I wander thro’ each charter’d street – MAFAzine Issue 4 – Reviews
Jala Wahid – Rock Fortrees by Tornike Gognadze
From 3 October to December 6 E.A. Shared Space was pleased to present
Rock Fortress, the first solo exhibition of a London- based artist Jala Wahid
in Tbilisi, Georgia.
If you’ve ever been in this space before, the very first thing which impacts you after entrance is absolutely transformed black space.
Rock Fortress is an exhibition that derives its title from Heskîf, Northern Kurdistan. It is established on the south slopes of the Raman Mountains and on the two sides of the Tigris. It has thousands of caves which were carved into rocks, therefore, It Is also called “the city of caves” An ancient town comprising layers upon layers of civilizations for millennia, Heskîf is now fully submerged under water having been subject to Turkey’s Southeastern Anatolia Project. Masquerading as sustainable development and economic growth, this project drives multi-sector regional development, encompassing 22 dams, 19 power plants, and irrigation schemes over a land mass of 17,000 km2. For decades, it has led to forced displacement and the erasure of Kurdish culture through construction and flooding. The fact that the artist is from Kurdistan makes the exhibition more personal and Sensitive.
It’s interesting that the artist mentions the city not as Hasankeyf in the description of the exhibition, as indicated in modern sources of the city, but Heskîf, which further emphasizes the historical memory of the artist and the main idea of the exhibition- the importance of immersed stories in shaping today’s world.
Through an installation of sculpture, song and light, Rock Fortress explores an ongoing silent warfare performed underwater, while silence is physical, as well as political. A provocation towards feelings of being unanchored, it is an assertion of the future in spite of erased histories. Set after a flood has occurred, iconographic lions spanning civilizations across millennia sing, invoking the Kurmanji melodies of Beytocan amongst other singers, calling on their collective voice which desperately embodies Kurdishness through a sense of place. In this process, questions are raised regarding the ethics in claiming histories and the voices of others to assert a future politics, of redrawing borders, and of reimagining Kurdistan beyond geopolitical terms. The most emotional part in this exhibition is music, which binds and combines every minimalistic detail together.
The sound piece Rock Fortress is performed by Julia Katarina and produced by Owen Pratt. Lyrics is written by Jala wahid
Heskîf was a city of historical and architectural attention, used for port purposes, which made it a centre of ancient culture.
History of Heskîf was affected by the ancient Sumerian and Akkadian, also Iraqi culture.
The artist emphasizes the city’s great cultural and antical importance in her artwork. Her minimalist installations are thought out through. For example, sculpture
Aion of Sidon takes its origin from the protector deities of the Sumerians.
Guennol is a 5,000-year-old Mesopotamian statue allegedly found near Baghdad, Iraq.
Colossal Guardian is lion symbolized Ishtar, the Assyrian goddess of warm and guarded the entrance to her temple. Artist made two versions of this lion and they are perfectly presented in the space, at first you see “Colossal Guardian (your unity is no use to me)” with sad face
and on the other back of the same wall, In parallel with it you see “Colossal Guardian (Overflowing in Formation) with mad face.
In my opinion, these two lions are assimilated to the attitude of an artist, guardian which is sad and mad at the same time due to existing things.
Also Ugallu is a mythological hero and it’s the name of an Akkadian protector god.
Deep and all-encompassing fact is that the artist turned the symbols of the forgotten patron gods and mythological heroes into works, symbols that the flow of historical time has brought to the water.
Altogether, the exhibition offers an unforgettable journey to ancient Anatolia, providing information about relatively new but already sunken cultureearrea.
I am glad that I have an opportunity to work on the installation of the exhibition as one of the members of the “E.A Shared Space” team.