(Residency at\u00a0Givat Haviva\u00a0Collaborative Art Center)<\/p>\n
Katya Izabel Filmus, a British artist presents an installation of found objects, cast glass and latex works that she has made during her residency at Givat Haviva. \u00a0\u2018First generation – Last Generation\u2019 also contains a video that presents a series of eight 1-minute extracts from train journeys across Europe. It is presented behind a frosted glass \u2018screen\u2019. It poetically evokes notions of travel and migration, a metaphor that is also embodied in adjacent works. \u00a0On the wall, a series of four embroidered latex skins refer to some of the artist\u2019s family ongoing diasporic peregrinations. The navel is a central feature as it symbolises the link between successive generations, and is also a potent form of scar tissue. The contours of various national borders have been stitched on the epidermises, and evoke a patina of transnational peregrinations. <\/span><\/p>\n Below the skins, a wall shelf displays various glass and other objects. This eclectic and highly aestheticized ensemble is displayed in a manner that emphasizes conjunctions between materials and their symbolic connections. Objects include a cast glass book that contains a text by the Palestinian poet, Kamal Nasser (1925-1973), a brutally chopped, desiccated olive root – a potent shared cultural symbol of local agriculture and resistance; a replica of an elaborate Victorian trivet that would have been used on an open fire to support a tea pot and an elegant brass hanging scale, with imperial measurements, both allude to the formation and standardisation of colonial knowledge systems. \u00a0Collectively Filmus\u2019 works investigate highly personal negotiations of multiple, transnational identities. <\/span><\/p>\n The Last Poem<\/strong> (Kamal Nasser)<\/p>\n Beloved, if perchance word of my death reaches you<\/p>\n As, alone, you fondle my only child<\/p>\n Eagerly awaiting my return,<\/p>\n Shed no tears in sorrow for me<\/p>\n For in my homeland<\/p>\n Life is degradation and wounds<\/p>\n And in my eyes the call of danger rings.<\/p>\n Beloved, if word of my death reaches you<\/p>\n And the lovers cry out:<\/p>\n The loyal one has departed, his visage gone forever,<\/p>\n And fragrance has died within the bosom of the<\/p>\n flower<\/p>\n Shed no tears…smile on life<\/p>\n And tell my only one, my loved one,<\/p>\n The dark recesses of your father's being<\/p>\n Have been touched by visions of his people.<\/p>\n Splintered thoughts bestowed his path<\/p>\n As he witnessed the wounds of oppression.<\/p>\n In revolt, he set himself a goal<\/p>\n He became a martyr, sublimated his being<\/p>\n even changed his prayers<\/p>\n Deepened their features and improvised<\/p>\n And in the long struggle his blood flowed<\/p>\n His lofty vision unfolded shaking even destiny.<\/p>\n If news reaches you, and friends come to you,<\/p>\n Their eyes filled with cautious concern<\/p>\n Smile to them in kindness<\/p>\n For my death will bring life to all;<\/p>\n My people's dreams are my shrine<\/p>\n at which I pray, for which I live.<\/p>\n The ecstasy of creation warms my being,<\/p>\n shouting of joy,<\/p>\n Filling me with love, as day follows day,<\/p>\n Enveloping my struggling soul and body.<\/p>\n Immortalized am I in the hearts of friends<\/p>\n I live only in others' thoughts and memories.<\/p>\n Beloved, if word reaches you and you fear for me<\/p>\n Should you shudder and your cheeks grow pale<\/p>\n As pale as the face of the moon,<\/p>\n Allow it not to look upon you, nor<\/p>\n feast on the beauty of your gaze<\/p>\n For I am jealous of the light of the moon.<\/p>\n Tell my only one, for I love him,<\/p>\n That I have tasted the joy of giving<\/p>\n And my heart relishes the wounds of sacrifice.<\/p>\n There is nothing left for him<\/p>\n Save the sighs from my song…Save the remnants<\/p>\n of my lute<\/p>\n Lying piled and scattered in our house.<\/p>\n Tell my only one if he ever visits my grave<\/p>\n And yearns for my memory,<\/p>\n Tell him one day that I shall return<\/p>\n to pick the fruits.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Residency at\u00a0Givat Haviva\u00a0Collaborative Art Center) Katya Izabel Filmus, a British artist presents an installation of found objects, cast glass and latex works that she has made during her residency at Givat Haviva. \u00a0\u2018First generation – Last Generation\u2019 also contains a video that presents a series of eight 1-minute extracts from train journeys across Europe. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":431,"featured_media":33396,"parent":32917,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n