Naz Shahrokh at Institut des Cultures d'Islam
11 oct 2016 by art:i:curate team
The show Sacrées Graines at the Institut des Cultures d'Islam raises a series of questions concerning the symbolic significance of a standard of the Mediterranean diet, couscous. As this is often served at gatherings and ritual ceremonies in Arab-Muslim cultures, this traditional dish has become one of France’s favourites. This exhibition presents issues of identity, globalisation, immigration and citizenship.
The artists featured, propose a contemporary reading of the social, cultural, spiritual and political practices associated with couscous while playing with clichés and stereotypes by shifting the seeds away from their original use.
Naz Shahrokh's work takes inspiration by landscapes and nature acts. The artist attempts to transform the typically disregarded and commonplace materials into something less ordinary. She is drawn to the tactile process of assembling, collecting, giving new meaning to materials. Naz strives to find a connection in her studio practice that is significant in conjunction with society, the individual, personal experiences, and like a narrator or a poet, through the use of collecting objects and images, like words, she assembles visual narratives. In this project, inspired by the inherent relationship of the nomadic nature of how we have derived our materials for consumption, she honors the journeys, the places and the people that were encountered and are responsible for this process.
Installation view of Sacrées Graines at the Institut des Cultures d'Islam in Paris.
Naz Shahrokh, Sand and Sky, 2016, collected, found, and assembled materials in metal suitcase, 17 x 61 x 31cm.
Participating artists: Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Mircea Cantor, Ninar Esber, Ymane Fakhir, Malek Gnaoui, Mehdi-Georges Lahlou, Laurent Mareschal, Jean-Luc Moulène, Yazid Oulab, Martin Parr, Younès Rahmoun, Naz Shahrokh, Abdelkrim Tajiouti.
The exhibition will run until January 15th, 2017.
Naz Shahrokh is an artist who lives and works in Abu Dhabi. She holds a MFA in Painting and an MS in Theory, Criticism and History of Art, Design and Architecture from Pratt Institute, New York (1997). She was the recipient of a Research Grant from Zayed University, Abu Dhabi (2009) and the American University in Cairo, Cairo (2004, 2005) as well as the Artist-In-The-Marketplace Fellowship, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York (2004). Naz's work has been featured in art publications including the New York Times, TimeOut Abu Dhabi, the Connecticut Post, the Advocate and Greenwich Time, Contemporary Practices, and ART PAPERS. She has exhibited in solo and group shows including 'The Retrieval of the Beautiful', The Painting Gallery (New York, 2016), 'Shifting', Tashkeel Al Fahidi gallery (Dubai, 2016), 'Crossing the Emirates II', FN Gallery (Dubai, 2012); 'Emergence', The Tenri Cultural Institute of New York (New York, 2009); 'Imagining Ourselve', International Museum of Women (San Francisco, 2006); '24th Annual Artists-In-The-Marketplace Exhibition', The Bronx Museum of the Arts (New York, 2004)
All images courtesy of the artist.
