Strangers I Know:
Remapping Emotional Landscapes
Curated by Iana Pitenko
Tuesday, 09.01.24/ Opening 19–23 Uhr
Saturday, 13.01.2024 / Finissage 16–23 Uhr
10-13.01.2024 14–18 Uhr
Culterim Rossmann, Brunnenstraße 107, 13355 Berlin
Artists:
Aino Aksenja
Mirsini Artakianou
Nils Blau
János Brückner
Aleksandr Delev
Ahu Dural
Selma Aurora Haro
Stefanie Kaegi
Kristina Popov
Anna Slobodnik
Kristin Wenzel
Maria Zaikina
“But if a person is a map, where are the real crossroads, the real junctions, and is there any way to share these names with others, outlining an original and irreplaceable landscapes called I? [...] you’re never just a single artefact with a simple label, but a complex and ever-growing crystal, with its light ever changing, and ever capable of surviving time. These are my shards - all the girls, boys, cities, sounds, and histories I could have been.” – Strangers I Know, Claudia Durastanti
The exhibition “Strangers I Know: Remapping Emotional Landscapes” seeks to challenge conventional notions of identity as a fixed entity tied to documents and national ideas. The curator contends that each person's identity is a fluid and ever-changing terrain shaped by affective experiences. The exhibition transforms the space into a map of 'emotional landscapes' of the artists from various mediums and diverse cultural backgrounds. It fosters a transcultural dialogue, creating an autofictional environment that delves into the exploration of curators' own conflicted identity, bridging Ukraine and Russia. The result is an intimate and evocative setting that functions as a spatial map, encouraging the audience to wander and explore diverse sensory perceptions. This relational aspect allows the audience to connect with artists' affective landscapes and map their own inner emotional journeys. In a time when numerous voices advocate for borders and suspicion grows toward those unlike ourselves, the exhibition becomes a crucial and timely exploration of the vastness and potentiality of human experience.
The exhibition serves as the curator's graduation project for the Master’s Program 'Cultures of the Curatorial' at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB), class of Beatrice von Bismark and Benjamin Meyer-Krahmer.
Graphik Design: © Aina Aksenja, Photos: © Vlad Lucian, @documentationworks 2024
