Pavilion of the Republic of Azerbaijan: Relational of Baku
Artists: Mikayil Abdurahmanov, Zeigam Azizov, Khanlar Gasimov, Aga Ousseinov, Altay Sadikhzade, Aidan Salakhova
Curator: Beral Madra
Venue: Gervasuti Foundation, Fondamenta S.Anna (Via Garibaldi),Castello 995
Graham Lister interviews Beral Madra, curator of Relational, Of Baku, at the Azerbaijan Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale
“For me curating is being true to historical, socio-political developments, as well as to artist’s statements and preferences.” At a time of increased communication, virtual movement and turbulent international affairs, events such as the Venice Biennale have an important role to play on the globalised cultural stage; not just in terms of showcasing the work stemming from a geographical location, but also in considering implications of trends in contemporary art practice and within the broader context of social responsibility.
As curator of the Azerbaijan Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale, Beral Madra has assembled a collection of works by artists who have different physical relationships to the capital city of Azerbaijan, Baku. Beral Madra has curated at 6 previous Venice Biennales, and coordinated the 1st and 2nd Istanbul Biennales. Over the last 30 years, she has been director of the BM Contemporary Art Centre in Istanbul. I asked her about Relational, of Baku in the Palazzo Benzon, which features work by Azerbaijani artists, Mikayil Abdurahmanov, Zeigam Azizov, Khanlar Gasimov, Aga Ousseinov, Altai Sadikhzadeh and Aidan Salakhova.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Graham Lister [GL]: Can I start by asking what does the theme of the Biennale, ILLUMInations personally mean to you?
Beral Madra [BM]: It is quite difficult to entitle a biennale of this scale; the expectations of the artists, the sponsors and the public are different and to bring these expectations to a common idea is a hard task! I find Ms. Curiger’s [Visual Arts Director, 54th Venice Biennale] vision positive and optimistic – which to my opinion is the common position of the established institutions and their representatives in Europe and USA. When I try to support this title, I think: If there are over 80 countries in this Biennale participating with their national identities – which has not changed since a century - she has no other choice than to highlight this nation issue making it more elegant by adding the art-historical dimension related to European traditional painting! However, when I approach the title from a critical angle I think: The current state of affairs particularly in the Mediterranean is not allowing us to be so optimistic and positive. We are living in a transition process of questioning and overcoming the 20th century nation state ideologies, which is extremely polluted with racism, wild capitalism and political corruption. The artist in general and their production is in accordance with this reality and reflecting this rather chaotic and dramatic momentum. So the title is ambiguous; and maybe this was her intention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: This year, the Azerbaijan Pavilion exhibition is entitled Relational, of Baku. The range of work has been selected to exemplify the changes that have occurred in Baku, and more generally across geographical identities in art over the last three decades. Where once national identities were foregrounded, these have been moved aside in favour of cultural identities based on the city as the source of direct inspiration. Beral Madra sees curating as reflecting the personal social situations of artists and as such, has chosen to include practitioners who have a continuing relationship to the city of Baku. At the present time, Baku is becoming an extremely desirable tourist destination, and is considered by many to represent a link between Europe and Asia. Of the artists who feature, four of them, Aidan Salakhova, Khanlar Gasimov, Zeigam Azizov and Aga Ousseinov, although strongly connected to Baku as a city, pursue their practice in the major art centres of Moscow, New York and London. In their practice, one can clearly see a dialogue which has developed to an extent between perceived western and more eastern social issues, and at the same time, elements of the changing focus on city-states, rather than nation-states is touched upon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: In your text regarding the premise of the exhibition, you note that the ‘nation-state’ is an archaic system of organisation. How do you feel that this idea is explored via the work of the selected Azerbaijani artists?
[BM]: Not only me, but the artists of the show are aware of the ‘globalised state of culture’and ‘end of nation state’ and the complexity of being aware of this dialectical phenomenon; I mean the governments, the private sector and the public are still resisting to accept this reality whereas the artists are continuously indicating and underlining it. In this show, the artists are dealing with many stereotype convictions related to religion, 20th century modernist sociological and political remnants, to modernist capitalism and to individual positions and identities by going to their details, for example the veil and religious symbols (Aidan Salakhova), the origin and quest of the artist (Zeigam Azizov), the interpretation of recent-past history (Aga Ousseinov).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: Indeed, the grouping of the works in the Palazzo Benzon means that a selection of visual and intellectual contrasts are created. This in turn creates a specific dialogue; one which relates to different time periods, to various socio-political concerns and to changing interpretations of personal identity. In effect, it appears that the content of the Azerbaijan Pavilion is connected to an underlying current of social and (inter)national responsibility; a concept which in itself is rapidly changing in technologically-driven, turbulent, globalised times.
