QMAil : May 2009

CONTENTS:

EXHIBITIONS: OPENING - Tarjama / Translation | Launch Pad Artist Residency: Johanna Unzueta Iron Folklore | Red Lines Housing Crisis Learning Center

EVENTS: MetLife Foundation presents First Sundays for Families at QMA: Celebrate Cinco de Mayo and Enjoy a Taste of Corona | Opening Reception for Tarjama / Translation | Symphony of Peace Prayers (SoPP) in NYC | The Barbad Chamber Ensemble responds to the exhibition Tarjama / Translation | CINEMAROSA - Queens Only Queer Film Series: Pentagrams | Queens Green Drinks | Central Asian Cinema Series presents Aksuat

QMA INFORMATION: Permanent Exhibitions | Special Announcements

LEARNING PROGRAMS: Tours & Workshops | Adult Programs | Senior Programs

Credits | Subscribe to QMAil

May masthead: Gulsun Karamustafa, still from The City of Panter Fashion, 2007. Film.

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

Tarjama / Translation

OPENING: Sunday, May 10 – September 27, 2009

Tarjama / Translation maps an influential subset of recent work from the Middle East and Central Asia and their diasporas as a complex and dynamic undertaking. Rather than providing a panoramic and fleeting exposure to contemporary “Middle Eastern” and “Central Asian” art, Tarjama / Translation provides focus on selected artistic processes of cultural and critical translation.

Contemporary artists are perhaps the greatest translators. Their work transforms experience, perception, and thought into acts and materials of communication by scrutinizing everything at hand--materiality, culture, society, and beliefs. In Tarjama / Translation, language and textuality remain salient, but the exhibition includes approaches of visual translation for engaging with the complexities of our present era. Tarjama / Translation addresses the work of translation as multivalent, from the specificities of textual and visual manoeuvres to the larger sense of revealing fissures of the self, community, site and temporality. It focuses on how contemporary artists negotiate the formation of history influenced by continued states of dislocation and track newer dilemmas engendered by a globalized world saturated with the hyper-commercialism of media and popular culture.

Featured Artists

Ayad Alkadhi, Iraq, b. 1972
Nazgol Ansarinia, Iran, b. 1979
Hamdi Attia, Egypt, b. 1964
Lara Baladi, Egypt, b. 1969
Yto Barrada, Morocco, b. 1971
Esra Ersen, Turkey, b. 1970
Khaled Hafez, Egypt, b. 1963
Emily Jacir, Palestine, b. 1970
Pouran Jinchi, Iran, b. 1959
John Jurayj, USA, b. 1968
Gülsün Karamustafa, Turkey, b. 1946
Bouchra Khalili, Morocco, b. 1975
Almagul Menlibayeva, Kazakhstan, b.1969
Farhad Moshiri, Iran, b. 1963
Rabih Mroué, Lebanon, b. 1967
Rahraw Omarzad, Afghanistan, b. 1964
Khalil Rabah, Palestine, b. 1961
Khaled Ramadan, Lebanon, b. 1964
Michael Rakowitz, USA, b. 1973
Solmaz Shahbazi, Iran, b. 1971
Wael Shawky, Egypt, b. 1971
Mitra Tabrizian, Iran
Alexander Ugay, Kazakhstan, b. 1978
Sharif Waked, Israel/Palestine, b. 1964
Dilek Winchester, Turkey, b. 1974
Yelena Vorobyeva & Viktor Vorobyev, Kazakhstan, b. 1959 & 1959
Akram Zaatari, Lebanon, b. 1966

Tarjama / Translation is organized by ArteEast, and curated by Leeza Ahmady and Iftikhar Dadi, with assistant curator Reem Fadda.

Major support for Tarjama / Translation has been provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts and the A. M. Qattan Foundation.

IMAGE: Mitra Tabrizian, still from Predator, 2004. Film.

Launch Pad Artist Residency: Johanna Unzueta Iron Folklore

OPENING: Sunday, May 10 – September 27, 2009

Iron Folklore is an extensive site-specific installation work by Johanna Unzueta as part of the QMA's Launch Pad Artist Residency and Project program. Drawing from her recurrent interest in the history of labor, Unzueta creates sculptural and environmental installations often made exclusively of thick felt.

