Taking up themes of exile and expatriation, the exhibition presented a number of exceptional international artists, whose works speak directly to conflict-ridden times. The artists work from their own stories and experiences, which they examine and treat in art that is both topical and timeless, universal and highly personal.
Homeless Souls brought together a dozen artistic voices from countries around the world – Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Algeria, Kosovo etc – for a conversation about exile as a political and existential reality. Presenting both personal and collective stories, the exhibition added new perspectives to subjects such as xile, demarcation, citizenship, cross-border movements, secret journeys and identity.
What all the artists in this exhibition have in common is that they experiment with new visual strategies, poetic effects and artistic devices to take us closer to exile as a lived reality. In turn, they also point to art’s ability to provide new and different images of a reality that is brought to us daily through photojournalism and the media.
SHARING A COMMON CAUSE
The media and devices in this exhibition ranged far and wide — from experimental documentaries to sculpture, painting and installation art. Meanwhile, across media and individual voices, the artists share a common cause: to use art as a space for examining and sharing historical events and personal traumas.
As with all important art, the specificity of their work becomes a jumping-off point for universal recognitions. The artworks in Homeless Souls not only reflected the present day, they also touch on themes that point both ahead and back in time, connecting us to periods, places and destinies that are not our own.
Homeless Souls was presented in the Column Hall and the Hall Gallery in the museum’s East Wing. Several of the works were made especially for this exhibition.
participating artists
Kader Attia (f. 1970, France)
Tiffany Chung (f. 1969, Vietnam)
Forensic Oceanography (Lorenzo Pezzani (f. 1982, Italy) & Charles Heller (f. 1981, USA))
Shilpa Gupta(f. 1976, India)
Ramin Haerizadeh (f. 1975, Iran), Rokni Haerizadeh (f. 1978, Iran), Hesam Rahmanian (f. 1980, USA)
Petrit Halilaj (f. 1986, Kosovo)
Hiwa K (f. 1975, Iraq)
Nalini Malani (f. 1946. Born in Karachi, undivided India)
Otobong Nkanga (f. 1974, Nigeria)
Erkan Özgen (f. 1971, Turkey)
Lydia Ourahmane (f. 1992, Algeria)
Kara Walker (f. 1969, USA)
