Study of Square/ Quilts of my mother, 2019- 2021

Exhibition view at Rozenstraat- a rose is a rose is a rose, Amsterdam NL 2021
www.touch-trace.nl

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

Study of Square/ ZamZam # 2
Acrylic and Pencil on canvas-backed paper 90 x 90 cm 2019
Study of Square # 21
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 46 x 46 cm 2020
Study of Square # 22
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 46 x 46 cm 2020
Study of Square # 10
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 48 x 48 cm 2020
Study of Square # 07
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 48 x 48 cm 2020
Study of Square # 18
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 48 x 48 cm 2020
Study of Square # 13
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 50 x 50 cm 2020
Study of Square # 08
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 48 x 48 cm 2020
Study of Square # 17
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 50 x 50 cm 2020
Study of Square # 15
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 50 x 50 cm 2020
Detail Study of Square # 15
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 50 x 50 cm 2020
Study of Square # 11
Acrylic and Pencil on paper 50 x 50 cm 2020
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    Upcoming: 

    * TekentuinWorkshop “A Picture of word #02″ at Drawing Centre Diepenheim, 24.06. 2023 www.drawingcentre.nl

    * Solo at gallery V/MSP, Brussels, Belgium 07. 09- 07.11. 2023

    * Solo at gallery SANAA, Utrecht, NL 28. 10 – 03. 12. 2023 www.galeriesanaa.nl

    On view:

    * Welat’s Garden at Kulturbauernhof Wanner 433, Zollbrück Switzerland. The Welat’s Garden event and group exhibition are part of the Switzerland-wide commemoration project Lausanne 2023. A collaboration between Maison du Futur, the Mesela association and the Historical Museum of Lausanne. The 100th anniversary of Treaty of Lausanne 1923- 2023

    * Kunstrai Amsterdam group with gallery Sanaa Utrecht, NL 03-07. 05. 2023

    * Artist-in-residence & Solo at ElenBaashuis/Verhalenhuis Belvedere, Rotterdam, NL, 23. 04- 03. 09. 2023  www.verhalenhuisrotterdam.nl

    * EXODUS, group at  Buitenplaats Doornburgh, NL, 24. 03- 24. 09. 2023 buitenplaatsdoornburgh.nl

    * EXODUS, permanent online group show at Bijbel museum, NL www.bijbelsmuseum.nl

    Past: 

    * ON GEOMETRY,  Solo at gallery Ursula Walter, Dresden, Germany 03. 02- 18. 03. 2023  www.galerieursulawalter.com

    ” پێکەوە بە تەنها” / “Together- Alone” at Artists Initiative in, 01 – 15. 10-  2022. Curated by Avan Sidq, assistant curator Nig Salam, organised by Daraga Zamoa. Sponsores: Autumn Cocrell & Meriwan Abdullah, Eva Agency, Dr.Jamal A. Rashed, Nalia co, arto and Concept art Hunar. Sulaymaniyah Kurdistan Iraq (group)

    * Melk – Water at gallery Frank Taal Rotterdam 23.07- 05.08- 2022. Curated by Danni van Amstel, organized by Herman Lamers, supported  by CBK Rotterdam, (group)

    * Settings at Pictura Dordrecht 11. 06 – 24. 07- 2022 Maria Ikonomopoulou, Kathrin Wolkowicz and Fatima Barznge: www.pictura.com

    * Van Oerbeest tot rokende croissant at Stedelijke museum Schiedam(group) 14. 05- 26. 06- 2022 www.stedelijkmuseumschiedam.nl

    * 2022 “Samaa SANAA” at gallery Sanaa, Utrecht, curated by Betina Abi Habib (group)

    * The Fabric of Memory at Modka Beiroet Zutphen 05- 02 – 22-02- 2022, solo exhibition www.modkabeiroet.com

    * Postponed due to coronavirus: Settings at Pictura Dordrecht 08. 01- 13. 02. 2022 Maria Ikonomopoulou, Kathrin Wolkowicz and Fatima Barznge: more information at www.pictura.

    * Interwoven Histories at Rozenstraat- a rose is a rose is a rose, Amsterdam, curated by Christel Vesters, with works by Mounira Al Solh, Fatima Barznge, Feministische Handwerk Partij, Antonio José Guzman & Iva Jankovic, Patricia Kaersenhout, Mila Lanfermeijer, Jennifer Tee, Vincent Vulsma, and Sheila Hicks. Organiser: Stichting PAR & H foundation. More information at www.touch- trace.nl 04. 09- 30. 10. 2021

    * The relation between ornament & abstract theoretical and practical Artists presentation & talk Cara and Fatima, 14. 10. 2021. Organized by college Fine Arts, Salahaddin University, Erbil, Kurdistan Iraq

    * Meet & Greet the square drawings, zoom meeting Anissa Foukalne and Fatima on 06- 03- 2021 at 11.00. Organized by Stedelijk Museum Schiedam NL www.stedelijkmuseumschiedam.nl/activiteit ontmoet-groet-de-vierkante-tekeningen-met-geometrische patronen

    * Van CoBra tot boorolie Stedelijk Museum Schiedam 18-02 until 22-03-2020 group exhibition Curated by Colin Huizing

    * ZamZam Galerie Sanaa Utrecht 28-08 until 26-09- 2019 solo exhibition

    * The Female Gaze Museum De Buitenplaats Eelde 11-05 until 10-06- 2019 group exhibitio

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