Initiated by EMIRHAKIN, Remarkable Meetings with Disgusting Men reflects on (self-)censorship as a highly tangible experience, ████ proposing ways for maneuvering through fear. ██████ ████ █ ███, ████. In this exhibition, the strategies of oppressive regimes and their bodily implications are explored, subverted, ██████ and reappropriated through a careful spatial choreography. How does political coercion permeate the personal, infiltrate bodily boundaries, and ███████████? 

EMIRHAKIN has invited a group of artists to reconfigure the symbols and strategies associated with fear and oppression—holding space to reflect on the erasure of choice, identity, agency, ████ and life within heavily politicized structures. ████ █████ ███ ████. Taking shape through video works, archival footage, performances, ████, sound and light installations, and paintings, the exhibition navigates the manufacturing of (cultural) identity, ████ ██████, nationalism, the impact of censorship, and life under authoritarian regimes.

Informed by ███ personal experiences as a ████ ████ in ████, EMIRHAKIN’s practice ██████ and visualizes the personal, emotional, and physical consequences of (self-)censorship while simultaneously paving a pathway for vulnerability and resilience. In a recurring part of the programme, EMIRHAKIN reflects on the █████ and ████ of ███ life under suppression—delving deeper into the ideological construct of masculinity that profoundly influenced his ██████ and █████.

Witnessing the rise of the right-wing and its effect on the freedom of expression, Remarkable Meetings with Disgusting Men invites you to traverse the complexities of contemporary political realities, in the shadows of systems of ██████, manipulation, commodification, and racialization. The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive context programme of performances, movie screenings, ████ █████ and a night of storytelling.

Participating artists: Andreas Tegnander & Ossip Blits, Batuhan Keskiner, Can Demren, EMIRHAKIN, ghenwa noiré, Jonas Lerch, Ksenia Yurkova, Mohammed Tatour and Zalán Szakács. 

Context programme with: Başak Layiç, Elif Satanaya Özbay, Ghaith Kween Qoutainy and Sipan Sezgin Tekin.

More about the participating artists you can find in the digital handout of Remarkable Meetings with Disgusting Men.

Photos by Giovanni Salice

This exhibition is generously supported by: Gieskes-Strijbis Fund, Mondriaan Fund, Creative Industries Fund NL, Stadt Wien, Amarte Fund, Goethe Instituut and Oedipus Brewing.

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Exhibition initiated by EMIRHAKIN

At W139, we work collectively and intersectionally on exhibitions—guided and led by the initiating artists that we invite. This exhibition has been developed by the artistic team, with Claudio Ritfeld leading the process, together with Tomas Adolfs, André Avelãs, Ana Brichta, Dana Claasen, Levi van Gelder, Dil Ghale, Geer van der Klugt, Macarena Magaña, Margarita Osipian, Ghaith Kween Qoutainy, and Annette Wolfsberger.

Visual Identity by EMIRHAKIN and Fadi Houmani.

This exhibition is generously supported by: Gieskes-Strijbis Fund, Mondriaan Fund, Creative Industries Fund NL, Stadt Wien, Amarte Fund, Goethe Instituut and Oedipus Brewing.