Iron Folklore occupies the museum’s elevator and the second floor balcony area with a subtle, yet powerful response to a socio-cultural narrative found in the gritty industrial area known as the “Iron Triangle” in Willets Point, within walking distance of the museum. The Iron Triangle, has been the home of auto repair shops, scrap yards, waste processing sites, and similar small businesses since the 1950s, but it’s rich, if not sordid, history is soon to end with a new urban renewal plan.

Transforming and connecting the spaces in the museum with shapes of industrial elements made of felt, Unzueta’s Iron Folklore addresses the contradictory notions of and the relationships between labor and culture in a local context.

Launch Pad is supported with grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Greenwall Foundation, and Cowles Charitable Trust. Additional funding provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.

IMAGE: Salute to the Patriot, 2008, C-print, edition of 6, 48 x 60 inches, Courtesy of the artist and CRG Gallery, New York.

Red Lines Housing Crisis Learning Center

OPENING: Sunday, May 31 – September 27, 2009

Red Lines Housing Crisis Learning Center, a large-scale installation of models, drawings, photographs, and videos by artist-designer Damon Rich, melds Sesame Street graphics with do-it-yourself investigations into the intricacies of real estate finance. For Red Lines, Rich has collected the history and material culture behind the current economic crisis into an experimental site for reflection and learning. Explore the threatening spikes and troughs of interest rates in the form of a plywood construction 40 feet long and 14 feet tall; enter a ghostly looming bust of Frederick Babcock, pioneer of real estate appraisal; and walk through photographic panorama of houses in Detroit and its suburbs. Photographs and video interviews with players in the field—from community activists to investment bankers—transform abstract financial markets into networks of, if not humane, then clearly human positions.

Today, against the backdrop of the Subprime Meltdown that has pushed people out of homes, ruined neighborhoods, bankrupted institutions, and contributed to a global economic crisis, Red Lines Housing Crisis Learning Center aims to broaden and enrich the urgent conversation about how our society finances its living environments.

Red Lines Housing Crisis Learning Center is funded by grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Artists & Communities, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, which is made possible by major funding from Johnson & Johnson, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation. A publication funded by The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts will be available during the exhibition. Additional support provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and New York State Council on the Arts.

IMAGE: Detroit Housing Outcomes, 2006-2008. Installation view, MIT Museum Compton Gallery.

SPECIAL EVENTS

presents First Sundays for Families at QMA: Celebrate Cinco de Mayo and Enjoy a Taste of Corona

Sunday, May 3, 1 - 4:30 pm

Partnering with local community organizations, the Museum will feature traditional Mexican dance and music for Cinco de Mayo. Plus we’ll celebrate the Museum’s new heart-healthy cookbook A Healthy Taste of Corona, with a cooking demonstration, samples from neighborhood restaurants, and free copies! of the book. Additionally, artist Tattfoo Tan will lead a hands-on artmaking workshop in which he will teach participants about making healthy food choices based on the colors of produce.

Opening Reception for Tarjama / Translation

Sunday, May 10, 5 – 8 pm

Join us for refreshments, video/dance performance by collaborators Mariam Ghani and Erin Kelly and live set by DJ Busquelo (Turntables on the Hudson/ Host of Mambo Madness Radio Show, Founder of the Tropic of Cancer festival). Trolley runs between Willets Point/Citi Field 7 train stop and the museum from 4:30 - 8:30 pm.

Symphony of Peace Prayers (SoPP) in NYC

Sunday, May 17, 12 - 2 pm

Celebrating the oneness of the human family, its cultural and religious diversity through a Symphony of Prayers around the Globe. Distinguished representatives from five religious traditions will offer interfaith prayers for peace followed by a prayer for peace in each country in its national language. Each one of the flags of the United Nations will be presented at the same time. This event will connect with a wave of peace prayers in 42 different countries. Presented by Byakko Shinko Kai (White Light Society)
For more information contact: Reiko Kamasawa (212-935-4222) or Tonia Shoumatoff (845-373-8610).

The Barbad Chamber Ensemble responds to the exhibition Tarjama / Translation

Sunday, May 17, 3 - 4:30 pm

Named after the sixth century Iranian composer and theorist, the Barbad Chamber Orchestra has distinguished itself by its unique programming of orchestral and chamber music, which juxtaposes a variety of rarely performed older works with works of significant contemporary composers, with a wide repertoire ranging from the 17th century to the present. They have put together a program inspired by QMA’s current exhibition Tarjama / Translation.