The Azerbaijan Pavilion is located in the 1897 Palazzo Benzon. Beral Madra has said that she focused on “entering the building surreptitiously and leaving the works to make an impact on the viewer.” Her curatorial practice is focused around putting the artist at the centre of the process. The chosen theme for the pavilion was presented to the artists early on in the process, allowing them to develop their works with both the theme and with the intended exhibition space in mind. The Venice Biennale does not offer white cube spaces, but instead challenges artists and curators to work with, and to engage with the historical contexts in which the examples of contemporary art and design will exist. According to Madra, even the pavilions in the Giardini have a history, and it seems to be the case that the artists and indeed the curators have a responsibility to enter and adjust to the spaces themselves, rather than to overpower or challenge them.
Visitors to Biennales are often described as cultural tourists. Relational, of Baku, relates on a certain level to the touristic gaze, showcasing a particular aspect of the heritage of the city. In the graphic design for the pavilion a prehistoric drawing of gondolas from a rock formation near Baku is shown. This it would seem immediately connects with the overarching theme of the Bienalle, IllumiNATIONS; showcasing the timeless creation of artefacts and their continuing value in the contemporary world. It must be said though that although Madra notes that the touristic gaze is not something which a curator focuses upon, it is something of which she is all to aware; noting that after all, once the opening week has finished, “the exhibitions of 89 countries will be visited by anonymous tourists, who will all get their share [of Azerbaijani / Baku culture] from contemporary art manifestations.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: In the current globalised arena in which we exist, the term ‘Diaspora’ and its use has changed. Although some of the artists you have selected pursue their practice outside Azerbaijan, as a group of practitioners they clearly do not sit under a simple 1980s-type idea of diaspora, and I wonder if you could comment on how you would describe the interconnectedness of the exhibiting artists?
[BM]: As you indicate, this exhibition is not based on Diaspora production. It is based on the new culture policy of Azerbaijan, which in terms of contemporary art focuses on the creative individual, on interaction between the local and the international, on visibility in high level international events. There is an obvious interest in making a claim on the artists whose origin is Azerbaijan and a respect to their achievement in the international art scenes of other metropolis. These artists claim their rights to reflect their origins and to collaborate with the existing institutions.
[GL]: Does the decision to show artists whose works reflect the cultural transitions from modernism, through postmodernism, toward relational aesthetics reflect general trends of artistic production in Baku?
[BM]: What we are presenting in this exhibition is quite significant: These artists represent the last generation in Azerbaijan who were born during SSCB. In their work we can trail a complex transition from modernism to relational aesthetics; they could not block their memory, but they could not escape the influence of today’s fusion of different streams of knowledge. Again, I would like to quote Bourriaud. He entitled his project for the Fourth Tate Triennial “Altermodern”. He said: “Altermodern’ is a word that intends to define the specific modernity according to the specific context we live in – globalization and its economic, political and cultural conditions”. From now on we will witness this process.
[GL]: Do you see events such as the Venice Biennale as theoretically having an underlying duty of social responsibility?
[BM]: Indeed yes; these events which present multi-cultural productions convey the true globalism to audiences that are still not aware of this phenomenon. On top of it, these events are platforms of individual freedom of expression. Artists in 90% of the world are living in non-democracies or poor-democracies; and in these countries they have multi-identities; the function as artists in the traditional sense, but as initiators of social movements and as agents of democracy. In international events, these artists can present their opinion and criticism and convey the democratic content of contemporary art to the attention of global public opinion.
[GL]: You have said that the Venice Biennale is an event for the privileged and less for emerging artists. Is this a situation that has developed recently, or has this consistently been your experience at this Biennale?
