Galerija Brodac – Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

July 18th – 25th 2023

Two-person exhibition by Alex Close & Nour Hassan (New Zealand)

Documentation by Alex Close

For Alex and Nour, their mixed upbringing resulted in a weak sense of cultural identity. This shaped their world into an abstract one, void of values appearing much more like a game of pinball. In their work, the duo question values, perception, and re-constructed memories. What meaning and value can something carry when it is un-placed?

When interacting with familiar and unfamiliar places, we shift and reconstruct our identities – our faces change in public and private spaces, and when we feel like an insider vs. an outsider. We develop hopes and fears, superstitions and habits, attaching meaning to objects or places that can change the way we act. The artists drew from personal experiences of adaptation, weaving together personal narratives and reconstructed memories. They reflect on their own process of removing themselves from a certain set of communication norms and into another, for example talking to children, speaking a different language, or using a new medium.

The obstacles the pair encountered throughout their journey took on a life of their own, informing and supporting their exhibited material. While Alex sat in a taxi doing trigonometry after getting soaked in a thunderstorm only to find out the wood store was closed, and they do not cut angles, Nour was still figuring out the logistics of traveling with temperature-controlled drugs. The pieces they created not only reflected their own working relationship but also encompassed the entire experience from their initial meeting in ‘22 at Tesla Pub on Muvekita Street to the final installation. The exhibition represents a process of adaptation, transformation, and discovery for both artists. Through their artwork, they invite the audience to contemplate the nature of value, perception, and the impact of one’s surroundings on their actions and imagination.

-Text by Alex Close, Nour Hassan, and Mak Hubjer (Curator)

Press: Oslobođenje Sarajevo