02 Jun 2010

Alexandra Kawiak solo show at WE in Torino

The exhibition project builds on an overview of the eclectic practice of French artist Alexandra Kawiak. The exhibition will comprise original contributions especially conceived for this show as well as site specific installation and videos.

The work of Alexandra Kawiak (Paris, 1984) deals with the conditions of migrant women living in Europe and the relationship between emotions and intimacy in their everyday life. After traveling in South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Zimbabwe, her research focused on immigrant topics such as the loss of identity, homesickness and the condition of females that often turns into complicity,
support and mutual aid.

On this occasion, Alexandra Kawiak presents Tea for more, an intervention made in collaboration with the Centro Interculturale delle Donne Alma Mater, Turin, a well-known point of reference for native and migrant women which works on a multi-ethnic culture in Turin. Tea for more is an experiment, an open air tea room on the pedestrian only street, Via Maddalene, in Torino. An ephemeral space for a group of women from the Alma Mater group where they can meet and discuss their various projects. Kawiak wants to offer them a place to relax, have a chat, stay together. After a series of meetings with these women, Kawiak focused on their experiences, aspirations and desires transforming the street into a place where one could drink some tea and try cakes from their own recipes and traditions, share them with neighbours and passers-by, inviting everyone to join in this open space, discovering one anothers' stories and fostering a sense of community.

Kawiak's wide ranging artistic production is hosted by WE, the new art space recently opened in the Regio Parco neighborhood. La Rumeur and Parking Orchestra are two examples of her video research, in which daily life is interwoven with the condition of migrants, presented together with Hope, a site specific installation hanging from the ceiling.

Hope is a 3 metres long and 1 metre high work made of 1000 jewellers' labels with red threads each measuring 7 cm where the most immediately visible - if not readable - result is the word HOPE. The viewers must raise their head in order to see it and thus demands a reaction, a change. Full of meaning and sensitivity, using irony to face important social and political issues, Kawiak's exhibition creates a deep relation with the viewer.

The exhibition is an event presented by the Associazione Culturale Passepartout, with the support of Piedmont Region and with the cooperation of WE Gallery and the Centro Interculturale delle Donne Alma Mater, Torino.