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This film draws from conversations with Amazon Mturk workers and their relationship with the politics of the Mechanical Turk platform – the varying forms of transparencies and opacities that make the platform what it is. Focusing on the backend of AI and machine learning processes, the film investigates the relationships between the analogic, the digital and the terrestrial. What kind of work is required for smooth functioning of automation? Who does this backend work, where does it take place, and what does it entail? Using the very processes that workers help train on online platforms as material, recursions of different scales takes place, where we see language, the ability to define and speak clear English as central. A second focus is an exploration of the subjective nature of data gathering, processing and annotating, and the material infrastructures it is dependent on. In the absence of any fixed constants, context or averages, abstraction emerges as an important and forced tool.

Aarti Sunder’s research and practice lies at the crossroads of the digital humanities and contemporary art. She is interested in the fictions arising from investigating situated experiences and asking if these help us re-think the ways in which we understand technology and our relationship with it. So far she has focused on contemporary labour practices, fictional edges of protest, myth and digital-terrestrial play. Aarti’s interest is to problematize the determined linearity of ‘progress’ inscribed within the promise of the algorithm, technological prowess and a quantifiable future. Looking at globalised framework of precarious labour, non-human exhaustion and storytelling that lies at the strategic intersection of power, knowledge and aesthetics. Relooking at these intersections, she believes, can help us tell better stories, of fictions past, present and future. Among other places, Aarti will exhibit her work at the forthcoming 67th BFI London Film Festival and in collaboration with Doreen Mende at Albertinum of the State Collections of Art in Dresden. She has previously shown at Akademie der Kunst, Singapore Biennale 22, Hayy Jameel, MIT, Warehouse421, the Goethe Institute in Chicago, Kunstverein Leipzig, Bauhaus Imaginista, Alserkal Avenue, Ashkal Alwan, ISCP and the Museum of Yugoslav History. She has been the recipient of many grants and fellowships from MIT, Sommerakademie Paul Klee, Harvard FSC Film Center, Art Dubai and Ashkal Alwan and the Sharjah Art Foundation. Aarti Sunder works with video, drawing and text and sculpture.

In 1985 a group of Kurdish fighters, known as a "Peshmerga", on a mission to attack one of the army’s camps in the north of Iraq. They took the Sirwan river by a small raft to cross the area which was controlled by the Iraqi army. This footage is part of an old archive taken by my father Abbas Abdulrazaq, a former Kurdish fighter and cameraman. He accompanied this group of Peshmerga to document their activity during the mission. Despite all the risks they have taken, the battle didn’t happen. Consequently, my father filmed them when they were singing a song. I was very intrigued by his action, so I asked my father why this particular footage never showed before? He mockingly replayed who wishes to watch a film that has no fighting scenes?

Sherko Abbas is a Kurdish-Iraqi artist. He was born in Iran in 1978, where his family lived as refugees. They returned to Iraq when he was two years old. Abbas studied Fine Art in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 2015. His work explores sonic and visual memory, with a focus on modern memory that relies on recorded materials. Additionally, Abbas is interested in the current geopolitical situation in Iraq. Abbas’ works have been exhibited and screened internationally including at: Archaic, the Iraq pavilion at the 57th Venice biennale; Theater of Operations, MoMA PS1, New York; May Flames Pave the Way for You, Arsenal gallery, Bia?ystok; Push Festival, Manchester , UK; Towner International, Towner Eastbourne, Eastbourne; Speaking Across Mountains, Middle East Institute, Washington D.C.; Baghdad Mon Amour, Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris; Vernacularity, Alternativa Festival, Gdansk; Estrangement, The Showroom, London. Also, his moving image works were screened at the Independent Iraqi Film Festival's online screening, the 38th Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival in Kassel, Germany, Aashra, Ashkal Alwan Online Film, Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin at the Louvre Auditorium in Paris, the Open City Documentary Combined Programme: What Rules The Invisible in London, Visit Festival Het Bos Ankerrui 5-7 in Antwerp, Belgium, Ruya Shop in Baghdad, and Shasha Movies online streaming. Abbas also works as a curator, organizer, and coordinator of cultural events. He was the operations manager for the "Post-war Culture in Iraq" project (2010) and curated the Clamour project (2016). In collaboration with curator Aneta Szy?ak, he researched and coordinated the "In-between Worlds: Kurdish Contemporary Artists" project. This resulted in a collection of artworks from over 30 Kurdish-Iraqi artists and a book. The collection is now part of the Imago Mundi collection under the auspices of the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche in Treviso, Italy.

The theme of music is represented by work of Kurdish-Iraqi filmmaker Sherko Abbas: The music of the Bush era. in a split-screen video, using footage shot by his sister, a cellist in the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra, he demonstrates how in 2003 the US administration, instead of helping the orchestra to properly re-establish itself in Iraq, militarily airlifted the entire orchestra to Washington to perform once at the Kennedy Centre before President Bush. his film is critical of this futile propagandistic gesture, enacted in the shadow of the invasion in March of the year to promote neo-liberal values, and escape censure. The work was partially inspired by Slavoj Zizek's analysis in his Pervert's Guide to Ideology of the widespread ideological use of Beethoven's Ode to Joy from his Ninth Symphony.

Sherko Abbas Born in 1978, in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdish Autonomous Region, Iraq. Lives and works in United Kingdom. He studied Fine Art in Sulaymaniyah and graduated with Master of Fine arts at the Goldsmiths University of London in 2015. He employs the media of video, performance, text and sound in his practice dedicated to the sonic and visual memory and geopolitical situation of contemporary Iraq and Kurdistan in Particular. He has participated in many exhibitions including his work THE MUSIC OF BUSH ERA was Shown in last Iraqi pavilion (Archaic) in Venice Biennale 57th, the Bagdad mon amour in ICI Paris, Vernacularity, Alternativa International Visual Arts Festival in Gdansk, Poland and the Estrangement in showroom London, Freedom at the barricades? Vaxjo Art Hall, Vaxjo, Sweden.

Merging of an escaping man and a landscape.

