10 & Zero Uno gallery presents “Il gioco della Sicurezza / The Safety Game”, Baseera Khan‘s first solo exhibition in Italy, in Venice, curated by Chiara Boscolo and accompanied by the critical text by Gabriele Romeo. On the occasion of this extraordinary exhibition, we had the pleasure of interviewing Chiara Boscolo, who offers us an in-depth look at the exhibition, discussing the themes explored by Baseera Khan and the curatorial process that led to the creation of this unique event.
Baseera Khan, “The Safety Game”, installation view at galleria 10 & zero uno, ph. Filippo Molena, courtesy of the artist and Simone Subal Gallery, New York
Antonella Buttazzo: What initially attracted you to Baseera Khan’s work and why did you decide to propose this exhibition?
Chiara Boscolo: To answer this question I want to take a step back and tell how I met Baseera Khan. The meeting was, as often happens, fortuitous and linked to mutual friendships. In fact, I was visiting Art Basel Unlimited during the 2023 edition, when, among the installation by Augustas Serbians which presented itself as a gym, I saw Baseera for the first time. She was there with a now dear friend of mine, Bjorn Stern, a prominent figure on the international scene, known, among other things, for the excellent work he has carried out for years as a manager of high-level artists and for his consultancy activity and investments in the art world. Khan immediately struck me with her strong and charismatic presence. A few words and a look at her portfolio were enough to understand that being able to present her work in Venice would be a great opportunity for 10 & zero uno and its visitors. What attracted me most to her research is precisely the capacity for profound expression imbued with meaning that the artist is able to convey with her works. The use of the most disparate media (from painting, to video, from photography to sculpture, from installation to performance) is always determined by a deep attention to the topics covered and by her personal involvement, which often leads her to get involved in the first person, knowing how to make one’s body a strengthening element of meaning when necessary in a never banal way.
Baseera Khan, “The Safety Game”, installation view at galleria 10 & zero uno, ph. Filippo Molena, courtesy of the artist and Simone Subal Gallery, New York
Can you tell us about the curatorial process behind “The Safety Game”?
Struck by the research carried out by Baseera through a series of varied elements, yet always interconnected to each other, I wanted to present to my audience a limited and heterogeneous number of works, as representative as possible of her last ten years of activity. The result is an exhibition that I would define as dense and profound, where recent works, such as the paintings from “The Safety Game” series (from which the exhibition takes its name), are accompanied by previous works that contributed to her recognition at an international level, thanks to important acquisitions, such as that of five unique works (out of eleven) from the “The Sound Blanket” series by Salomon R. Guggenheim of New York. In particular, in choosing the works we wanted to highlight the diversity of themes that the artist touches on. Starting from the works closest to her cultural-religious identity, such as the video “Saying Goodbye / Prayer Vase”, up to works that relate to the theme of sexuality, such as the two sculptures produced in Murano by the master glassmaker Marco Giuman. This is to make recognizable the interconnection between the topics covered. Among other things, what makes the artist noteworthy is her ability to relate works created in different periods and with differentiated underlying themes through her own body and identity. I am referring, for example, to the short but effective performance performed during the opening of her first solo exhibition in Italy, which compared “Acoustic Sound Blanket 8” with the glass works of “The Safety Game”.
Baseera Khan, “The Safety Game”, installation view at galleria 10 & zero uno, ph. Filippo Molena, courtesy of the artist and Simone Subal Gallery, New York
Which works or elements of the exhibition do you think resonate most with audiences and why?
It’s difficult to say, I think it’s subjective and depends a lot on the feelings and personal experiences of each viewer. Certainly the video “Saying Goodbye / Prayer Vase”, produced on the occasion of the residency at the Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting in NY in 2014, knows how to strike deep and leave a mark in just 46 seconds. The work, projected inside what was the cold room of the pre-existing butcher’s shop in the spaces of 10 & zero one, shows the artist’s face in the foreground with geographical borders drawn on her cheeks that refer to the history of her family. The shot is fixed, like Khan’s gaze which first turns her head to the right and then to the left, with a rhythm that accelerates more and more until it confuses the image itself. This movement, performed as a sign of prayer, refers to the artist’s Muslim origins and to a dramatic moment in her life. Five times a day for the duration of the two-and-a-half-month residency, Khan turned her head in greeting and prayer for her father’s passing. A simple gesture, but imbued with a strong meaning, foreign to Western culture and therefore not immediately understandable for us. Yet, in the few seconds of video, the contrasting feelings of confusion, amazement, uncertainty, pain come straight to the observer, who remains enraptured. Everything becomes clearer if you have the opportunity to read the artist’s poetic words in reference to the work: «I am a bust, a portrait, a vessel, an antiquity that enjoys contemporary life. To pray is to perform, to empty out one’s thoughts and hold space for beauty and abundance. Flowers drink through long stems while seated in my vessel, I prop the stems in place while turning my head from right to left, then right again. We leave flowers on the chests and graves of our beloved, we sway our heads from right to left and right again in wonder and confusion. You are saying goodbye, we are saying goodbye, we are asking you to listen as we move our heads in prayer. You may never return, you may return again. One never knows. You are a new form nevertheless. I hold myself as a vessel for my future self».
