EXHIBITION

Nezaket Ekici and Shahar Marcus

Galeria Labirynt, Lubelskie, Lublin, 04/01/2016 - 05/15/2016

ul. ks. J. Popiełuszki 5, 20-052 Lublin

ABOUT

Exhibition opening April 1st, 2016 (Friday), 7 p.m. ➔ Galeria Labirynt | Plaza (Lublin, 13 Lipowa Street)
Meeting with the artists: April 2nd, 2016 (Saturday), 12 a.m. ➔ Galeria Labirynt | Plaza
Open until May 15th, 2016 (Tuesday – Sunday, 12 a.m. – 7 p.m.)
free admission

Nezaket Ekici and Shahar Marcus have collaborated since 2012. Both artists are active in the field of performance and video art. Their latest project – Artificial Islands – explores time, space, culture and religion in different locations world wide.

The two artists collaborate as a cross-cultural and cross-religious duo of a Germany-based Muslim and an Israel-based Jew, bridging long distances between Berlin and Tel Aviv by taking travel time to cross space.

When one watches the video works of Nezaket and Shahar, they apparently bring back  the knowledge that has been forgotten by most of us: they bring us into relation with ourselves. In the Artificial Islands exhibition, they will present  videoworks, photos and artefacts – like Salt Dinner(videoperformance, 2012, Israel), Sand Clock (videoperformance, 2012, Israel) , Clean Coal(performance documentation, 2014, Germany) , Fossils (videoperformance, 2014, Germany) and  the new production Lublin Beach (videoperformance, 2016, Poland).

The art works of Nezaket and Shahar very often present the two artists in absurd situations, highlighting how uncomfortable we feel when being abroad and away from the people we know. When confronted with different perspectives on ways of living and cultural believes, most of us would prefer to have stayed home.
It seems that the journey Nezaket and Shahar are taking us on, is only possible when people are willing to cross borders and speak to each other – like the two artists did when they decided to collaborate. New perspectives, that may provide us with a clearer view on reality, can only arise when we confront ourselves with other cultures and beliefs, as it is only then that we cannot take our common beliefs and moral opinions for granted.

Looking at the works exhibited in Artificial Islands, it seems clear that it is possible to build new island like homes that may feel somewhat unreal and artificial in the beginning. But when faced with the strength of these art works, we see that crossing cultural borders is well worth it.

(Text by Andreas Dammertz*)

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