Houri Der Stepanian-Abdalian received his education at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Décoratifs of Paris (2002-2004) and at the Ecole des Arts Visuels et Médiatiques at the University of Quebec in Montreal (Master es Arts, 2001-2004). She realized the performance ?Hands up Motherfucker?, with André S Labarthe and Haïr Hratchian, in the Panorama 6 framework (production Fresnoy, Studio National), June 2005. Her installations multimedia have been exhibited in France and abroad, notably: ?Still Life with Voice, Water Glass and Vase?, a production of the CIAM-Hewagram, which was presented at the Glareie La Fabriq in January 2005. Field crossing artist, she worked as an interpret for the installation ?Madame Marie Curie: A series of Portrait taken in 1902?, by Davif Thomas presented at the ZKM, from Jully 23rd ot October 9th 2005. She recently recorded a vocal performance for the interactive installation ?Beauté Désincarnée? by Juhana Pettersin at the Fresnoy, Studio National, in June 2005, and played the principal role of Klara in the shrot length movie ?Le Vaurien? by Gaspard Hirschi in November 2003. There is among her older installations: ?Forwarding Objects?, presented at the Centre de Diffusion of the EAVM in 2001, ?Le Lieu et son contenu imaginaire?, presented during the first triennial of ?L?art qui fait Boum? in 2000 and ?Entre Perte t Translation? presented at the Galerie de l?UQAM in 1999. Her video work was diffused many times in public screening framework, notably: ?Livingman? (Le Fresnoy, Studio National, 2005), ?The disorder of His Shirt and Tie Worried Him? ?Le Fresnoy, Studio National, 2005), ?Gaspard?? (Fest-Hiver Festival, Lavitrine Limoges, 2003-2005), ?A Numeraical Adaptation of The Brechtian Theatre? (CDEX, EAVM, 2002), ?Autopoesis? (Festival EICV, Cinémathèque Québécoise, 2000), and ?Ulrich? (Festival EICV, Maison de la Culture Mont-Royal, 1996). She works and live in France and Canada.

The video speculates a future scenario demonstrated in a climate fiction narrative. The narrative is based on a pseudo interview with an imagined fugitive in a post-disaster era. Through different positions, ideological turns, and economic sovereignty, the interview imagines the future of the greens, governments, and private sectors in a post-flood city. The landscape and fiction narrative complicates the relationship between infrastructure, privatization, ecology, surveillance, and migration.

Abdelkarim is a visual artist, performer and cultural producer. After completing his M.A. at ECAV/Edhea, Switzerland, 2016 he turned towards producing text-based performances and became committed to performative practices based on multidisciplinary research, employing and reflecting on narrating, singing, detecting, doing, fictioning, and speculating. In Abdelkarim's performative works, the script bears witness to the research experience. The emphasis is on the process, as a reflection on production and cultural genealogy. This process is open-ended, and non-linear. His current umbrella project focuses on the agency of the landscape as a witness to "a history we missed and a future we have not yet attended" His performances have been included in Guild Master of Cabaret Voltaire, Manifesta 11, Zurich, 2016; Sofia Underground Performance Art Festival, Bulgaria, 2016; Photo Cairo 6th, Contemporary Image Collective (CIC), Egypt, 2017; Live Works Performance Act Award Vol. 5, 37° Edizione Drodesera, Trento, Italy, 2017; At the Crossroads of Different Pasts, Presents and Futures, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy, 2018; Interazioni Festival, Rome, Italy, 2022; and Festival Internazionale della Performance, Performative 04, at MAXXI L'Aquila, 2024. As part of his performative practice, he established "Live Praxes", a performance encounter that includes workshops, seminars, and performance nights.

A group of men that we know nothing and that nobody understands a train which cuts through the cold night. A trip to a mysterious quest.

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The film is based on the filmmakers’ actual encounter with an unknown European man, one night in a bar in Beirut. It was a fighter on the road to join the Kurdish militia fighting in the war against the Islamic State on the territory of Syria. The conversation was secretly recorded on a cellphone and serves as the script for animated modeled situations and performative reconstructions of that night. The film is also a formal polemic on the apparent authenticity of the documentary and the possibilities of representation of reality by means of simulations and modeled situations.

Noor Abed (b.1988 Jerusalem) is an interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker. She creates multimedia works on the boundary of performance, film and new media. Her practice examines notions of choreography and the imaginary relationship of individuals, creating situations where social possibilities are both rehearsed and performed. Her current research is concerned with the concept of Myth and the form of Magic Realism - and its close relation with colonial and post-colonial discourses. Mark Lotfy (b. 1981 Alexandria) is an experimental filmmaker. He explores the boundary between fictional narratives, documentary film, and media art. His practice questions the everyday, the contingent and the virtual. His current research is concerned with notions of nationalism, fundamentalism, emotionalism and heroism - not only through their ideological and performative mechanisms, but also technological ones. He examines framed structures in which new alienated subjectivities are being produced.

Synopsis A woman is running through a deserted city. To keep running is the only way to live in these streets. She is not hasty, she is quite serene, but maybe lost. In fact we don?t know exactly the raison but the woman can only live in the city through this universal run. While she is running, we see eight group portraits inspired by the composition of Dutch XVI-XVII Century paintings, those are the ones who wait. Finally she arrives at an unexpected panorama: a beautiful canal that inspires a meditative moment in her. She jumps into the water looking for the final communion with the inner city, and magically reaches the other side of the canal.

Biographical note Maite Abella (born 1966) is a Spanish artist . Born in Lleida (Spain) in 1966, Maite Abella attended Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Painting. She also attended Universitat de Belles Arts in Barcelona (Spain). She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography from the Universitat de Barcelona (Spain). In 2001 she was nominated for the Buning Brongers Award for painting and in 2003 she got The Starters stipend Dutch National Fundation for the Arts (The Netherlands). She has exhibited her paintings since 1999 regularly in The Netherlands. Since 2000 Abella makes short films and also she has developed site-speficic projects in the public space.

Three Love Songs explores the multiple ways to use and manipulate images to create juxtapositions of meanings from the mundane to the extreme. This piece examines terror and love, and how façades are played through song, specifically Iraqi songs that were commissioned by Saddam Hussein, used to glorify the regime during the decades of his rule. The installation syncs three stylized music videos (lounge, jazz and pop) that each features an archetypal western chanteuse: young, blonde, and seductive. Each video?s dramatic ?look? creates a different atmosphere but the songs dedicated to Saddam Hussein tie them together. The lyrics are sung by the performers in Arabic (Iraqi dialect) and are subtitled in English and Arabic. The singers do not know what they are singing about, but they are directed to perform (though voice and gesture) as though the songs were traditional, passionate love songs. It is this uncomfortable juxtaposition ? between the lush visual romanticism and the harsh meaning of the lyrics, between the seduction of the performer and comprehension of the viewer ? that forms the main conceptual element of this work.

