Sara Raza – Critic & Curator
Alternative Curatorial PlatformsWhat’s New?
Migrasophia
14 March – 19 May 2012
Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah UAE
‘Migrasophia’ is the first curatorial exhibition and public programme to be staged at the Maraya Art Centre in the emirate of Sharjah. The exhibition’s takes its inspiration from Azerbaijani contemporary artist and philosopher Zeigam Azizov who In 2000 coined the term ‘Migrasophia’ as the study into the complex relationship between migration and philosophy following the collapse of the former USSR in 1991.
Featured artists include: Lida Abdul, Zeigam Azizov, Babi Badalov, Farhad Ahrarnia, Erbossyn Meldibekov, Slavs and Tatars, Galim Madanov & Zauresh Terekbay, Said Atabekov, Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev, Ergin Cavusoglu, Karen Sargasyn, Reza Aramesh, Sonia Balassanian, Sophia Tabatadze, Koka Ramishvilli, Taus Makhacheva and Diyor Razaikov. Curated by Sara Raza.
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Cultural Representations
Artist Taus Makhacheva & Curator Sara Raza in-conversation
American University of Sharjah
13 March, 5pm
Taus Makhacheva is a video and performance artist from the Republic of Dagestan and her practice explores the post-Soviet complexities that have affected the North Caucasus’ region following the collapse of the former USSR as a means of revealing hidden social codes. She is interviewed by Sara Raza, curator of the exhibition Migrasophia at Maraya Art Centre. For further information please see: http://www.aus.edu/events/event/348/cultural_representations_taus_makhacheva_in-conversation_with_curator_sara_raza
*Organised by AUS & Maraya Art Centre
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Un-thinking Systems: Shezad Dawood in Conversation with Sara Raza
SR: It’s interesting that you mention a manifesto because it’s something I am very much interested in, artists who are proclaiming about the art world in such a way that a critic or an art historian wouldn’t necessarily be able to, particularly when thinking about these new histories, where there is very little critical writing available at this stage, and it’s all very new.
SD: I think the present moment needs a far more radical incursion of thought and of systems, given the current state of economies, governments and so on. If we’re still playing about in the sand-pit of various easy binaries, it’s slightly onanistic – that’s me trying to be polite on camera. Twenty years ago there was already enough talk about a third space and obviously, it has certain problematics. For full interview please see: http://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/12http://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/12
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INDIA ART FAIR
25-29 January 2012 New Delhi
The Speakers’ Forum at India Art Fair 2012 will include a series of highly engaging conversations that brings together a panel of over 54 experts. As part of the programme independent curator & critic Sara Raza will discusses the similarities, disparities and shifts facing seminal generational contemporary Indian and British artists Bharti Kher, A Balasubramania and Mark Quinn. To see full programme please visit: http://www.indiaartfair.in/speaker%27s-forum.aspx
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Farhad Ahrarnia: Canary in a Coal Mine
Edited by Rose Issa. With essays by Pippa Oldfield, Christopher de Bellaigue, Lutz Becker and Sara Raza.
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ICA Culture Now: Ergin Çavuşoğlu
A discussion with Sara Raza, West and Central Asia editor for ArtAsiaPacific
November 11, 2011, 1:30pm
Location: Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London
Ergin Çavuşoğlu, Liminal Crossing, 2009. Courtesy the artist.
Ergin Çavuşoğlu, renowned for his film and video installations and sculptural works, which explore post-migration, geographies and informal architecture, will discuss with Raza the influential themes to his work, such as literature, theatre and the work of iconic artists Marcel Duchamp and filmmaker Robert Bresson.
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New Vocabularies for New Challenges: Newsha Tavakolian in conversation with Sara Raza
SR: There is an old Persian saying that suggests that poets can get away with anything but those who write prose are often met with opposition. Do you see this as somewhat comparable to the situation facing artists in Iran?