[BM]: For the lucky one’s Venice Biennale is a great opportunity to enter into the international art market. In many countries there is no-art market or only local-art market, so that artists are dependent on public money which is also not so abundant! Since a decade Venice Biennale – and also Istanbul Biennale - have acquired an additional function other than opening new artistic trends and contemporary debates, namely they provide an opportunity to dealers, collectors and institutions to discover new art / young art. However, here it requires new moral values. The privileged part of the art world is not so aware of – or they just prefer to deny- the not so healthy negotiation between the market economies and art making. In other words, investment in art has become interference to art. I must say that there are very sophisticated “curators” and “directors” who prefer to play the game of power; they advocate “globalized state of culture” but act for “privileged state of culture”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: June 5th brought an interesting development to any consideration of the Azerbaijan pavilion. After apparent protests from the Azerbaijan President, Ilham Aliyev, two sculptures by Aidan Salakhova, were covered up by pieces of cloth at the entrance to the Palazzo Benzon. Azerbaijan is a secular Muslim country and both works are linked with contemporary attitudes toward, and current issues surrounding faith. Waiting Bride 2010-2011, depicts a woman covered in a jet black veil, while another work comprises a replica of the religious Black Stone (the eastern cornerstone of the Kabba, at the centre of the Grand Mosque in Mecca) in a vagina-like marble frame.
After visiting the exhibition prior to the official opening, it is reported that the President was unhappy with these works by Salakhova, being particularly concerned with the offence he perceived the pieces caused to Islam. The official line is that apparently the sculptures in question were damaged during transport to the Biennale. This may be the case but the speculation surrounding the act of covering these art works raises an interesting debate.
The censoring of any elements of any exhibition would appear to contravene the Venice Biennale’s underlying philosophy celebrating artistic expression, but this event in the Azerbaijan exhibition certainly brings up questions related to potential overall control of the content of the pavilions by the corresponding national government. At the fore of this particular issue are tensions which exist between artistic expression and religious beliefs, and the manner in which a country desires to be presented to the global audience. What is perhaps worrying is that if the censorship lasts for the duration of the Biennale the autonomy of Azerbaijani curators and perhaps the independence of artists can be seen to be superseded by governmental intervention. Right or wrong, stemming from a duty of perceived social responsibility or based on religious beliefs, the act of censoring the carefully chosen output of an artist or curator on this globalised stage is certainly a contentious issue for anyone involved in art.
Beral Madra is a curator and critic, and is director of the BM Contemporary Art Centre in Istanbul. http://bmsuma07.blogspot.com/
Graham Lister is an artist, writer and Visiting Staff Member at The Glasgow School of Art. http://community.thisiscentralstation.com/grahamlister
Pavilion of the Republic of Azerbaijan: Relational of Baku
Artists: Mikayil Abdurahmanov, Zeigam Azizov, Khanlar Gasimov, Aga Ousseinov, Altay Sadikhzade, Aidan Salakhova
Curator: Beral Madra
Venue: Gervasuti Foundation, Fondamenta S.Anna (Via Garibaldi),Castello 995
Graham Lister interviews Beral Madra, curator of Relational, Of Baku, at the Azerbaijan Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale
“For me curating is being true to historical, socio-political developments, as well as to artist’s statements and preferences.” At a time of increased communication, virtual movement and turbulent international affairs, events such as the Venice Biennale have an important role to play on the globalised cultural stage; not just in terms of showcasing the work stemming from a geographical location, but also in considering implications of trends in contemporary art practice and within the broader context of social responsibility.
As curator of the Azerbaijan Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale, Beral Madra has assembled a collection of works by artists who have different physical relationships to the capital city of Azerbaijan, Baku. Beral Madra has curated at 6 previous Venice Biennales, and coordinated the 1st and 2nd Istanbul Biennales. Over the last 30 years, she has been director of the BM Contemporary Art Centre in Istanbul. I asked her about Relational, of Baku in the Palazzo Benzon, which features work by Azerbaijani artists, Mikayil Abdurahmanov, Zeigam Azizov, Khanlar Gasimov, Aga Ousseinov, Altai Sadikhzadeh and Aidan Salakhova.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Graham Lister [GL]: Can I start by asking what does the theme of the Biennale, ILLUMInations personally mean to you?