Adel Abidin is a visual artist. His multi-media practice explores the complex relationships between culture, politics, and identity. Using a sharp palette of irony and humor, Abidin gravitates towards social situations dealing with elusive experiences and cultural alienation. Abidin uses his cross-cultural background to create a distinct visual language often laced with sarcasm and paradox, while maintaining his ultimately humanistic approach. Abidin was born in Baghdad in 1973 and currently lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. He has exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions including the Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art (KIASMA), the Centre of Contemporary Art, Salamanca, the 10th Sharjah Biennale, The 17th Sydney Biennale, and the 52nd and 54th Venice Biennale. In 2010 he exhibited his well-known video installation, Three Love Songs, at Mathaf. In 2011 he presented his critically acclaimed video installation, Consumption of War. Adel`s exhibitions in 2012 included: L`institut du Monde Arabe, a major solo exhibition at Arter ? space for art in Istanbul and at Kunsthalle Winterthur, Switzerland. He has also been selected to participate in a group show in Tokyo at The Mori Art Museum In 2013, his 2006 video installation, 52 Guaranteed Affections, got selected to be part of the big celebrated anniversary group exhibition at the Mori Art Museum. Adel`s work has been part of a group exhibition at the Mead Gallery in the UK. And also exhibited at Hauser & Wirth Gallery in London. The New York Times selected his work Al-Warqaa 2013, as the main piece of Middle Eastern art during Dubai art fair. In 2014, Adel will be exhibiting at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, the Contemporary Art Museum in Rome, the Louvre-Lens Museum in France and many others.

Short film 2006 / Helsinki VOID is a Short film tells a story of a western man, who is religious fundamentalist. His life is floating between fantasy and reality. The film raising questions like; how a western (Finnish) man becomes a fundamentalist and what he could do? I believe that the reasons behind being fanatic are different according to the culture behind them. The film discusses visually the conflict people have with modern sense of void and emptiness. In this piece, the conflict ends in the destruction of the void.

Curriculum Vitae: Adel Abidin, born in Baghdad 1973 lives and works in Helsinki- Finland. Education: 2003-2005 MFA, Academy of Fine Arts- Helsinki 1996-2000 BA, Academy of Fine Arts- Baghdad 1990-1994 B.Sc. in Industrial Management, Mansour University- Baghdad Future exhibition: 2009 Kiasma (Museum of Contemporary Art)- Helsinki (Solo show) 2008 White Box Gallery- New York (Solo show) MUU Gallery- Helsinki (Solo show) WeeGee Exhibition Centre/ CARTES Centre of Art & Technology Espoo Camões Institute- Lisbon (group show) The Renaissance Society- the university of Chicago (Group show) The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum- St.Louis- USA (Group show) Gallery 5020- January- Salzburg (Group show) Espace Louis Vuitton- Paris (Group show) 2007 Triple Base Gallery- San Francisco (Solo show) Solo Exhibitions and events: 2006 Kluuvi Gallery- November- Helsinki Premier of a short film (VOID)- Kino Theatre- Helsinki Huuto Gallery- April- Helsinki 2004 Two Projects- Art Academy Gallery- Helsinki Oil Paintings- Kaapelitehdas Gallery- Helsinki 2002 Reflected Truth-Kaapelin Galleria- Helsinki Land, Inaa Gallery-Baghdad 2001 Under siege - Galleria Primavera- Helsinki 1999 Millennium 3-Inna art gallery- Baghdad 1990 Carbon on Paper-Alweya Club- Baghdad Selected Group Exhibitions and Festivals: 2007 Tallinna Kunstihoone- Tallinn Gemak- The Hague ? Green/ Red Zone- Netherlands Museum of Photography- September- Helsinki Gothenburg Biennial- August- Gothenburg The Rencontres internationals Berlin/ film festival Venice Biennale 52nd- Venice- Nordic Pavilion IMPAKT Festival- Utrecht- The Netherlands The Rencontres internationals Madrid/ film festival Tampere Short Film Festival 37th- Tampere- Finland 2006 MOCA- Museum of contemporary Art- Taipei The Rencontres internationals Paris/ film festival Arab film festival? Toronto 12th International Pärnu Fideo and Vilm Festival- Estonia Museum of Photography- Helsinki Fredericianum Khunsthalle?Kassel- Germany October Saloon 47- Belgrade Frieze Art Fair- London Images Festival- Toronto Saw Gallery- Ottawa 2005 Anda Art Gallery- Amman LENS POLITICA film festival-Andorra theatre- Helsinki The Rencontres internationals Paris/ film festival Luksuz film festival-Slovenia Urban Flesh and Blood-Contemporary centre- Russia & Art expo- Italy Lost in Translation workshop- Istanbul Biennial The Holden Gallery- Manchester Rantakasarmin Gallery-suomenlenna- Helsinki Tennespalatsi Art museum-Helsinki 2004 Blank Space-new contemporary space?Screening- Sydney Katakomben, international festival- ?Seller?- Berlin Finnish- Russian exhibition- Lahti As Part of London Biennial? Area 10- London 2003 Stockholm art fair-Stockholm 2002 Petit Format-Galleria Primavera- Helsinki 2001 Christmas Exhibition-art on paper- Slovenia 2000 Irak: terre oubliée- Paris 1999-1997 Many Group shows in Iraq and the Arab world Professional experience: 2007 Part of Jury- "Samaa Maata"- Video Competition Artist?s symposium ORTung- Salzburg- two weeks Residency Guest artist- Art School MAA- Helsinki Guest artist- multicultural seminar- Joensuu- Finland 2006 Guest artist- Tampereen Ammattikorkeakoulu Part of Jury- TARU-TALLI Gallery- TARU Project- Helsinki Art teacher at Kulosaaren yhteiskoulu- Helsinki 2005 Guest artist- Vantaa Ammattikorkeakoulu- Vantaa 2004 Work Shops? Kiasma/ Museum of Contemporary Art- Helsinki Awards: 2007 AVEK/ Audio Visual cultural Prize of the year 2007 2006 Artist of the month?FRAME-Finnish Fund for Art Exchange 2005 Audience award-LUKSUZ film festival-Slovenia 2002 First Prize-Contest of Young Iraqi Artists 1999 Third Prize-Contest of new Iraqi Sculpture. Grants: 2007 The Art Council of Finland- Venice Biennial FRAME- FUND for Art exchange- Venice Biennial AVEK/ Promotion for audiovisual culture- Venice Biennial Finnish Cultural Foundation / One year grant AVEK/ Promotion for audiovisual culture 2006 Finnish Cultural Foundation AVEK/ Promotion for audiovisual culture 2005 The Art Council of Finland-Travel grant Finnish cultural foundation) AVEK/ Promotion for audiovisual culture 2004 The Academy of Fine Arts 2003 The Arts Council of Finland 2002 The Arts Council of Finland Selected Reviews, Articles and TV programs: 2007 V magazine (Helsinki) Suomen kuva lehti (Helsinki) Interview Wonderland magazine (London) Teknemedia, L?arte contemporanea in Italia Spike Art Magazine (Austria) NY art magazine New York times The Guardian International Herald tribune La Monde (France) Helsingin Sanomat (Helsinki) Amo lehti (Tampere, Finland) Taide lehti (Helsinki) Talk show- International media conference (Helsinki) Helsingin Sanomat, Jan. 11th (Helsinki) 2006 Helsingin Sanomat, Feb. 20th, May 5th, Aug. 5th, Nov. 18th 2005 YLE, channal Teema Helsingin Sanomat, Sept. 25th "art-ist" contemporary art magazine`s special issue on Finnish art scene, Sureyya Evren, Istanbul, Turkey 2004 Yle TV2, Artur, Sept. 21 Helsingin Sanomat, Feb. 12, ?Musta öljy? 2003 Helsingin Sanomat, Apr. 25, ?Bagdad, Detroit, Helsinki?, Yle TV2, Artur, Apr. 7 2002 Helsingin Sanomat, Jul. 13, Exhibition Review Hufvudstadbladet, May, ?Så sant? så sant!? 2001 Hufvudstadbladet, Apr. 26, Fr_n f_rtryck till livsgl_dje Lauantaivekkari, April 28, Taide studiossa Adel Abidin Work in Collection: Kiasma- Contemporary Art Museum- Helsinki Privet Collection of: Mr. Jorge Helft- Argentina Turkish KOC Foundation- Istanbul Professional Memberships: FRAME/ Finnish Fund for Art Exchange AV-ARKKI/ Distribution Center for Finnish Media Art Muu-ry/ Media Art organization International Association of Art (IAA, AIAP) Helsinki Artists Association

