 2:00-4:00 pm
In conjunction with To see and see again, Jana Omar Elkhatib will be a performer-in-residence at Hamilton Artists Inc. over the course of the exhibition. Jana is a performance artist and writer. In her works, she often intervenes with sound, especially speech, to explore separation and longing, and the role of memory in rooting identities and complex histories eroded by colonization. She is interested in the re-imagining of these histories, and the generations of artists inheriting and re-contextualizing them within new artistic forms.
Visit Jana in the gallery every Wednesday afternoon (starting September 25) and learn more about the works she will be developing. Full details here.