East of the West
curated by Taraneh Hemami and Anuradha Vikram
How can we begin to understand a region as diverse and far-ranging as
the Middle East? We are constantly exposed to simplified images
depicting this part of the world as rife with conflict, intolerance,
religious fundamentalism and cruelty toward women and minorities. While
certainly these strains exist, for the most part life goes on, as it
does everywhere. Art is made, jokes are told, people are born, grow up,
fall in love and get old.
When we were invited to do this
show, we were initially hesitant. What purpose is there in creating
another Middle East show, in inviting artists to show together based on
their geographic origin rather than the ideas with which they engage or
the methods they use to do so? Artists we approached expressed similar
concerns: a resistance to being categorized and consequently
marginalized, a reluctance to be seen as a “Middle Eastern artist.”
However, we all agreed on the need to promote more diverse images of
this part of the world, and so the show came to life.
The work
takes three distinct threads. First is a dialogue with modern and
contemporary art history as defined by Europe and the United States.
The artists herein have studied and absorbed these precedents, and
their responses are further informed by a parallel politics of the
image, specific to the Muslim world, in which abstraction is a
spiritual practice and word is image. Representation, personal
appearance and control of the gaze reverberate differently within these
two cultural perspectives.
Second is a questioning of cultures.
As immigrants, we live between the old world and the new. Shaped by
tradition, we embrace the freedom to choose our future paths while
being acutely aware of expectations and strictures on all sides. We are
insiders and outsiders in both worlds, attuned to the advantages and
shortcomings of both ways of thinking, and knowing we will never be
fully accepted by either.
Third is a critique, often
laced
with humor, of the media’s one-dimensional portrayal of the Middle
East. These tropes—fundamentalism, restriction of women, war and
conflict, oppressive regimes, terrorism—are turned on end. Affronted by
superficial assumptions, yet deeply aware of the real troubles that
underlie them, we are caught between laughing and crying. We choose
laughter and action over tears and disaffection.
Finally, we
ask, East of what? West of whom? From where we stand—in California, the
westernmost point in the Western world—the East is the West. Western
Europe and the Middle East are much closer to each other than either is
to us. From this point on our global sphere, we can see a new
perspective. We adopt a new identity that is both East and West.
Amir Esfahani, Step Back, 2008. Photo by Stephan Vladimir Bugaj
East of the West
SomArts Cultural Center Bay Gallery
934 Brannan Street, San Francisco
May 1 - 24, 2008
Hours: Tues-Fri 2-7PM, Sat 1-5PM
Extension: East
of the West
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi's Office,
San Francisco City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room
244
Opening Reception: Fri, May 16,
5:00-8:00 pm
May 16 - June 17, 2008