The scene is a familiar one, seen far too often in news coverage of the war in Iraq: the videotaped message of the Islamist "terrorist", with a covered face and a Kalashnikov in his/her hands, reciting a message of hate and death from the Koran. In this version of the videotaped message, the "terrorist" is standing in front of the Stars and Stripes painted on the wall behind him. He starts by reciting a verse from the Koran, and then picks up an acoustic guitar and sings, "This land is my land".

Adel Abidin was born in Baghdad in 1973, and now lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. Education: 2005 MFA, Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki 2000 BA, Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad University, Baghdad 1994 B.Sc. in Industrial Management, Mansour, Baghdad University, Baghdad Awards: 2006 Artist of the month, September, FRAME, Finnish Fund for Art Exchange 2005 Audience award, LUKSUZ film festival, Slovenia 2002 First Prize - Contest of Young Iraqi Artists Shakir Hassan Al Sai?d Award 1999 Third Prize - Contest of Contemporary Iraqi Sculpture. Ismail Fattah Al-Turk Award, Woman Under Sanction. Grants: 2006 Suomen kultuurirahasto (Finnish Cultural Foundation), VOID AVEK, promotion for audiovisual culture, VOID 2005 The Art Council of Finland, Travel grant, SHEEP FOR SALE, Suoamen kulltuurirahsto (Finnish cultural foundation), CRAZY DAYS AVEK, Promotion for audiovisual culture, CRAZY DAYS 2004 The Academy of Fine Arts, SERMON 2003 The Arts Council of Finland, 19:25 AFTER THE WAR 2002 The Arts Council of Finland, LAND Professional Memberships: FRAME/ Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, AV-ARKKI, Distribution Center for Finnish Media Art, Muu-ry, Media Art organization, Kaapelitehdas Artists, Helsinki, International Association of Art (IAA, AIAP), Helsinki Artists Ass.

An Iraqi immigrant man living in Finland, who is only physically and not mentally integrating with the Finnish society, gets his own attitude reinforced by constantly being approached as an outsider by Finns. The film shows a collection of impressions this Iraqi man has gathered while in Finland. As an invisible spirit he enters the house of a Finnish woman, and sees her life through his eyes. He walks in the streets and in the forest and the film visualizes his associations, he links Finnish rituals with Iraqi. The film is saturated by loneliness and the experience of distance between people.

