ARTIM LAB: CHRYSALIS – A MOMENT OF TRANSFORMATION

YARAT Contemporary Art Space is pleased to announce the graduation show “Chrysalis: A moment of Transformation” by ARTIM Lab participants Gunel Akhundlu, Murad Akbarli, Aghababa Baghirov, Rena Bashirova and Ahmad Nabiyev.

Inspired by the idea of physical, psychological and spiritual transformation, ARTIM’s residents face the frictions between growth and renewal in their annual group show.

Caught between the former 'normal' life and the pandemic, the artists have all come to terms with what this transition means and how we face uncertainty and overcome it. Most of all, this time has allowed for the ferment and foment of ideas of reality – what is reality in our increasing interiorization and digital interactions? Do we make our own reality and how does it manifest? As said by Philip K Dick, “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away”. So how do we shape our reality for the future that we want it to be?

Central to this is the idea of the chrysalis, a state of transformation, a pause between the past and present, when we are forced to reckon with our current state and prepare for the future to come. The residents explore these ideas through different lenses – tradition and modernity, innocence and revelation, spiritual awakening and action, and breaking free of past constraints to claim a new identity. The chrysalis is a vehicle for rumination on the way forward – we are all in a state of transformation, but how will we emerge and how can we dissolve the boundaries that have confined us?

Aghababa Bagirov interrogates the internal tensions faced in intellectual growth as the human intellect changes and transforms in stages through different ways in which we play and interact with our environment. In his work, presented in the form of a game, choices bring consequences, and our outlook determines the ending – how do we face challenges and what are the ramifications of our actions?

Gunel Axhundlu’s performance centres on the creation of humanity, born from the chaos of the universe, which is then shaped and evolved through personal and social struggle. Using fabric as a metaphor for this struggle, the performance appears as a rebirth – a communal awakening and call to action, shifting dreams to reality. In her reality, this chaos transforms into collective spiritual cohesion.

In Murad Akbarli's installation, he explores the idea of protection and perseverance. Using the Lankaran hasir, a protective textile woven to preserve carpets originating in the south of Azerbaijan, he reimagines the textile, designed with specific geometrical features, as a prototype to the Great Wall of China, which Chinese created to protect themselves from Turk invasion. His work questions our ability to shield ourselves from external influences, and the viability of the preservation of tradition and identity.

Rena Bashirova's sound installation explores the dichotomy of man and nature, finding a fractious unity between the two. As we become more disconnected from our exterior environment, how do we mediate between these two states? How do we find union?

Ahmed Nabiyev's video work imagines the confinement of expectations through the interior life of his protagonist. What is reality when it doesn't reflect reality? In his work, he questions social expectations of acceptable behaviour through a protagonist who rejects these confines, finding a way to grapple with how to be reborn in your own self-image. Can you escape your reality, or do you have to face it and change it?

Exhibition curated by Lesley Gray

Exhibition dates: October 30, 2020 – March 27, 2021

Venue: ARTIM Project Space

Address: Icherisheher, Kichik Qala, 5

Working hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 12 pm – 8 pm

Admission is free