Visual art exhibitions and events with a platform for critical writing
Cornerhouse, Manchester
10 February – 1 April
and
Space, London
17 February – 14 April
Reviewed by: Amelia Crouch
Presenting an interim stage of a collaboration between Cornerhouse, Space and Asia Art+, this exhibition features seven artists, from the UK and Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan, involved in residencies in their opposite country. Of the works produced by residency artists, many focus on aspects or objects of the host culture; for example falconry, the Silk Road, the Karlag prison camp and London’s landmarks. Choosing a well-known subject gives the artists a route into unfamiliar territory. Yet their representations are far from simplistic repetitions of existing symbols.
Surveying the view across the London Thames in Alexander Ugay’s photographic series Two Banks, it take a moment to realise that the dusty foreground is composed of another location, Ugay’s hometown Kyzilorda. Symbolising locale as a mental state, the images suggest landscapes are carried with you when you travel, blurring into new locations.
Ruth Maclennan foregrounds her status as an outsider In Kazakhstan. Valley of Castles (Hunting Eagles) follows her filming eagle hunters. In a failed negotiation a local man lobbies on Maclennan’s behalf: “She’s normal, she’s just like us,” and, invoking her role as a visitor: “Look how hospitable we are.” Finding a hunter willing to be filmed, they discuss whether or not he should wear traditional costume. He does, but I am left questioning the relevance of eagle hunting in contemporary Kazakhstan. The handheld camera creates a gloss of realism that belies the film’s careful construction; it gives no authentic view of Kazakh culture. Nonetheless, along the way, glimpses of Kazakhstan today build a partial picture of its landscape.
Dinu Li and Ruth Illingworth consider the human significance of historic sites. Illingworth’s multi-voiced video Karlag records grim recollections of former labour camp inmates. Providing only snippets of their stories, it propounds the difficulty of reconciling this history. Harsh conditions and deaths are recorded alongside those who express nostalgia for the Soviet era.
Three Kazakh and Uzbek artists, who have yet to complete UK residencies, exhibit examples of their earlier work. Almagul Menlibayeva’s videos show groups of women in the steppe landscape – naked or wrapped in reams of cloth, rolling through a river or imitating the bleats of sheep with dead sheep heads laid out in front of them. Full of strong imagery (snow-skirted women in Apa, contrasting red and green cloth in SteppenBaroque), I find their broader significance elusive. Drawing on shamanism and Sufi traditions, Menlibayeva’s use of manipulated sound and imagery signals that the works do not advocate a return to nature or female essentialism. But the unfamiliar cultural references obscure where tradition ends and a contemporary aesthetic begins.
In Vyacheslav Akhunov’s video Grain for Canary 2 a troupe of blind musicians collect money in a Tashkent marketplace. When they have enough to buy food they sit and eat. This survival narrative depicts a common humanity and a common market. The camera lingers on agricultural produce but also on hair dye, blue jeans and cuddly toys, reminding us of Central Asia’s part in the market economy since independence. Any lingering doubts are dispelled by Natalya Dyu’s video I Love Naomi, Naomi Loves Fruit. A paean to supermodel Naomi Campbell, it points to Western influences on Central Asia.
Each artist gives a different perspective on Central Asia, contributing to the project’s stated aim of providing insight into the region. But the representations are partial or ambiguous.
Like London and Kyzilorda, divided by the river in Ugay’s Two Banks, we find moments of convergence between UK and Central Asian Culture, yet they remain distinct. It is reassuring that, even in a globalised world, not all points of reference are the same.
Writer detail:
Amelia Crouch
Venue detail:
Cornerhouse
70 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 5NH
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