Abstract
Abstract
Bunu Hiç Unutma is a major exhibition consisting of a multi screened video installation (A Camera in Abkhazia), a single channel film projection (The Black Sea) and an immersive multi-channel audio-visual installation (This You Must Remember) all created in 2022. The exhibition also features text-based artworks by Abkhaz poet Anton Ochirov.
The exhibition holistically addresses the slow violence of aftermath in post-conflict state of Abkhazia (Southern Caucasus) from the 1992 conflict to present day. The locus is the titular This You Must Remember, which forensically details personal memories of the exact moment civil conflict erupted. The result is an alternative form of immersive documentary, where staged performance, dramatic camera and personal narrative are interwoven. The two additional works, The Black Sea and A Camera In Abkhazia, feature unmediated imagery of daily life edited in dialogue with Ochirov’s poetic works based of overheard street conversations within Abkhazia, as well as explorations of other sites of conflicts globally. Due to geopolitical isolation, visual art emanating from Abkhazia is scarce. This co-created project gives a unique portrait of the isolated region. Commissioned twice, first by DEPO Istanbul, a critically engaged art venue focusing on practices that address historical and current social issues, and later touring to the Cultural Center of Belgrade (KCB) as Ovo Ne Smeš Zaboraviti and awarded an AHRC Impact award for engagement and dissemination
Jury says:
The work in the exhibition gives a closer-looking exploration of the slow violence of prolonged conflict aftermath. In 2023, Abkhazia will have been in frozen conflict for 30 years, with hundreds of thousands of people still displaced in neighbouring Georgia. The detritus of war continues to litter this once opulent Black Sea resort, a constant visual reminder of the 1999/3 conflict.
In the main installation, it is the forensic small details that precede trauma that come to the fore. Like memory itself, each chapter of the film draws from the complex orchestrations between image, text voice and sound to create continuously renewing dialogues. Godman's immersive sound, through use of innovative spatial techniques, will create a believable sense of place coexistent with the exaggerated spaces of trauma. Combined, this multiplicity will reflect the fragmentary nature of memory and the contradictory perception of sound in moments of heightened awareness..
Godman says:
Working in galleries is a challenge for sound works and I for this exhibition I have created custom mixes for each site. The source material for the audio is taken off-camera and from field recordings, combined with heavily processed ‘folky’ violin sounds. The music and other sound is fused together, creating a form of hybridised sound design.
•The film has been five years in the making, in close partnership with cultural partners in Abkhazia.
•It is part funded by the AHRC UK, and supported by research funds from UH.
•It was the seed work for a follow on project, now funded by the AHRC, to explore new models of art practices, through visual art and theatre collaborations.
•The work tours to the Cultural Centre of Belgrade in December 2022.
Bunu Hiç Unutma is a major exhibition consisting of a multi screened video installation (A Camera in Abkhazia), a single channel film projection (The Black Sea) and an immersive multi-channel audio-visual installation (This You Must Remember) all created in 2022. The exhibition also features text-based artworks by Abkhaz poet Anton Ochirov.
The exhibition holistically addresses the slow violence of aftermath in post-conflict state of Abkhazia (Southern Caucasus) from the 1992 conflict to present day. The locus is the titular This You Must Remember, which forensically details personal memories of the exact moment civil conflict erupted. The result is an alternative form of immersive documentary, where staged performance, dramatic camera and personal narrative are interwoven. The two additional works, The Black Sea and A Camera In Abkhazia, feature unmediated imagery of daily life edited in dialogue with Ochirov’s poetic works based of overheard street conversations within Abkhazia, as well as explorations of other sites of conflicts globally. Due to geopolitical isolation, visual art emanating from Abkhazia is scarce. This co-created project gives a unique portrait of the isolated region. Commissioned twice, first by DEPO Istanbul, a critically engaged art venue focusing on practices that address historical and current social issues, and later touring to the Cultural Center of Belgrade (KCB) as Ovo Ne Smeš Zaboraviti and awarded an AHRC Impact award for engagement and dissemination
Jury says:
The work in the exhibition gives a closer-looking exploration of the slow violence of prolonged conflict aftermath. In 2023, Abkhazia will have been in frozen conflict for 30 years, with hundreds of thousands of people still displaced in neighbouring Georgia. The detritus of war continues to litter this once opulent Black Sea resort, a constant visual reminder of the 1999/3 conflict.
In the main installation, it is the forensic small details that precede trauma that come to the fore. Like memory itself, each chapter of the film draws from the complex orchestrations between image, text voice and sound to create continuously renewing dialogues. Godman's immersive sound, through use of innovative spatial techniques, will create a believable sense of place coexistent with the exaggerated spaces of trauma. Combined, this multiplicity will reflect the fragmentary nature of memory and the contradictory perception of sound in moments of heightened awareness..
Godman says:
Working in galleries is a challenge for sound works and I for this exhibition I have created custom mixes for each site. The source material for the audio is taken off-camera and from field recordings, combined with heavily processed ‘folky’ violin sounds. The music and other sound is fused together, creating a form of hybridised sound design.
•The film has been five years in the making, in close partnership with cultural partners in Abkhazia.
•It is part funded by the AHRC UK, and supported by research funds from UH.
•It was the seed work for a follow on project, now funded by the AHRC, to explore new models of art practices, through visual art and theatre collaborations.
•The work tours to the Cultural Centre of Belgrade in December 2022.
| Translated title of the contribution | Exhibition This You Must Remember |
|---|---|
| Original language | Multiple languages |
| Publisher | Depo Istanbul |
| Media of output | Online |
| Size | Exhibition |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Nov 2022 |