Staring at the Sun /
Wherever I Am, the Sky is Mine
Following the opening days (14th-17th April) of the exhibition, where the works of all participating artists appear in their smallest incarnation, the first Chapter, “The Other Side of Water: Laments of Time,” takes over the Podroom Gallery from 18th to 27th April.
Like water that relentlessly fills up the cup, conquering its shape in its entirety, artists in this cohort trace the boundaries of its geopolitical exploitation, in a procession followed by the constant sense of anxiety so innate in the third world.
Works of Lucas Odahara focus on poetics of water both in its individual and societal identification. His drawing series Nightwater presents objects that become connecting elements between night and day. His other work, O Sapato do Mastre, Masthaharage Sapattu (the Master’s Shoes), that was made in collaboration with Indrakanthi Perera, is a video departing from a poem playing with Portuguese and Sinhala words. Mate Ugrin captures the last launch of the ship at the “Third of May” Shipyard in Rijeka, Croatia in his work Porinuće (To Launch a Ship). Juniper Foam’s Wherever I am the Sky is Mine / Staring at the Sun looks into the fluctuation between an “illegal settlement” Karail and the rest of Dhaka (Bangladesh) and the force of organic social movements that, like water, find their way through imposed physical and social boundaries. In his work The Free World (Part I), Uroš Pajović explores geopolitical constructs of the King Fahd Causeway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and its local and international role.
As we pause in front of these artworks we realize that we have suddenly become part of that world, estranged and imprisoned. This new reality with its expressive sensibility leaves us in turmoil. The urge to act remains with us. The change is imminent, or so it seems.
Staring at the Sun / Wherever I Am, the Sky is Mine is on display in Podroom Gallery 14th-27th April and 16-19th May.
“The rhythmic flow of the inhabitants leaving from and returning to the “illegal settlement”, Karail, through a small gravel pathway that appears on the body of water which divides the two worlds, is a sign that nothing remains isolated: that these two worlds, Karail and the rest of Dhaka, seep into one another, into every aspect of “the other’s” everyday life. The merchandise moves into and out of these two spaces. The labor force which builds and serves those living in the “legal” parts of Dhaka comes from these settlements. While the flow is constant throughout the day, it escalates during sunrise and sunset. What is captured here in these videos is the ever-present permeability of Karail.”