EMAA, European-Mediterranean Art Association

 EKATE, Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts

“THE LITTLE LAND FISH” ART EXHIBITION

Nicosia

The conditions for the art project were given out in January - I reported - and the results are now being displayed in Istanbul from June 19 to July 19, 2010. Hereafter the concept written by the organisers and the works of the participants. Istanbul is worth a visit right now. See also No. 162. Heidi

Penned by Samad Behrangi, The Little Black Fish is the story of an old fish telling his 12,000 children and grandchildren a tale themed around justice, equality, questioning dogma, and swimming against the tide. The tale concerns the efforts of the little black fish in his troublesome voyage to the sea and eventual freedom. Swimming against the tide, breaching the oppressive barriers, going beyond our limits, leading the society and shedding light on the unimaginable horizons, are the major themes of the book.

The Little Land Fish art exhibition project, inspired by the book, is centred on multiperspectival interpretations and discussions of several concepts and problems, thereby fostering new artistic creativity. Our time is marked by a tension between the historical and the contemporary, which could be relieved by adopting an intermediary position that makes the past subservient to the present. This position, alongside new perspectives, is grounded in the creative domain of art. The relationality, the oscillation, the strata between the past and the present, the historical/geographical/cultural fractures, and the connections and disconnections, call for a politicisation of art, and a re-reading and re-interpretation of the role of political power.

The history of civilisation is marked by tension between various ethnic groups and communities, islanders and continentals, the settled and the nomad. The cultural phenomena of  a world that is getting smaller, have precipitated discussions around “local culture” and “global culture.” As the differences of individual and collective “cultural identity” remain un-debatable small individual stories have become important in revealing and materialising these notions.

Conceived with the collaboration of EMAA and the Cyprus Chamber of Fine Arts (EKATE), The Little Land Fish Exhibition is supported by İstanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency. The Exhibition aims at discussing the theoretical enhancements of the common identity, reciprocal becomings, borders, and transformations, via the story of a little fish on the island of Cyprus and its adventure to reach wide-open seas, from multiple theoretical perspectives.