Fragrant Deception
Bærum Kunsthall, 17 Oktober - 11 November. 2024
The exhibition Fragrant Deception consists of twelve large flower paintings on coarse watercolor paper mounted on aluminum plates. The works depict apple, garlic, and mustard flowers. The project challenges traditional visual conventions by choosing less common and seemingly less appealing flowers. It serves as a critical nod to established symbols and religious narratives within the European still-life painting tradition from the 1500s and 1600s, exemplified by artists like Ambrosius Bosschaert. The floral motifs in the exhibition are not selected for their aesthetic qualities but for the strong associations they have with a tragic event in recent history. The choice of these specific types of flowers is rooted in deep personal and cultural memories. In this way, Qaradaki employs classical, decorative aesthetics to illuminate complex themes related to collective trauma and memory. The flower paintings invite the audience to reflect on how beauty can be used to both mask and reveal violent realities. The contrast between the form and meaning of the works must be seen, experienced, and discovered within the exhibition space.
In 1988, the Kurdish population was subjected to chemical attacks under Saddam Hussein's regime. The gases used included the nerve agent Sarin, infused with scents of apple. Mustard gas can have a smell reminiscent of garlic and mustard. These fragrances can lure victims into a kind of trap to inhale the deadly gases.
The flowers in the exhibition symbolize both beauty and destruction, representing the "poisoned gift" that the victims "received." Thus, the aesthetic appeal is contrasted with the gruesome reality. This creates an awareness of how attractive connotations can mask violent and traumatic realities, just as the victims of chemical attacks were deceived by fragrant but deadly nerve agents. The works function as symbolic visual documentation of collective traumas and untold stories within the Kurdish population.
The twelve flower paintings are, in their quiet way, tragic monuments to twelve of Shwan Dler Qaradaki's relatives who were killed in the gas attack in 1988. The images create visual evidence of their existence and remind us never to forget their fate.
(Based on text by Marko Stamenković)
Utstillingene åpnes torsdag 17. oktober kl 18:00 – 20:00
Øvrige åpningstider 18. oktober - 10. november er som følger:
12.00 - 17.00 torsdager, fredager, lørdager og søndager.