Beral Madra [BM]: It is quite difficult to entitle a biennale of this scale; the expectations of the artists, the sponsors and the public are different and to bring these expectations to a common idea is a hard task! I find Ms. Curiger’s [Visual Arts Director, 54th Venice Biennale] vision positive and optimistic – which to my opinion is the common position of the established institutions and their representatives in Europe and USA. When I try to support this title, I think: If there are over 80 countries in this Biennale participating with their national identities – which has not changed since a century - she has no other choice than to highlight this nation issue making it more elegant by adding the art-historical dimension related to European traditional painting! However, when I approach the title from a critical angle I think: The current state of affairs particularly in the Mediterranean is not allowing us to be so optimistic and positive. We are living in a transition process of questioning and overcoming the 20th century nation state ideologies, which is extremely polluted with racism, wild capitalism and political corruption. The artist in general and their production is in accordance with this reality and reflecting this rather chaotic and dramatic momentum. So the title is ambiguous; and maybe this was her intention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: This year, the Azerbaijan Pavilion exhibition is entitled Relational, of Baku. The range of work has been selected to exemplify the changes that have occurred in Baku, and more generally across geographical identities in art over the last three decades. Where once national identities were foregrounded, these have been moved aside in favour of cultural identities based on the city as the source of direct inspiration. Beral Madra sees curating as reflecting the personal social situations of artists and as such, has chosen to include practitioners who have a continuing relationship to the city of Baku. At the present time, Baku is becoming an extremely desirable tourist destination, and is considered by many to represent a link between Europe and Asia. Of the artists who feature, four of them, Aidan Salakhova, Khanlar Gasimov, Zeigam Azizov and Aga Ousseinov, although strongly connected to Baku as a city, pursue their practice in the major art centres of Moscow, New York and London. In their practice, one can clearly see a dialogue which has developed to an extent between perceived western and more eastern social issues, and at the same time, elements of the changing focus on city-states, rather than nation-states is touched upon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: In your text regarding the premise of the exhibition, you note that the ‘nation-state’ is an archaic system of organisation. How do you feel that this idea is explored via the work of the selected Azerbaijani artists?
[BM]: Not only me, but the artists of the show are aware of the ‘globalised state of culture’and ‘end of nation state’ and the complexity of being aware of this dialectical phenomenon; I mean the governments, the private sector and the public are still resisting to accept this reality whereas the artists are continuously indicating and underlining it. In this show, the artists are dealing with many stereotype convictions related to religion, 20th century modernist sociological and political remnants, to modernist capitalism and to individual positions and identities by going to their details, for example the veil and religious symbols (Aidan Salakhova), the origin and quest of the artist (Zeigam Azizov), the interpretation of recent-past history (Aga Ousseinov).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: Indeed, the grouping of the works in the Palazzo Benzon means that a selection of visual and intellectual contrasts are created. This in turn creates a specific dialogue; one which relates to different time periods, to various socio-political concerns and to changing interpretations of personal identity. In effect, it appears that the content of the Azerbaijan Pavilion is connected to an underlying current of social and (inter)national responsibility; a concept which in itself is rapidly changing in technologically-driven, turbulent, globalised times.
The Azerbaijan Pavilion is located in the 1897 Palazzo Benzon. Beral Madra has said that she focused on “entering the building surreptitiously and leaving the works to make an impact on the viewer.” Her curatorial practice is focused around putting the artist at the centre of the process. The chosen theme for the pavilion was presented to the artists early on in the process, allowing them to develop their works with both the theme and with the intended exhibition space in mind. The Venice Biennale does not offer white cube spaces, but instead challenges artists and curators to work with, and to engage with the historical contexts in which the examples of contemporary art and design will exist. According to Madra, even the pavilions in the Giardini have a history, and it seems to be the case that the artists and indeed the curators have a responsibility to enter and adjust to the spaces themselves, rather than to overpower or challenge them.
Visitors to Biennales are often described as cultural tourists. Relational, of Baku, relates on a certain level to the touristic gaze, showcasing a particular aspect of the heritage of the city. In the graphic design for the pavilion a prehistoric drawing of gondolas from a rock formation near Baku is shown. This it would seem immediately connects with the overarching theme of the Bienalle, IllumiNATIONS; showcasing the timeless creation of artefacts and their continuing value in the contemporary world. It must be said though that although Madra notes that the touristic gaze is not something which a curator focuses upon, it is something of which she is all to aware; noting that after all, once the opening week has finished, “the exhibitions of 89 countries will be visited by anonymous tourists, who will all get their share [of Azerbaijani / Baku culture] from contemporary art manifestations.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: In the current globalised arena in which we exist, the term ‘Diaspora’ and its use has changed. Although some of the artists you have selected pursue their practice outside Azerbaijan, as a group of practitioners they clearly do not sit under a simple 1980s-type idea of diaspora, and I wonder if you could comment on how you would describe the interconnectedness of the exhibiting artists?