NT: I think that’s one of the reasons why I developed my practice to have a more poetic visual language and decided to explore more ambiguous and socially taboo topics as the underlying subject matters in my work. I found that through exploring ideas pertaining to visual culture, I was able to give voice to many issues that were important to me, such as women’s rights in Iran following the Islamic Revolution. (To read full interview please go to: http://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/1).
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6th Tashkent Biennial, 24 October 2011
“Quotations from Daily Life” *Winner of Jury Biennial 1st Prize 2011
Curated by Sara Raza
Central Asia’s only contemporary art biennial, the Tashkent Biennial celebrates its 6th edition to mark the 20th year anniversary of Uzbekistan’s independence. This year’s installment is themed Artist & Society and comprises over 100 international artists including guest curated Quotations from Daily Life a group exhibition that explores beauty, fate and chance within the practices of featured artists: Lida Abdul (Afghanistan), Taus Makhacheva (Dagestan), Farhad Ahrarnia (Iran), Almagul Menlibayeva (Kazakhstan), Ergin Çavuşoğlu (Bulgaria/Turkey) and two brand new commissions by Babur Ismailov and Diyor Razaikov (Uzbekistan) among others.
* Image Farhad Ahrania “Composition no. 10″ from the series “Dustpans of History,” (2011) courtesy the artist and Rose Issa, London.
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The Pavilion Downtown Dubai
Ergin Çavuşoğlu: Dust Breeding
Curated by Sara Raza
Oct 2 2011 – 12 Jan 2012
The Pavilion Downtown Dubai presents a solo show by Turkish artist Ergin Çavuşoğlu’s inspired by the work of Marcel Duchamp through an interactive vinyl perspective floor drawing. The artwork functions as a manipulation of perspective and space and also provides an interesting commentary on issues of real estate and labor. (Image: “Dust Breeding,” (2011) courtesy of the artist).
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Performing Histories: Wafaa Bilal in Conversation with Sara Raza
SR: Would you say the project is anti-photography, so to speak?
WB: That’s an interesting question because generally photography, and the practice of taking images, is highly subjective. If you consider documentary photography as the most subjective form of image making, and reverse that idea in my work, you will see that I never promise the spectacular, but rather the mundane. (To read full interview go to: http://www.ibraaz.org/essays/18).
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AAP Guerrilla Talks at Art Hong Kong!
For the duration of Art Hong Kong 11, Sara Raza of ArtAsiaPacific will be presenting “Guerrilla Talks,” a series of short, informal encounters with artists, architects, collectors and curators. The “Guerrilla Talks” program includes an eclectic mix of art-world veterans and emerging talents, including pioneering artist of the Neo-Geo movement Ashley Bickerton, Taiwanese conceptual artist Lee Mingwei, Chinese figurative painter Yan Pei-Ming, Sydney-born, Hong Kong-based filmmaker Christopher Doyle and Kazakh agent-provocateur Erbossyn Meldibekov in the lead-up to his presentation at the 54th Venice Biennale, as well as curators Hans Ulrich Obrist of the Serpentine Gallery in London, independent globe-trotter David Elliott and Doryun Chong from the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Also on the lineup are international collectors Nitin Bhayana from New Delhi, Sydney’s Amanda Love and Indonesia’s leading collector Dr. Oei Hong Djien, among others.
We look forward to seeing you at Art HK!
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Erbossyn Meldibekov: Lost Paradise
Art Hong Kong | Curated by Sara Raza for Rossi & Rossi
Arguably Kazakhstan’s most prolific contemporary artist, Erbossyn Meldibekov has fast earned a reputation as Central Asia’s agent provocateur with his playful yet political artistic practice that examines the trials and tribulations of post-Soviet Central Asia. Adopting various personas and working with a variety of disciplines including performance, sculpture and new media, Meldibekov probes local and global tensions that have arisen since the collapse of the Soviet Union, examining the region’s monolithic ruling system that has endured despite having attained independence in 1991 and the region’s relationship with neighbouring China to tease out similar parallels and paradoxes.
