S H W A N DLER QARADAKI
  • BIOGRAPHY
  • FILM & VIDEO
    • Sharp As A Knife
    • The Tattooed Sun
    • TO MY CHILDREN
    • SALT KISS (Part I)
    • SALT KISS (Part II)
    • SALT KISS (Part III)
    • Russian Rulette
    • NAZDAR
    • Norwegian Code
    • ZORBAS DANCE IN SNIPETORPSTREET 27
  • Mixed Media
    • Fragrant Deception
    • Halo of Shame Ph.d
    • A Trip With My Father In The Town
    • The Golden Wish
    • QARADAKI AS PRIME MINISTER
    • Diaries From A Distance
    • Heaven before a battle
    • Unknown Numbers
    • Be Patient
    • Property Painting - in collaboration with Fredrik Værslev
    • You talking to me? OK, I'm going to paint your thinks
    • Absolutt Veto in collaboration with Johannes Høie
    • Between Faces
    • You die so slowly you think you’re alive
    • Mixed Media
  • TEXT
    • The Tattooed Sun, by Oda Bhar 2020
    • EN AURA AV FORNEDRELSE, av Arve Rød 2021
    • Experience and effect, by Synnøve Merie Vik 2018
    • QARADAKI AS PRIME MINISTER, by Kate Pendry 2016
    • The Golden Wish, by Line Ulekleiv 2020
    • Abrupt movements on the map, by Tommy Olsson 2013
    • The World Through A Prism
    • KURDISTAN UNDER THE SIGN OF THE FUTURE, BY MARKO STAMENKOVIC
    • You talking to me? OK, I'm going to paint your thinks 2013
    • TRACE OF A FRIENDSHIP by Kate Pendry
    • A letter from Adnan Hassanpour
  • Book
    • The Christmas Star​
    • Distance, in collaboration with Mette Karlsvik
  • Commissions
    • The Story of Light And Darknes
    • Emergency hospital in Oslo
    • Between Faces
    • Vika Indiogo
    • Skien krisesenter
    • Grip Dagen
    • Internasjonalt Hus - Stavanger
  • Contact
Kurdistan under the sign of the fuTure, BY MARKO STAMENKOVIC 
                                                                     
​                                                                HEAVEN BEFORE A BATTLE


Heaven Before a Battle, 2015
Installation: Video (color, sound), 18min. Ten drawings, size: A4 each.
Installation views: Tenthaus Oslo
(Exhibition HUMAN CONDITION, in cooperation with: Behjat Omer Abdulla)
Photo credit: Shwan Dler Qaradaki

Heaven Before a Battle (2015) enhances the idea of a violent rebirth in the minds of the people. It is clearly demarcated by its symbolic tricolor walls, evocative of Alaya Kurdistanê – the national flag of Kurdistan. This is neither a sentimental nor naive gesture. Connoting their struggle for freedom and independence from colonial domination, the usage of this particular flag has been stigmatized and banned in countries with a considerable indigenous Kurdish population (such as Turkey, Iran and Syria). Each color conveys meaning that introduces three types of ideas: sacrifice and death (the red blood of Kurdish martyrs, shed throughout their ongoing history of freedom-struggle), longing for peace, dignity and freedom (the white color), and life itself (for which Kurdistan’s nature – its green landscape in particular – remains a romantic reminiscence). In this setting, Qaradaki’s eighteen-minute video-piece coexists with ten ink drawings on paper featuring a number of portraits. The division between them is clear and revolves around the life/death axis: those on the red wall invoke the ideas of sacrifice and martyrdom and depict the members of Peshmarge (Kurdish military forces) who have been killed in the battles against Saddam Hussein; those on the green wall depict people who have somehow escaped death and to whom the artist is closely related. The triple nature of Quaradaki’s installation combines the coded language of the room’s walls with the programmatic arrangements invoking the idea of his homeland, the human costs of freedom, and the announcement of a brighter future to come. The video itself follows the triple logic of the room-design as it unfolds the narrative of a middle-aged man (Qaradaki’s brother) in front of three different types of audiences in three distinctive public venues in Suleymaniah: the Institute of Fine Arts, the Art Academy, and a military legion of female soldiers.
 
[an excerpt from the exhibition text by Marko Stamenkovic]

​



Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • BIOGRAPHY
  • FILM & VIDEO
    • Sharp As A Knife
    • The Tattooed Sun
    • TO MY CHILDREN
    • SALT KISS (Part I)
    • SALT KISS (Part II)
    • SALT KISS (Part III)
    • Russian Rulette
    • NAZDAR
    • Norwegian Code
    • ZORBAS DANCE IN SNIPETORPSTREET 27
  • Mixed Media
    • Fragrant Deception
    • Halo of Shame Ph.d
    • A Trip With My Father In The Town
    • The Golden Wish
    • QARADAKI AS PRIME MINISTER
    • Diaries From A Distance
    • Heaven before a battle
    • Unknown Numbers
    • Be Patient
    • Property Painting - in collaboration with Fredrik Værslev
    • You talking to me? OK, I'm going to paint your thinks
    • Absolutt Veto in collaboration with Johannes Høie
    • Between Faces
    • You die so slowly you think you’re alive
    • Mixed Media
  • TEXT
    • The Tattooed Sun, by Oda Bhar 2020
    • EN AURA AV FORNEDRELSE, av Arve Rød 2021
    • Experience and effect, by Synnøve Merie Vik 2018
    • QARADAKI AS PRIME MINISTER, by Kate Pendry 2016
    • The Golden Wish, by Line Ulekleiv 2020
    • Abrupt movements on the map, by Tommy Olsson 2013
    • The World Through A Prism
    • KURDISTAN UNDER THE SIGN OF THE FUTURE, BY MARKO STAMENKOVIC
    • You talking to me? OK, I'm going to paint your thinks 2013
    • TRACE OF A FRIENDSHIP by Kate Pendry
    • A letter from Adnan Hassanpour
  • Book
    • The Christmas Star​
    • Distance, in collaboration with Mette Karlsvik
  • Commissions
    • The Story of Light And Darknes
    • Emergency hospital in Oslo
    • Between Faces
    • Vika Indiogo
    • Skien krisesenter
    • Grip Dagen
    • Internasjonalt Hus - Stavanger
  • Contact