Program includes: Artur Avanesov, Im Luys (sung in Armenian); Komitas, Es Kisher Lusniak Gisher (sung in Armenian); Traditional, Ayriliq (sung in Azeri); Ramin Heydarbeygi, Gusan (sung in Persian); and Sofia Gubaïdulina, Sonata for Violin and Violoncello, “Rejoice!”.

The Barbad Chamber Ensemble are: Ramin Heydarbeygi, Music Director ; Cyrus Beroukhim, Violin; Arash Amini, Violoncello; Haleh Abghari, Soprano; Ozan Aksoy, saz. Program made possible in part with support from the Queens Council on the Arts.

CINEMAROSA - Queens Only Queer Film Series : Pentagrams

Sunday, May 17, 3 - 6 pm

Pentagrams – CINEMAROSA’s 5th Anniversary Celebration Short films direted by local filmmakers from the 5 boroughs plus special cheerleading performance.
Dorian: A Picture (Joe E. Jeffreys, USA, 2008, 6 min.)
In this experimental documentary short, Dorian Wayne, a retired NYC female impersonator who starred as Dominita in the cult film She Man and worked with the Jewel Box Revue and at the 82 Club, shares memories, film clips and a picture from his career that began in the 1950s.
Mr. A (Joe Murphy, USA, 2008, 12 min.)
A teenage boy’s life is disrupted after an accidental discovery.
Sweet William and the Miller (Matthew de Leon, USA, 2008, 7 min.)
In an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Devoted Friend, a humble gardener, sweet William, falls into a desperate love triangle with the Miller and his wife.
Overnight Book (Erin Greenwell, USA, 2008, 20 min.)
A passionate teenage misfit (Mary) and washed up adult writer (Bobby) meet in a dingy diner. Drawn to a younger version of himself, Bobby will help Mary craft her James Joyce proposal in an ambling journey through the suburbs of “Anytown” USA. In standing up to the school bullies and reconciling a lost love, Mary will find new courage. It is here where Bobby will write his overnight book.
Fagette (Ali Cotterill, USA, 2008, 4 min.)
Fagette is a trans-fabulous Sunday in the park. It's croquet gone gay, drag-tastic cheerleaders, and synchronized dance, all in an Astroturf wonderland.

Local filmmakers and performers will be in attendance to join the CINEMAROSA and QMA’s staff and friends to celebrate the Fifth Anniversary of the monthly film series. Dance, music and surprise treats ! RSVP Required

  is a monthly independent LGBT film series created by New Media artist, Hector Canonge. Screenings are Every Third Sunday of the Month hosted by the Queens Museum of Art. For more information, visit CINEMAROSA.

Queens Green Drinks

Wednesday, May 20, 6 - 9 pm

Queens Green Drinks is an informal social gathering/networking event for folks that are environmentally minded. If we're lucky (which is likely) we'll cross pollinate make new friends, catch up with old ones, and maybe even sprout an idea or three. Snacks and drinks provided. * Suggested Donation $10 *

Central Asian Cinema Series presents Aksuat

Saturday, May 30, 1 - 3 pm

On the last Saturday of each month from May 30 – September 27, we explore key feature films by prominent Central Asian directors. Selected films deal the development of a self-determined national culture in the immediate post-Soviet independence era of the 1990s. As with the concurrent visual art exhibition Tarjama / Translation, the films address how multiple identities and affiliations are created and challenged, how people and places are connected through economics or politics, and how different histories and traditions (including artistic) are interpreted. Films courtesy of the Open Society Institute.

Aksuat (Serik Aprymov, Kazakhstan, 1999, 76 min., Russian with English ST)
Aksuat is the name of a village in tha aul of Kazakhstan, where the director was raised, and the film is an expression of love for its extreme landscapes and a critique of its traditional and isolationist outlook. Prodigal son Kanat takes his pregnant Russian fiancee Zhanna to visit his brother, Aman in Aksuat to escape creditors in the city. Just after the baby is born, Kanat is thrown into jail after a fight with a policeman, so Aman is left to care of Zhanna. However, gossip and disapproval of the villagers cause Aman to lose his status, and he must make a hard decision.

Public Events at the Queens Museum of Art are supported in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Ford Foundation Partners for Livable Communities, J. M. Kaplan Fund, and Independence Community Foundation.

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