Opening, March 23, 2010, 7 pm
Exhibition, March 24 – May 12, 2010
“Why do empowered ones, or the domestic population of any European country persist with the stereotypical interpretation of the other—the immigrants? Why does this interpretation of the foreigners lure on the margins to become a folkloric reading? For example, what might be the perception of the majority of Carinthians about the Chechen minority, this small group of 900 people who have escaped the turbulence of war in their own country? By going back to the folkloristic interpretation, how might this unknown and foreign group of people be seen by the majority of citizens in Carinthia? Presumably Carinthians permit themselves, privately and intuitively, to envisage the Chechens as being bride kidnappers or people with long mustaches and joined eyebrows, which inevitably results in fear (as potentially the foreigners could kidnap their daughters, win football matches on their territory, or maybe take their position in society). As a consequence of this disapproval and lack of acceptance, the views and actions of the immigrants have been entirely framed by the position that they allegedly should occupy—the position of the immigrant—the voiceless and the blind, the ones who are entirely different.” (Nada Prlja)
Nada Prlja (b. former Yugoslavia, 1971) lives and works in London.
www.nadaprlja.com
Curated by Christian Kravagna and Hedwig Saxenhuber.