A conversation between EMIRHAKIN and Ghaith Kween Qoutainy
Initiating artist EMIRHAKIN is joined by Ghaith Kween Qoutainy for a conversation about the artworks and underlying themes of Remarkable Meetings with Disgusting Men.
“…I am reading this again, and I have to think about why I went there with this comment. I think, now that I am looking at this with some novel eyes, I can see how it shares the same formula with your show; the ratios of the fear and fearlessness, the self and nonself, the said and implicit, the cultural and political, and the one and many. This controversy of showing something that is un-showable; censored, explaining while knowing none of the listeners will understand, but still trying to unveil that which you yourself don’t know lies under…this startles me. How can you really say something to others that you can’t, or don’t know how to, say to yourself!? Do you hum it in a prayer?!”
Comment by Ghaith Kween Qoutainy.
EMIRHAKIN poses urgent yet open questions about the influence of contemporary politics on our human psyche. Navigating through the ever-changing signs and symbols of our times, the artist is mainly curious about the things that are being put in places that they are not supposed to be, serving as reminders that meaning often emerges through this arbitrariness. His practice encompasses the mediums of performance, text, video, and installation, which are translated into visual (and non-visual) indexes. By challenging the bodily experience of the artist and the audience, his long-durational pieces dismantle the predefined ways of observing and performing, consider the space beyond physicality as a negotiation, and resist the constructed idea of time through the modes of queer temporalities.
Ghaith Kween Qoutainy is an artist, an organizer, and the founder and director of ISSUE Magazine, born in Damascus, Syria and based in Amsterdam. Their current work is an endeavor that focuses on an investigation of the dynamics that govern orientations in space, the legislation that facilitates it, and the socio-political atmosphere coloring it. Their practice is research-driven, prioritizing content and infliction of change over medium and aesthetic judgment, mostly working in collaboration or collectivity, delving into topics such as (dis)Identity, critical socio-cultural inclusion, and political activation through art and cultural means. Their curatorial/cultural-programming work is an extension of their artistic practice, and is mainly focused on community building, collectivity, social justice, visibility, and intersectionality.
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Ticket: € 7,50