Curriculum Vitae Adel Abidin born in Baghdad 1973, lives and works in Helsinki / Finland Education: 2005 MFA, Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki 2000 BA, Academy of Fine Arts, Baghdad. 1994 B.Sc. in Industrial Management, Mansour University College, Baghdad. Solo Exhibitions: 2004 Two Projects, video installations, Kuvataideakatmia Galleria Oil Paintings, an installation, Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki 2002 Reflected Truth, Kaapelin Galleria, Helsinki Land, Inaa Gallery, Baghdad 2001 Under siege, Galleria Primavera, Helsinki 1999 Millennium 3, Inna art gallery, Baghdad. 1990 Carbon on Paper, Alweya Club, Baghdad. Group Exhibitions: 2005 Istanbul Biennial, September, Turkey The Holden Gallery, Manchester, October UK Rantakasarmin Gallery, suomenlenna, June Helsinki Tennespalatsi Art museum, May, Helsinki Performance with Alexander Nikolic, Huuto gallery 2004 Blank Space, new contemporary space, Screening, Sydney, Australia Katakomben, international festival, ?Seller?, Berlin Finnish- Russian exhibition, Lahti / Finland London Biennial, UK 2003 Stockholm art fair, Stockholm Miniteos, Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki 2002 Petit Format, Galleria Primavera, Helsinki Circus, Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki Contest of young Iraqi artist- Athar Art Gallery, Baghdad 2001 Christmas Exhibition, art on paper, Slovenia Summer Exhibition, Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki 2000 Irak: terre oubliée, Paris-France Spring Exhibition, Inaa Art Gallery, Baghdad. Spring Exhibition, Iraqi Arts Center. 1999 Art Day Exhibitions, Iraqi Arts Centre. Babylon Festival Exhibition, Iraqi Art center Contest for Contemporary Iraqi Sculpture, Hiwar Art Gallery, Baghdad Iraqi contemporary Art exhibition, Alwan Art Gallery, Beirut 1998 Solidarity with the People of Palestine Exhibition, Inaa Art Gallery, Baghdad 1997 Selected Works of Iraqi Contemporary Art Exhibition, Inaa Art Gallery, Baghdad Summer and Spring Exhibitions, Orfali Art Gallery, Baghdad Workshops teaching: 2004 Democracy through collaboration, workshop, Kiasma, February Public space and Mapping, Helsinki, workshop, Kiasma, December Awards: 2002 First Prize - Contest of Young Iraqi Artists. Shakir Hassan Al Sai?d Award. 1999 Third Prize - Contest of Contemporary Iraqi Sculpture. Ismail Fattah Al-Turk Award Grants: 2005 The Art Council of Finland / Travel grant Suoamen kulltuurirahsto (Finnish cultural foundation) AVEK / Promotion for audiovisual culture 2004 The Academy of Fine Arts 2003 The Arts Council of Finland 2002 The Arts Council of Finland Selected Reviews, Articles and TV programs: 2005 YLE, channal Teema, Crazy Days Helsingin Sanomat, September 25th, Istanbul Biennial "art-ist" contemporary art magazine`s special issue on Finnish art scene, Sureyya Evren, Istanbul, Turkey 2004 Yle TV2, Artur, September 21, Patsy Nakil Helsingin Sanimat, February 12, ?Musta öljy?, Marja-Terttu Kivirinta 2003 Helsingin Sanomat, April 25, ?Bagdad, Detroit, Helsinki?, Marja-Terttu Kivirinta Yle TV1, Valopilkku, May 8, ?Kuvataiteilija Adel Abidin? Yle TV2, Artur, April 7, Adel Abidins balansg ng bland kulturer och konst 2002 Helsingin Sanomat, July 13, Exhibition Review, Anne Rouhiainen Hufvudstadbladet, May, ?Ssant S_ sant!? Bianca Grasb January, interview, Iraqi Satellite Channel 2001 Jordan Times article, June. Hufvudstadbladet, April 26, Fr_n f_rtryck till livsgl_dje, Dan Sundell Lauantaivekkari, April 28, Taide studiossa Adel Abidin Professional Memberships: AV-ARKKI, Distribution Center for Finnish Media Art Muu-ry, Media Art organization International Association of Art (IAA, AIAP) Finnish Painters Union (TML) ? ?kokelas? Helsinki Artists Association Kaapelitehdas Artists, Helsinki Iraqi Artists Association Iraqi Plastic Artists Union

When I immigrated to Finland, I started facing a deep shock regarding the differences between the two cultures. Finding myself on the border between the two helped my practice but distracting for my selfdom, affecting my decisions and creating a fertile ground for confusion and turmoil. When the world slowed down during the pandemic, I decided to turn my lens and start investigating my identity and perspective. I exposed myself to all the possible ways to understand what had indeed gone wrong in the process of figuring out a third self that came to be me. Music was the best path to pursue this exploration, and I made six music videos where I sang and acted as the protagonist. Intermixed from many different songs, where many viewers will recall, the lyrics resonate with the contemplation of my meanings in my life. I work with the themes of identity, power, fear, clichés, slippages, and uncertainties in language by manipulating well-known pop song lyrics once used to express love, hope, and dreams. The rearrangement of these lyrics illustrates a harsh yet honest tool that represents what we hide or are afraid of making known.

Adel Abidin was born in Baghdad (1973) and currently resides between Helsinki and Amman. He received a B.A. in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad (2000) and an M.F.A from the Academy of Fine Arts in Time and Space Art in Helsinki (2005). Since his representation of Finland at the Nordic Pavilion in the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007), his work has been the subject of major exhibitions worldwide including: Van- haerents Art Collection, Brussels (2015), 56th Venice Biennale in the Iranian Pavilion (2015), The Glasstress-Goti- ka, 56th Venice Biennale, International Exhibition, Palazzo Franchetti (2015), 5th Guangzhou Triennial, The Guang- dong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (2015), The Pera Museum, Istanbul (2015), Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada (2015), Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea (2014), The Jerusa- lem Show VII, Jerusalem (2014), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark (2014), MACRO-Museum of Contempo- rary Art, Rome (2014), Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan (2013-2012), 54th Venice Biennale, Iraq Pavilion (2011), 10th Sharjah Biennale, UAE (2011), MOCCA, Toronto (2011), Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar (2010), 17th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney (2010), MAP, Mobile Art Production, Stockholm, Sweden (2009), 11th Cairo Bienni- al, Cairo (2008), Screening at MoMA, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2008), Art Paris, Grand Palais, Paris (2008), Espace Galley of Contemporary Art, Louis Vuitton, Paris (2008), The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, USA (2008) and The 4th Gothenburg Biennale, Sweden (2007). He has been represented in galleries including: Hauser & Wirth Gallery, London (2013), with his well-recognized three channel video installation "Three Love Songs", Lawrie Shabibi Gallery, Dubai (2013), with his suspended light based installation "Al-Warqaa" (Chosen as the image of the rising Arab art scene in Dubai by the New York Times), Anne De Villepoix Gallery, Paris (2011), with his six channel video installation "Their Dreams" and Zilberman Gallery, Istanbul (2011), with his well received video installation "Ping-Pong". Abidin's work continues to be well represented in both Private and public collections including those of the KIASMA- Musuem of Contemporary Art, The National Gal- lery, Helsinki: The National Gallery of Victoria, Mel- bourne, Australia: The Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE: Mathaf- Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar: EMMA- Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland: Nadour Private Collection: Kamel Lazaar Collection: The Barjeel Art Foundation, UAE: The Heino Art Foundation, Helsinki: Darat al Funun - The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman: HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, UAE: KOC foundation. Abidin has been selected for the Finland Prize for Arts in 2015, Received a Five Years Grant from The Art Council of Finland (2012-2017) and in 2011 He was a nominee for the Ars Fennica Prize in Finland. In (2015) the Artist has taught, gave talks and panel discus- sions, at various venues including the UNESCO- Improving Artistic Freedom In a Digital Age, Helsinki (2016), the Acade- my of Fine Arts in Helsinki: Lasalle- College of the Arts: TAIK- Alto University, Helsinki (2014), The Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver (2013), The Mosaic Rooms, Global Futures Forum, London (2013), Darat al Funun - The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman (2011), OSU- Oregon State University, USA (2010). Location One Gallery, New York (2010), The Academy of Arts, Baghdad (2001). Abidin has been a Subject in Art documentary about his art Practice in many Tv channels including BBC- culture channel, England (2011) and ARTE- cultural channel, France (2008). also his work was mentioned in major newspapers and magazines around the world including (The NewYork Times- 2011 & 2013), Le Monde, Le Figaro, the National in Dubai, Helsingin Sanomat, the Wallpaper magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Canvas Art Magazine, Art Forum, Art in America, Avek Media Art Magazine, Taide Lehti, ArtAsiaPacific…Etc

