Kalle
Hamm and Dzamil Kamanger 14.11.-8.12. 2002
Curriculum
Vitae, Kalle Hamm (.pdf)
Curriculum
Vitae, Dzamil Kamanger (.pdf)
PIZZERIA BABYLON II
Home Delivery
Pizzeria Babylon is an experimental art project on which we have been working since 1998, in Finland as well as in Iran, Turkey and the "Moorish" cities of Spain. The project deals with experiences of cultural encounters and seeks a new cultural identity. Pizzeria Babylon I has been on display at Kunsthalle Helsinki and Lahti Art Museum. Pizzeria Babylon II is a sequel to that project, a tour between homelands old, new and temporary, an effort to maintain contact between fragmented families. Pizzeria Babylon II Home Delivery invites you into the other home of the other, to the other's home country for the time being. Please join us on our journey!!
The Babylon neon sign hanging in the gallery window is the emblem of our conceptual pizzeria, welcoming the viewer to our exhibition.
Kalle Hamm, Dzamil Kamanger, Babylon,
2000, neon light, 30 x 100 15 cm
Rubaiyat is Farsi for quatrain. Rubaiyat no. 109 is the work of Omar Khayyam (1048-1123); Rubaiyat no. 17 is by Shamseddin Hafiz (1320-1388). Both poets lived in Persia. Even today, their works are used for divination, especially when embarking on a journey. Typical questions include, Will this journey be a success? Is now an auspicious time to travel? The book of poetry is opened at random and the poem thus found is interpreted in light of one's own situation. Rubaiyat no. 109 promises moments of happiness with the tresses of one's beloved while Rubaiyat no. 17 has grey hairs in store for the traveller.
Kalle Hamm, Rubaiyat no: 109,
2001, hair, horsehair, paper, 150 x 390 cm
Dzamil Kamanger has rolled into clay Finnish lace doilies, which he has then painted in Central Asian tones. The work Pitsiliinat (Lace Doilies) presents granny's lace doilies from a fresh perspective and transfers to them Kamanger's images and his memories of his home country. The work includes lace that first found its inspiration from pieces that sailors brought back to Rauma from Italy, where the designs were in turn influenced by Byzantium and Persia. Cultures travel, collide and merge. Cultures do not stay still but are enriched by every encounter. Culture is not a measure of civilisation to be owned, nor is it a part of heritage to be sheltered under glass - culture is a living, interactive happening.
Dzamil Kamanger, Pitsiliinat,
2001, clay, 300 x 400 x 1 cm
Home Delivery consists of drawings made on pizza boxes, describing our journey to Istanbul and the move of Dzamil's son from Iran to be with his father in Finland.
Kalle Hamm, Home Delivery
indian ink, charcoal on pizza
box, 2002
size of one drawing 33 x 33 cm,
size of complete work 223 x 489 cm, 78 drawings
Armchair Anthropology
comprises portraits drawn of North African immigrants in southern Spain.
The name of any individual drawing consists of the name given to the artist
and the home country of the subject. The drawings were done on empty postcards
and can be sent back home as greetings. The portraits break down by country
of origin as follows: Morocco 86, Tunisia 25, Algeria 15, Lebanon 2 and
Turkey 1. One person did not give any country of origin. The most common
name was Ahmed (most praised), Ali (greatest) and Mohammed (revered), followed
by Said (happy), Driss and Mustapha (chosen). All portrait subjects were
men.
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indian ink on post card basis, 2002
size of one drawing 15 x 10 cm, size of complete work 190 x 195 cm, 130 drawings
Eye Conversations originated in our work together in Istanbul. In it, two persons are engaged in non-verbal discussion on a video screen. Eye contact is an age-old means of conducting talks without sound or language. The subtitles "translate" the on-screen discussions to a linguistic level.
Translation: Käännös-Aazet Oy
Enlarge
by clicking the image. Press images
are available at the gallery.