Baseera Khan, “The Safety Game”, installation view at galleria 10 & zero uno, ph. Filippo Molena, courtesy of the artist and Simone Subal Gallery, New York
How did Gabriele Romeo’s text enrich the exhibition and the critical discourse around Baseera’s works?
I often make use of the contribution of critics or curators external to the gallery to add further value to the exhibition projects I create. Also in this case, thanks to Gabriele Romeo, a well-known professional in the sector with several years of experience in the academic world and president of AICA Italia, I believe that anyone approaching the exhibition has the opportunity to do so by making use of a further interpretation . In the text that accompanies the exhibition Gabriele rereads Baseera’s artistic practice through parallels with the contemporary world, with works by other artists who have made the art history and with elements from Islamic and Indian-Afghan culture which constitutes the identity of the artist. In a growing parable, which starts from the works created in past years (even those not present in the exhibition) and reaches the works exhibited at the gallery, the text highlights the decolonization processes that Baseera activates with her works and the elements of tradition which she reworks. For example, in reference to “Acoustic Sound Blanket 8”, Gabriele highlights the references to the Islamic Suzani technique and the Indian Chikankari technique in the design of the golden embroidery, created by the artist together with her mother in a family and personal practice. Or, compared to the very recent works from the “The Safety Game” series, which reproduce sexual objects in various ways, he recognizes the subversive value of such “seductive” representations, whose seduction is not determined by explicit images, but rather by the material used, since they are constantly linked to a larger body politic. The text, therefore, highlights the interconnection of themes that I already said were central to the exhibition, presenting Gabriele’s points of view and personal knowledge that activate new levels of reflection in the visitor.
Baseera Khan, “The Safety Game”, installation view at galleria 10 & zero uno, ph. Filippo Molena, courtesy of the artist and Simone Subal Gallery, New York
How would you describe the impact of Baseera’s works on contemporary discussions regarding identity, gender and the decolonization of artistic narratives?
The contemporary world is a diversified world made up of multiple perspectives: in art, as in other fields, we are increasingly trying to overcome Eurocentrism and in general the thought that sees the heterosexual white man as an ideal yardstick. Baseera’s work moves decisively in this direction and her power lies in the fact that it is closely linked to an identity recognition in the themes on the part of the artist. The systematisation of personal and collective experiences makes Baseera’s works objects capable of defending multiplicity, raising their voice and bringing forward a more sensitive and broad vision on the major current issues. Artists can be considered as the research and development sector of a company, always a little ahead of the global context, ready to support what they believe in through their production with the aim of raising awareness and generating change, and I think that Baseera is an emblematic example of this approach to contemporaneity.
What do you hope viewers take away with them after visiting the exhibition?
I would like users to experience what contemporary art represents for me. That is, a material capable of surprising, confusing and making us fall in love while arousing that healthy curiosity that pushes us to deepen our knowledge not only of the artist, but also of the themes she deals with. So, ideally I hope that the viewer after visiting this exhibition continues his/her walk along Via Garibaldi with greater awareness and attention to cultural diversity and its productive possibilities in our lives. A queer Muslim woman with her works can help open our eyes to today’s world.
Info:
Baseera Khan. Il gioco della sicurezza / The safety game
curated by Chiara Boscolo
critical text by Gabriele Romeo
5/06 – 21/07/2024
10 & zero uno
Castello 1830, via Garibaldi, Venezia
After obtaining the high school languages diploma, she continued her studies graduating in Art History at the University of Salento, with a bilingual thesis on the Pre-Raphaelites. Since then, she has been actively contributing as a columnist and collaborator with national blogs and with local magazines and TV programs.
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