“Michael” A video Installation Adel Abidin2014-2015 Introduction and statement: The pop culture’s influence on our contemporary world results in a life that is built of obsession with fame, youth and wealth. Celebrities like Hollywood actors or renowned pop singers are put on to a pedestal as our modern day messiahs. They do take active roles in our daily life, leading positions in the most effective organizations around the globe. Actors make a living bypretending and subsequently creating our children’s (and even ours) potential role models;as musicians do by composing a masterpiece that we meditate with. And at the end of the day, both the actors and the musicians, with the help of the mediatic elements of our popular culture, become more influential than the actual prophets themselves, even some of them end up having more followers than any other prophets. In the video, ”Michael”–as still being one of the universally celebrated icons of our time- is being interviewed after his resurrection. The answers he gives and the speech he makes is nothing but a compilation of his all time well-known songs’ lyrics. Therefore I am resurrecting him from the dead as a prophetic figure that unveils the universal truths about the world we live in. This false prophet is thrown on a television talk show, the ultimate pop culture altar. Due to the delicate nature of the interview and a characteristic plea for privacy, even in his afterlife, “Michael” has only agreed to do a private interview in a pseudo-talk show. Still, thousands of fans from around the world have gathered to view this ‘live’ broadcast on big screens in public spaces as in Times Square. Michael’s fansare there to have their questions answered by their hero live. “It has been a day almost of a religious anticipation,” states the reporter in Times Square. People gathered to witness the most historical moment of all times. Questionsrevolve around existential topics ofmysteries of death, afterlife and immortality. At the studio of “The 1-Show” in Manhattan, “Michael” sits opposite of“Mr. Paul Burke”, the host of the famous TV show. He is expectedto enlighten the crowds and make a confession of whatever he might be confessing right in front of the cameras and lights, while his fans are enduring the pain of their insatiable curiosity. The work goes beyond the limits by trying to convert the star into a fortune-teller, someone to interpret our future, and givetips to world leaders, prevent climate changes and advice on how to make a better world. The production and construction of Resurrection represents not only our innocence and our blind belief in prophetic symbols created by the elements of pop culture, but also our violent responses to such figures. Even after the death of such figures, we continue to follow them with an ill desire. Narrative style - ‘The 1-Show’ A lot of today’s popular culture has evolved around the mass media and it has created a strong link of dependency with ‘superstar’ celebrities. And although television is losing its’ leading exclusive role when compared to the use of the internet, it is still the only media that can gather hundreds and thousands of people in one place to follow unique, once in a lifetime live broadcasts such as Michael’s. Within this frame, the installation follows a format, imagery and a narration of an American talk show. Despite the supernatural feature of the interview, the footage presented in the installation is made to be completely realistic. This also applies to the appearance of ‘Michael’, the reactions of the crowds, the emotional yet professional mannerisms of the talk show host and the reporter in Times Square location. Additionally, the camera work mimics a one-to-one television talk show style, even including the raw documentary style of live footage from variouscities, which are brought to us by news anchors from all around in many different languages. Narrative elements: Live video within the installation consists of two main assets, 1) The studio interview with “Michael”. 2) Live coverage of people’s reactions from around the globe. Edits between the main assets as the interview progresses. The main narrative elements are: • Opening title sequence of the talk show
 • Introduction of the unique nature of ‘tonight’s show’ by the talk show host; “Mr. Paul Burke” including live links to our reporter “Mary”standing by the main selected spot“Times-square” in New York. • Introduction and entrée of the star guest “Michael” by the talk show host • Wide shots of big crowds gathered to watch the broadcast
 • Reactions from fans via live links
 • Questions posed to “Michael” by the talk show host
 • Questions posed to “Michael”by fans via live streaming channels and links
 • “Michael’s” response to the questions posed (quoting his own lyrics)
 • Final statement and farewell by “Michael”
 • Closing speech by the talk show host
 • Title sequence of the talk show

Adel Abidin was born in Baghdad in 1973, He did move to Helsinki in 2001 and lives there since then, Abidin joined the Finnish Art Academy in 2003 in order to do his Mater degree in fine Arts. during that time he switch his practice from full time painter to multimedia based practice, and since 2004 he started his career as a video and installation based artist. Abidin’s art uses various media such as videos, video installations, multi media sculptures and sound based installations and photography to explore the issues of the contemporary world that we are living in. His main point of departure is always linked to the intention to explore the complex relationship between visual art and politics & identity. Using a sharp palette of irony and humour always gravitated towards different social situations dealing with elusive experiences and cultural alienation. He uses his cross-cultural background (as an Iraqi artist living in Helsinki) to create a distinct visual language often laced with sarcasm and paradox, while maintaining an ultimately humanistic approach. This sarcasm used is nothing but a medium of provocation to serve the purpose of extending the mental borders of the artwork beyond the limits of the exhibition space. Always interested in creating opportunities to prolong the discussions beyond artwork by enabling the audience to convey mental elements from the work into their daily life. Moreover, he always finds the words ‘politics’ and ‘identity’ more than a terminology or a path that we travel in, as they unfold to other concepts like discrimination, mass media manipulation etc. Abidin presented his work at many Biennales such as: The 5th Guangzhou Triennial (2015); The 56th Venice Biennale- Iran Pavilion (2015); the Glasstress-The 56th International Art Exhibition– Venice Biennale (2015); Biennale of Contemporary Art of Bosnia (2013); 54th Venice Biennale- Iraq Pavilion (2011); 10th Sharjah Biennial (2011), 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010); 11th Cairo Biennale (2008); 4th Gothenburg Biennale (2007); 52nd Venice Biennale- Nordic Pavilion (2007); (Student workshop participation) 5th Istanbul Biennale (2005). Other participations such as: The Pera Museum, Istanbul; Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada; Rapid Pulse International Performance Art Festival, Chicago, USA; Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; The New Museum, New York, USA; MACRO-Museum, Rome, Louisiana Museum; Copenhagen, Station Museum, Houston; The Jerusalem show VII, Jerusalem; Hauser & Wirth Gallery, London; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Singapore Art Museum; Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver; Mead Gallery, UK; Palais de Tokyo; Arab World Institute, Paris; MOCCA, Toronto; Arts-Talks and Sensations, Abu Dhabi; MATHAF- Doha; Espace at Louis Vuitton. His solo exhibitions include: Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, UAE (2015); Cover-Up!, Al Sultan Gallery, Kuwait (2015); Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah (2013), Lawrie Shabibi Gallery, Dubai (2013), ARTER- Space for Art, Istanbul (2012), Darat Al-Funun, Amman (2011), DA2- Centre of Contemporary Art in Salamanca, Spain (2010 ), KIASMA- Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (2010), Association media Art gallery, Helsinki (2014). Abidin has received The Finland Prize for Visual Arts in (2015), Five Years Grant from The Art Council of Finland in (2013); Ars Fennica Prize Nominee 2011. Abidin has invited to be a visiting lecturer at many schools of Arts such as: College of Liberal Arts, Oregon State Uni. Portland, Oregon, USA (2010); The Art Academy of Helsinki (Kuva), (2015), LASALLE College of Arts, Singapore (2016); CalArts, California Institute of Arts, CA, USA (2016).

