New Year, New Partners, New Locations!

Estrangement will continue in 2009/2010 through a collaboration with three leading partner organisations: Wyspa Institute of Art, Gdansk, The Showroom, London, and A Prior Magazine, Ghent. It will involve a group of specialists, which will include: Janna Graham, Curator of Education at Serpentine Gallery, Emily Pethick, Director of the Showroom, Els Roelandt, Editor-in-Chief of A Prior, Francesca Recchia, lecturer and researcher at Kurdistan University (based in London and Irbil), and numerous artists. It will create a broad international collaborative discursive platform that will focus on process, encounter and debate as an open form of research into concept of Estrangement. The project will consist of a series of artist residencies, exhibitions, performances and interventions in public space in London and Gdansk, and will culminate in the publication of a special issue of the art magazine A Prior.

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. The first stage of the project was initiated during a workshop for Iraqi artists in the Kurdish univerisity city Sulaimany in 2008. The project will be also relaunched in Sulaimany in mid-June 2009.

Fundraisng break

Sorry, we are a bit busy with fundraising for the continuation of the project but new content is to be uploded soon.

Sulaimany by night seen from Goyzhe mountain

Hiwa was researching for Estrangement project in Iran

And he was in touch with us on skype

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.

Shaáb Teahouse in Suli

Shaáb Teahouse is one of the Sulaimany most legendary places. Established in 1950s by Wasta Shareef under the name meaning "Public", remains until now the leading but casual and friendly meeting place for intellectuals and artists from the city, filled with books and images. Recently the site is being run by the founder's sons Omar and Baker, who can be seen in the second picture from the top. It was grat to meet him. Estrangement will come back there!

Saman Kareem and Sazgar Abu Baker worked with kids

Artists Saman and Sazgar worked with the kids in public space of Sulaimany. Here is a permanent result of their workshop on kindergarten outside walls.
The couple is to soon exhibit in Graz, Austria.