Fatima Barznge

Exhibition view at Rozenstraat- a rose is a rose is a rose, Amsterdam 2021

Left Fatima Barznge Right Antonio José Guzman & Iva Jankovic
Interwoven Histories, curated by Christel Vesters, organiser: Stichting PAR & H foundation More information at www.touch- trace.nl Photography by Franz Mueller Schmidt

Text by Christel Vesters, for the exhibition catalogue Interwoven Histories, sept-oct 2021, (c) Christel Vesters / PAR &H foundation (2021) www.touch-trace.nl
Textile objects can carry traces of past events and faraway places. Whether it is a precious damask tablecloth, a handwoven carpet or an everyday piece of clothing, textiles have the power to evoke memories and bring close those things we can no longer touch, smell or see. One category of textile objects that is purposefully ‘made out of’ memories, is the patchwork quilt. Traditionally, the top layer of a quilt consists of a patchwork of different rectangular pieces of fabric, often scraps of worn-out clothing each carrying its own memories.
In many ways, Fatima Barznge’s recent body of work reflects the art of patchwork quilting. Its prominent use of squares and the grid-like composition of the wall-ensembles echo the architecture of the quilt, while the individual pieces resemble fabric designs figuring repeat patterns of squares, triangles and other abstract motifs. The images are based on the textile patterns she remembers seeing in her youth in the fabric of her mother’s dress and the carpet at the mosque. Each drawing comes into being line by line, layer upon layer, mimicking the interlacing threads of a fabric.
Fatima Barznge’s artistic practice centres on memory, using painting and drawing as a way to return to the places of her youth. Barznge grew up in Aghjalar, a rural village in Iraqi Kurdistan that was destroyed in the 1988 Anfal Campaign ordered by Saddam Hussein. Over 100.000 Kurds were either killed or ended up in prison. Others, like Barznge’s family, managed to flee leaving their homes and everything in it behind. If the creation of a quilt is sometimes compared to the fabrication of memories – patching different pieces together, meanings sown into the seams – Barznge’s calm, repetitive drawings seem an intimate working-through of the past. Interwoven Histories includes a recent work from the series Study of Square. It is an homage to the traditional weaving workshop Barznge attended as a child, and an homage to the quilts her mother and other Kurdish women in her village made from scraps and bits of old textiles to decorate their homes.

Study of Square/ Quilts of my mother
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 232 x 186 cm(consists of 16 works), 2019- 2021
Photography by Franz Mueller Schmidt