2 repas de famille. 10 ans d?intervalle. 500 km de distance. Entre les deux : la fuite?

Née en 1973 à Nancy, elle fait ses études à la FEMIS, où elle réalise trois courts-métrages de fiction : Violette, sélectionné par pointligneplan pour une projection organisée par le GREC et la DNAP, Réminiscence, sélectionné aux festivals d?Istanbul et de Stuttgart, et Kassel (Sans titre, 2002) diffusé sur ARTE. Puis elle a tourné un documentaire pour l?inscription de la ville du Havre au Patrimoine Mondial (Unesco 2005) et deux courtes fictions, Lettre à ma s?ur et Ta main blanche, projetées dans le cadre du festival Pocket Films (Forum des images / Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2006).

"Asleep" is an experimental and poetic documentary , shot in Super 8, about the Capelinhos volcano in the Azorean island of Faial . Also included is some footage of the successive eruptions during 1957 and 1958.

Born in Lisbon 1964 Film/video Arts NYC 1991 Cinematographer and cameraman in several art projects and short films Director of several experimental shorts shot in Super 8

A machine is prepared with a set of sophisticated mechanics for the behavioral analysis of an animal. The repulsive reactions of this animal are triggered by robotic sound wave emissions, in a constant search for some kind of communication. Since this communication is broken down, the two species end up loosing control over their own movements, in a mixture of curiosity and panic. The machine, programmed so that it will not give up, continuously sends these audio waves together with white flashes that will keep on tiring the beast, eventually wining the argument.

Isabel ABREU Born in Oporto-Portugal in 1976, graduated in Sound and Image - Digital Arts at the School of Arts at the Catholic University of Oporto-Portugal (UCP) in 2002. Currently works as an audiovisual teacher and collaborates in digital sound and image art projects. Rita BARBOSA Born in Oporto-Portugal in 1979, graduated in Sound and Image ? Digital Arts (5-year degree) at the School of Arts at the Catholic University of Oporto-Portugal (UCP) in 2002. Currently works as an audiovisual teacher and collaborates in multimedia design projects in Oporto-Portugal.

"The Babylon Archives: The Dark Side of the Empire" is a video compilation by Abu Ali & retroyou produced by the OVNI Archives. 1999-2003. Forgotten encounters in the past, the first words after the event. The oil celebration and the unknown footage. When entertainment becomes training. The thin invisible limits of the future game, the final victory.

The animation is about the transformation of lines into shapes and objects then to figures and finally into a flight through space.

Ozan Adam was born in 1976 in Ankara, Turkey. He studied art and cinema in New York, worked in film production, advertising, commercials, media, stage construction and design industries. His body of diverse artwork, which consists of text, design, illustration, painting, sculpture, animation, film, video and installation, has been exhibited in solo and collective exhibitions around the world. He has taught film, video production and experimental cinema courses at İstanbul Bilgi University and supervised workshops at Bilkent University, Middle Eastern Technical University, Netherlands Institute for Higher Education and Boğaziçi University. He is currently working at Bahcesehir University teaching production, documentary and video art courses. His film ?Zymotic-Amaurosis? was awarded with the Special Jury Award in the 14th International Ankara Film Festival and another film of his titled ?The Two Names of A Testimony About The Execution of A Happening and A Suitcase Full of Broken Records? was awarded as the Best Experimental Film in the 17th International Ankara Film Festival. Many of his films have been selected and screened by international festivals, galleries and museums.

Zymotic-Amaurosis: Contagious Arbitrary Blindness is a disease caused by a virus, which can capture and store visual information and memories. The film is about a fantastic journey through the book that tells the fragmented story of the remembrances, visions and dreams of a blind man who is subjected to experiments to reveal the visual data that was recorded by the micro-cameras, which were installed in the eyes of an astronaut for a secret mission. After transplanting the eyes of the astronaut to the blind man, they expect to retrieve the recordings through the dreams of the blind man but they get lost in the surreal absurdity of a complex subconscious.

Ozan Adam was born in 1976 in Ankara, Turkey. He studied art and cinema in New York, worked in film production, advertising, commercials, media, stage construction and design industries. His body of diverse artwork, which consists of text, design, illustration, painting, sculpture, animation, film, video and installation, has been exhibited in solo and collective exhibitions around the world. He has been teaching film, video production and experimental cinema courses at İstanbul Bilgi University and Bahcesehir University, supervised workshops at Bilkent University, Middle Eastern Technical University, Netherlands Institute for Higher Education and Boğaziçi University. Many of his films have been selected and screened by international festivals, galleries and museums.

RE: is an ironic piece based on my correspondence with popular international directors and filmmakers. It is a frustrating, perverse and unsuccessful search for ideas connected with an inscrutable film project and classic Hollywood scenes - a piece about artist`s condition and acting desires with intentionally unprofessionally made scenes.

I studied History of Art in Krakow and Acting in London. I participated in various theater/performance worksessions (i.a. with Robert Wilson, Eugenio Barba, Franko B and Ron Athey) and exhibitions in Germany, Greece, Unites States, Mexico, Austria and Russia. Since 2009 I run a private contemporary art space `Florianska22` in Krakow.

Quelque part en Banlieue, dans un futur proche. La classe ouvrière n'existe plus. Vénus se rapproche de la terre. Un homme et son fils refont le monde.