[BM]: As you indicate, this exhibition is not based on Diaspora production. It is based on the new culture policy of Azerbaijan, which in terms of contemporary art focuses on the creative individual, on interaction between the local and the international, on visibility in high level international events. There is an obvious interest in making a claim on the artists whose origin is Azerbaijan and a respect to their achievement in the international art scenes of other metropolis. These artists claim their rights to reflect their origins and to collaborate with the existing institutions.
[GL]: Does the decision to show artists whose works reflect the cultural transitions from modernism, through postmodernism, toward relational aesthetics reflect general trends of artistic production in Baku?
[BM]: What we are presenting in this exhibition is quite significant: These artists represent the last generation in Azerbaijan who were born during SSCB. In their work we can trail a complex transition from modernism to relational aesthetics; they could not block their memory, but they could not escape the influence of today’s fusion of different streams of knowledge. Again, I would like to quote Bourriaud. He entitled his project for the Fourth Tate Triennial “Altermodern”. He said: “Altermodern’ is a word that intends to define the specific modernity according to the specific context we live in – globalization and its economic, political and cultural conditions”. From now on we will witness this process.
[GL]: Do you see events such as the Venice Biennale as theoretically having an underlying duty of social responsibility?
[BM]: Indeed yes; these events which present multi-cultural productions convey the true globalism to audiences that are still not aware of this phenomenon. On top of it, these events are platforms of individual freedom of expression. Artists in 90% of the world are living in non-democracies or poor-democracies; and in these countries they have multi-identities; the function as artists in the traditional sense, but as initiators of social movements and as agents of democracy. In international events, these artists can present their opinion and criticism and convey the democratic content of contemporary art to the attention of global public opinion.
[GL]: You have said that the Venice Biennale is an event for the privileged and less for emerging artists. Is this a situation that has developed recently, or has this consistently been your experience at this Biennale?
[BM]: For the lucky one’s Venice Biennale is a great opportunity to enter into the international art market. In many countries there is no-art market or only local-art market, so that artists are dependent on public money which is also not so abundant! Since a decade Venice Biennale – and also Istanbul Biennale - have acquired an additional function other than opening new artistic trends and contemporary debates, namely they provide an opportunity to dealers, collectors and institutions to discover new art / young art. However, here it requires new moral values. The privileged part of the art world is not so aware of – or they just prefer to deny- the not so healthy negotiation between the market economies and art making. In other words, investment in art has become interference to art. I must say that there are very sophisticated “curators” and “directors” who prefer to play the game of power; they advocate “globalized state of culture” but act for “privileged state of culture”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[GL]: June 5th brought an interesting development to any consideration of the Azerbaijan pavilion. After apparent protests from the Azerbaijan President, Ilham Aliyev, two sculptures by Aidan Salakhova, were covered up by pieces of cloth at the entrance to the Palazzo Benzon. Azerbaijan is a secular Muslim country and both works are linked with contemporary attitudes toward, and current issues surrounding faith. Waiting Bride 2010-2011, depicts a woman covered in a jet black veil, while another work comprises a replica of the religious Black Stone (the eastern cornerstone of the Kabba, at the centre of the Grand Mosque in Mecca) in a vagina-like marble frame.
After visiting the exhibition prior to the official opening, it is reported that the President was unhappy with these works by Salakhova, being particularly concerned with the offence he perceived the pieces caused to Islam. The official line is that apparently the sculptures in question were damaged during transport to the Biennale. This may be the case but the speculation surrounding the act of covering these art works raises an interesting debate.
The censoring of any elements of any exhibition would appear to contravene the Venice Biennale’s underlying philosophy celebrating artistic expression, but this event in the Azerbaijan exhibition certainly brings up questions related to potential overall control of the content of the pavilions by the corresponding national government. At the fore of this particular issue are tensions which exist between artistic expression and religious beliefs, and the manner in which a country desires to be presented to the global audience. What is perhaps worrying is that if the censorship lasts for the duration of the Biennale the autonomy of Azerbaijani curators and perhaps the independence of artists can be seen to be superseded by governmental intervention. Right or wrong, stemming from a duty of perceived social responsibility or based on religious beliefs, the act of censoring the carefully chosen output of an artist or curator on this globalised stage is certainly a contentious issue for anyone involved in art.
Beral Madra is a curator and critic, and is director of the BM Contemporary Art Centre in Istanbul. http://bmsuma07.blogspot.com/
Graham Lister is an artist, writer and Visiting Staff Member at The Glasgow School of Art. http://community.thisiscentralstation.com/grahamlister
Posted 1 year ago
