Danger Cleared: No Mines / The Equinox

YARAT Contemporary Art Space (Baku, Azerbaijan) presents the Danger Cleared: No Mines group exhibition by six accomplished Azerbaijani artists (Khanlar Gasimov, Orkhan Huseynov, Elturan Mammadov, Kamilla Muradova, Vusal Rahim, Sabina Shikhlinskaya) and The Equinox, a group show by Georgian artists (Gia Edzgveradze, Tamara K.E., Luca Lazar, Konstantin Mindadze, Koka Ramishvili, Andro Semeiko, and Levan Songulashvili).

Danger Cleared: No Mines is a diverse group exhibition that intertwines performances, video installations, and graphic artworks specially commissioned by YARAT, featuring the talents of Khanlar Gasimov, Orkhan Huseynov, Elturan Mammadov, Kamilla Muradova, Vusal Rahim, and Sabina Shikhlinskaya. The artworks delve profoundly into core cultural, social, and environmental issues, centering around the poignant theme of post-conflict peace. The exhibition narrates the story of a society that has faced the harrowing realities of war and emerged resilient. Its aim is to underscore that the quest for peace is not just a collective aspiration but an attainable reality. Through personal narratives, research insights, and historical artifacts, the exhibition emphasizes the crucial roles of reconciliation, cooperation, and empathy in reshaping history and fostering a future free from violence.

The exhibition is curated by Farah Alakbarli. Read more

The multidisciplinary exhibition The Equinox brings together seven Georgian artists, describing the cornerstone of awareness of human identity and the path of consciousness formation from the late 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century from local and global perspectives. The project unpacks a complex discourse of linked interactions, from the individual to the collective and vice versa, and examines the impact of the individual experience on the collective experience and its impact on time-varying patterns. The exhibition is built on a dualistic principle with reference to the interaction of light and darkness, where the interaction of the individual and the collective is considered in the continuum.

The exhibition starts with a symbol depicting the metamorphosis of the path of consciousness by representing the inner confrontation within a butterfly, referencing the effort and time for the pupa to obtain its wings. Further, the project reveals the triggering factors of this path, where the research of collective memory and experience takes on an important role. Here, too, the dualistic principle is underlined. On the one hand, geopolitical shifts, cultural observations, and the connection to the past and its transformation over time all play a significant role in the emergence of a sense of belonging. On the other hand, how identities transform and metamorphose in response to globalisation and technological shifts changes the cornerstone of consciousness. New forms arise, where the necessity for memory is lost and the phenomenon of cultural belonging becomes absurd.

The exhibition is curated by Tamuna Arshba and Tata Ksovreli. Read more