Sara Raza – Curator
Plug In ICA, Canada
Shezad Dawood “A Mystery Play,” Curated by Sara Raza & Anthony Kiendl
Opening reception: Saturday, November 6, 2010 – 7:00pm
Plug In will be showcasing Shezad Dawood’s remake of Buster Keaton’s epic Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) – a project which was created during Plug In’s 2010 Summer Institute in the form of “a mystery play” where both the legendary magician and escapologist Harry Houdini and the Devil make guest appearances all the while incorporating the city’s rich theatrical history. Exhibition runs through December 2010.
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Plug In is again presenting the Summer Institute — an opportunity for artists and creative practitioners from a variety of fields and creative practices. (Application Deadline: EXPIRED).
Plug In is pleased to announce the visiting faculty for Session 2 will be London, UK-based artist Shezad Dawood and curator Sara Raza. Session 2 will take place July 2010
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Rula Halawani in conversation with Dr Anthony Downey (Sotheby’s Art Institute) & Sara Raza (ArtAsiaPacific) Jan 15. Selma Feriani Gallery, London, Jan 2010
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Daneyal Mahmood Gallery is pleased to present “Science, Fiction and Visual Art,”
a compact three-day free public program of lively talks and presentations for members of the public, students, emerging artists, critics and curators to coincide with Justine Cooper’s solo exhibition “Living in Sim,” currently on view at Daneyal Mahmood Gallery until 31 December 2009.
The program is curated by Sara Raza (London based independent curator, writer and co-editor ArtAsiaPacific Magazine) and will run from December 10-12. Speakers include Justine Cooper, Kathy Battista, Director, Contemporary Art, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York, D. Graham Burnett, Professor of History at Princeton University and Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Artist, Researcher and Assistant and Eyebeam’s Executive Director Amanda McDonald Crowley.
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The (Dis)Order of Things, is the first UK solo show of internationally renowned contemporary Kazakh artist Erbossyn Meldibekov, curated by writer and curator Sara Raza at Rossi & Rossi, London (26/8-25/9-09)
Adapting its title from the French thinker Michel Foucault’s seminal text The Order of Things (Les mots et les choses), published in 1966, the exhibition’s title is a play on the social, cultural, economic and political upheavals in the post-Soviet landscape of Central Asia and Kazakhstan.
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Interview in Art Vehicle April 2009
Sara Raza is a London based independent curator, writer and co-editor of ArtAsiaPacific magazine (West and Central Asia) and Ali MacGlip is the editor of Art Vehicle.
AM: So how did this project in Dubai come about?
SR: Bastakiya Art Fair (BAF) is the UAE’s only fringe art fair, which takes place in the heritage area of Dubai in March since 2008 and is organised by XVA gallery and a coalition of local UAE galleries and artists who take over a series of houses for the week long fair, with a strong emphasis on curated cutting edge programmes. I was invited by the director Emily Doherty, whom I met in Abu Dhabi last year, to come on board and devise an education programme to coincide with the fair so I thought about integrating the concept of a school given the fact that there are no informal art dialogue platforms in Dubai. To continue reading the interview please go to: http://www.artvehicle.com/interview/11
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BAF Art School, March 2009 is an organic, experimental and free five-day morning art school for members of the public, students, emerging artists, critics and collectors throughout the UAE and internationally to engage in vibrant discussions on trend with current contemporary art and architectural practices now. The programme curated by Sara Raza presented a compact and lively series of talks designed to offer an alternative art curriculum to coincide with Art Dubai and Sharjah Biennial.
BAF Art School faculty constituted of an international cohort of artists, curators, educators and writers including: Shumon Basar (London), Markus Miessen (Berlin/London), Yara El-Sherbini (London), Hasan Elahi (California), Fereydoun Ave (Tehran/Paris), Naeem Mohaiemen (Dhaka/ New York), Murtaza Vali (Sharjah/New York), Lorenzo Rudolf (Lugano), Hans Ulrich Obrist (London), Emily Doherty (Abu Dhabi), Ingo Nierman (Berlin), Zain Masud (Paris) Alia Al Shamsi (Dubai) Thinking Cloud (Dubai) and others.
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