19th August- 9 September 2006
Cafe Domus, 124 Owen Rd, Admission is Free
Gharbzadegi,
a political
term in Farsi, critical of a western worldview, was coined in the 1960’s by
Jalal al-e Ahmad, an Iranian writer and political critic.
The
exhibition is divided into a few sections- with an introduction into the
theoretical underpinnings of the exhibition, by an illustration into how our
forms of design and architecture have been influenced by the West. An
interactive area follows, with attendees being invited to evaluate and explore
their own aesthetic influences.
In another
section, the exhibition features ‘The Priests of Contextualization’ -Foucauldian
advocates of ‘privileging (identified) marginalized discourses’. Their efforts
and theoretical inspirations are chronicled.
Sacred
Wood(s) is the most visually spectacular section of the exhbition. The open air
courtyard of Cafe Domus has been transformed in a sacred space, where attendees
are urged to leave their preconceptions at the door before entering. Coming
alive at night, the space is lit up by uv blacklight- highlighting the most
vital elements of the section.
With
promotional posters fashioned after Tel Quel; a 1960’s avant garde
journal that drew its influence largely from Friedrich Nietzsche, Julia Kristeva,
Jacques Lacan, Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida- the critical theory themes in
this exhibition is evident.
Gharbzadeghi
explores the way that the fields of architecture and design have been largely
fashioned after the western aesthetic. Beyond the obvious influences in building
and architectural forms largely recognized as western, Gharbzadeghi similarly
examines forms of architecture typically identified as being ‘vernacular’ and
illustrate how these forms of architecture have been predicated largely along
western lines, with its chief articulators largely western.
The priests of contextualization
A snide
reference by Stephane Martin(president of the Musee du Quai Branly), the Priests
of Contextualization refers to those who ‘think (that)
Western-style aesthetic appreciation is another form of colonialism, obscuring
history and ethnography’.
This
section features a few individuals and their efforts to establish a
hierarchy-less world in the arts, an ideal articulated by Chirac as a world
where there is no ‘hierarchy among the arts, just as there is no hierarchy among
peoples’.
The
Foucauldian appeal to initially privilege the marginalized discourse just to
even out the playing field casts these personalities after the mold of the
Gramscian intellectual; an typecast negated by those who assert that these
efforts are merely a re-packaged form of colonialism or a new brand of
condescension
Sacred Wood(s)
Jean Nouvel
, the architect of Quai Branly, used the metaphor of ‘sacred wood’- objects that
are truly “ liberated from western architectural references’.
This
exhibition re-interprets, and converts, the courtyard space in Cafe Domus into a
form of Sacred Wood(s), where visitors are exhorted to 'shed their preconceived
Western-influenced notions vis a vis design and architecture before entering the
premises'. Portraits of major players, chronicled in earlier sections of the
exhibition, are displayed in mock baroque frames, displayed alternately along
the stairwells and the coffee tables of natural wood.
Emulating
the grotesque traditional history of Western fairy tales, this section only
comes alive at night. Illuminated by UV light and drawing attention directly to
the portraits on exhibition, this section is also home to the anticipated
'public disruptions' in the Lettrist tradition.
About:
Cafe
Domus is an extension of MoArt. Serving as a platform for artists to exhibit
their works, the cafe illustrates MoArt's multi-disciplinary approach to their
work.
UrbaneSpaces is a boutique real estate agency dealing with architecturally
distinguished properties. Believing political engagement to be the new form of
corporate responsibility, UrbaneSpaces seeks to highlight political overtones in
the fields of design and architecture.
Cafe Domus Opening Hours:6.30pm-5am