Soufiane Adel est né en 1981 en Algérie et arrive en France à 8 ans. C`est en faisant une école de design, l'ENSCI - Les Ateliers, qu'il découvre le cinéma. En 2004, il décide de filmer son père : ce sera son premier court métrage, "Nuits closes", qui débutera au festival de Clermont-Ferrand. En 2007, il réalise "Kamel s`est suicidé six fois, son père est mort" qui a été sélectionné à la Quinzaine des Réalisateurs et à l'ACID à Cannes en 2008, ainsi que dans de nombreux festivals de par le monde. En 2009, il coréalise avec Angela Terrail, "Sur la tête de Bertha Boxcar", prix du jury au festival Silhouette (montré également à Clermont, Pantin, Ciné-banlieue, Indielisboa ...) et diffusé sur Arte. En 2013, il réalise son second documentaire "Go Forth" qui aborde l`histoire de sa grand-mère algérienne, projetés dans des dizaines de festivals internationaux (Cinéma du réel, Rencontres Internationales Paris-Berlin, Lussas, Montréal...). Son exploration de formes fictionnelles d`auto-filmage se poursuit avec "Vincent V" et "Les bonnes". En 2017, il met de nouveau en scène son père dans une fiction, "La Faim", puis dans l'essai "La lumière tombe", en 2018.

One evening, my grandfather Tahar died in palliative care. Zouina, her stepdaughter is there. Aziz, his son is there. Fayçal is there. I am there. God is not there ? Kamel arrives too late.

Soufiane Adel, graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure of industrial Creation of Paris, carries out scenographies for various cultural events (the Meetings of the Photography of Arles, the arts centre Telemar in Rio de Janeiro). At the same time he realizes short films and fiction which are shown at many festivals. In 2007, he was chief operator for an Angela Terrail documentary.

11pm. Soufiane, Fayçal and Zouina, their mother, wander from one bar to another ... They are looking for someone in the streets of Champigny.

Soufiane Adel was born September 22, 1981, in Algeria. In 1990, at age 8, she arrived in France. In 2001 she received her high school diploma in Applied Arts from Vitry-sur-Seine. The following year she entered the National Superior School of Industrial Creation (ENSCI, Les Ateliers), Paris, for 5 years of study.

Re-worked footage from an unfinished film by Senegalese director Mamadou Johnny Sekka forms a re-examination of The Jackson 5’s 1974 trip to Dakar.

Akosua Adoma Owusu is a Ghanaian-American filmmaker, producer, and educator. Aiming to create a third cinematic space or consciousness, Owusu’s work explores the colliding identities of black immigrants in America through multiple forms, ranging from cinematic essays to experimental narratives to reconstructed Black popular media. In her works, feminism, queerness, and African identities interact in African, white American, and black American cultural spaces. Named by IndieWire as one of six preeminent “avant-garde female filmmakers who redefined cinema,”, her work has been screened extensively at festivals and museums nationally and internationally and are available on streaming platforms including PBS, The Criterion Channel and MUBI. In 2013 her short film KWAKU ANANSE was well-received at the Berlinale Shorts and won the 2013 Africa Movie Academy Award. Her short film RELUCTANTLY QUEER was nominated for the Golden Bear and Teddy Award at the 2016 Berlinale Shorts. Owusu has received numerous fellowships and grants including the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists (2020). She has been invited to the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia curated by Cecilia Alemani. She currently lectures at Harvard University.

Engravings in the genre of "World Upside Down", known since the 16th century, depict such scenes as a pig gutting the butcher, a child punishing his teacher, a man carrying a donkey on his back, man and woman exchanging roles and dress, and a beggar in rags magnanimously bestowing alms on a rich man. These engravings contain demons, chimeras, fish flying through the sky and death itself, variously with a scythe or in the mask of a plague doctor. The title of the work, Inverso – both an Italian "reverse, the opposite" and the Old Italian "poetry," and Mundus – the Latin "world," hints at a reinterpretation of reality, a poetic vision. In our interpretation, the absurdist scenes from the medieval carnival appear as episodes of contemporary life in a multichannel video installation. Characters act out scenes of absurd social utopias and exchange masks, morphing from beggars to rich men, from policemen to thieves. Metrosexual street-cleaners are showering the city with refuse. Female inquisitors torture men on IKEA-style structures. Children and seniors are fighting in a kickboxing match. Inverso Mundus is a world where chimeras are pets and the Apocalypse is entertainment.

AES+F achieved worldwide recognition and acclaim in the Russian Pavilion at the 52nd Biennale di Venezia in 2007 with their provocative, other-worldly Last Riot (2007), the first in a trio of large-scale, multichannel video installations of striking originality that have come to define both the AES+F aesthetic and the cutting edge of the medium’s capacities. The second of the series, The Feast of Trimalchio (2009), appeared in Venice in 2009, and the third, Allegoria Sacra (2011), debuted at the 4th Moscow Biennale in 2011. United as The Liminal Space Trilogy, this tour-de-force series was premiered in September 2012 at the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, and the Moscow Manege, the central exhibition hall of the artists’ home city. The Trilogy was shown in the Museum of Fine Arts in La Chaux-De-Fonds, Switzerland (June’September 2014). Most recently all three videos were shown at Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (June-September 2015). In 2015 AES+F presented the new project Inverso Mundus at 56th Biennale di Venezia. AES+F received Sergey Kuryokhin Award 2011, the main award of the Kandinsky Prize 2012, the main award of the NordArt Festival 2014, and Pino Pascali Prize 2015 (18th Edition) ‘ all for the project Allegoria Sacra. AES+F were awarded Bronze Medal (2005) and Golden Medal (2013) of Russian National Academy of Fine Arts. AES Group was originally formed in 1987 by the conceptual architects Tatiana Arzamasova and Lev Evzovich and the multidisciplinary designer Evgeny Svyatsky. Exhibiting abroad from 1989, the group expanded its personnel and name with the addition of the photographer Vladimir Fridkes in 1995. AES+F’s recent work has developed at the intersection of photography, video and digital technologies, although it is nurtured by a persistent interest in more traditional media ‘ sculpture especially, but also painting, drawing and architecture. Deploying a sophisticated, poetic dialogue among these media, and plumbing the depths of art history and other cultural canons, AES+F’s grand visual narratives explore the values, vices and conflicts of contemporary culture in the global sphere.

In his video performance Reza Afisina uses his own body as a metaphor of an individual who is questioning the sins before a certain religious teaching. He changes his own body as an object or site to execute a punishment for a wrongdoing he himself committed. He looks to replacing God as the punisher.