- Venue
- P21 Gallery
- Starts
- Friday, July 4, 2014
- Ends
- Saturday, August 16, 2014
- Address
- 21 Chalton Street London NW1 1JD
- Location
- London
- Organiser
- P21 Gallery http://www.p21.org.uk/
Syrian artist-in-residence at Cambridge college exhibits works inspired by three years of the Syrian revolution at P21 Gallery in London (proceeds will be donated to MSF).
UNEARTHED by Issam Kourbaj
Exhibition dates: 4th July – 16th August, 2014
Private View: 3rd July, 6–9 pm
Readings by Ruth Padel and Hisham Matar: 16th July
Artist’s talk with Venetia Porter: 23rd July
Curators’ talk with Bibiana Macedo and Louisa Macmillan: 30th July
P21 gallery presents Unearthed, a solo exhibition by Syrian-born, UK-based artist Issam Kourbaj, inspired by three years of the Syrian Revolution. Deeply affected by the ongoing violence and huge numbers of casualties in his home country, Kourbaj has created numerous multimedia works. These range from unique, site-specific installations, using repurposed book covers, discarded poster fragments and camerae obscurae, to original works on paper and canvas.
“I was brought up in a place where we were surrounded by the past: many ancient civilisations had left great landmarks, and many archaeologists were still at work to excavate such a long history. Over the last three years, I have witnessed the war machines of the 21st century destroy my country and my work has become a reflection of this conflict. With every news bulletin from Syria, I am strongly reminded of the inhuman conditions and atrocities that courageous women, children and men face there. I fear for their present and for the future of our shared history; both the things they encounter daily and what kind of landscapes are yet to come.”
Issam Kourbaj was born in Syria and studied art in Damascus and St. Petersburg, before settling in the UK. He currently teaches at the University of Cambridge, where he is artist-in-residence at Christ’s College. Kourbaj has relatives living in Syria, and feels frustrated by the difficulty of communication and the paucity of reliable information coming from inside Syria itself. The works in Unearthed are based on his feelings of loss: they mourn the uncountable yet ever-increasing loss of lives and the fragile state of the city of Damascus. Kourbaj also explores the present in an archaeological and archival framework, as if in fear that the atrocities of the present will pale into historical insignificance in the future.
Unearthed is on view to the public from early July until mid-August and proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to Médecins sans Frontières, who are working to save lives in Syria, in spite of huge personal risk. Visitors will be able to buy MSF items, a limited edition photographic print of the eponymous installation of book covers, Unearthed (in Memoriam) and the illustrated exhibition catalogue, featuring texts by co-curator Louisa Macmillan, Andrew Nairne (Director of Kettle’s Yard) and poetry by Rana Kabbani Syrian writer and broadcaster).
Visitor Information
Free Admission
Opening times: Tuesday – Friday 12–6pm, Saturday 12–4pm, Wednesdays until 8pm
www.p21.org.uk | www.facebook.com/P21Gallery | Twitter @P21Gallery
21 Chalton Street, London, NW1 1JD
Nearest tube: Euston or King’s Cross St. Pancras
T. +44 (0) 20 7121 6190
E. [email protected]
Press Information
Press is invited to contact the gallery directly for early access during the installation period and further information (please also click on the links below).
http://www.issamkourbaj.co.uk
http://www.p21.org.uk
http://www.msf.org/syria
About the P21 Gallery
The P21 Gallery is an independent London-based charitable organisation established to promote contemporary Middle Eastern and Arab art and culture. The two-story venue in central London has been recently designed by the award winning Egyptian architect, Professor Abdul Halim Ibrahim, as a place where contemporary artistic statements are experienced and appreciated by a global artistic community. The facilities at P21 are planned to maximise the potential of contemporary art as a discourse, through multimedia exhibition spaces on two levels with supporting facilities for public functions and workshops for training and education. In addition, the P21 Gallery hosts a reference library, meeting rooms, a lecture hall as well as a specialised café. In short, it provides for a much-needed meeting place in the heart of London.
