When you take the first step towards the unknown, you are engulfed by the darkness of uncertainty. Co-existence is possible only in the face of the unrecognised. The unknown language is a tangled mass through which you penetrate with despair. It is a structure of sense and nonsense, an architecture of traps and a source of endless uncertainty. The story you tell contains a record of fear and hope.

Aneta Szylak and Hiwa K., fragment taken from "The Darkness Wounded" published at www.przemo-wojciechowski.com

Estrangement shows itself precisely in the elimination of distance between people.
Theodor Adorno

But we are meaning in the sense that we are the element in which significations can be produced and circulate.
Jean-Luc Nancy


The concept of Estrangement developed through a series of discussions and collaborative projects between Iraqi artist Hiwa K. and Polish curator Aneta Szylak as an attempt to create a form for mutual translation and collaborative work that is not restricted to one cultural format.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Saholeke Street in Sulaimany







Estrangement enjoyed Saholeke [Ice] Street, though the temperature was far from that of ice.
Busy, full of shops, teahouses and restaurants is one of the major merchant areas of the city. Also our favourite teahouse "Public" is here. Over mango smoothie we discussed how to translate the situation of the street and numerous encounters on our way to the nature of our workshop.
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