Wild and cultivated fruits market : Kunstraum Lakeside

March 24 to May 12

Nada Prlja

Wild and cultivated fruits market

Opening and artist’s talk:
March 23, 6 pm

Why do «empowered ones,» or the domestic population of any European country persist with the stereotypical interpretation of «the other»—the immigrants? Why does this interpretation of the foreigners lure on the margins to become a folkloric reading? For example, what might be the perception of the majority of Carinthians about the Chechen minority, this small group of 900 people who have escaped the turbulence of war in their own country? By going back to the folkloristic interpretation, how might this unknown and foreign group of people be seen by the majority of citizens in Carinthia? Presumably Carinthians permit themselves, privately and intuitively, to envisage the Chechens as being bride kidnappers or people with long moustaches and joined eyebrows, which inevitably results in fear (as potentially the foreigners could kidnap their daughters, win football matches on their territory, or maybe take their position in society).
As a consequence of this disapproval and lack of acceptance, the views and actions of the immigrants have been entirely framed by the position that they allegedly should occupy—the position of the immigrant— the voiceless and the blind, the ones who are entirely different. The young generation of Chechens in Austria address one another in German, not in Chechen. These young boys and girls see their homeland Chechnya through the «agents» of the past and present, recorded photo-reportages of the suffering during the war; they see the traditional dances on Youtube, watching pixelated portraits of their ancestors. They dance to music which is an amalgamation between traditional Chechen music and techno sounds; they live in a world of «cut and paste» culture, of fusions, where an untraceable and «free» understanding of the old merges with the new. To which degree might they be only Chechens, in other words completely foreign?
In 2007, 27 Chechens were transported out of the Carinthian area. The expelled individuals are seen as «representatives» of a nation (in this case, the Chechen nation). In the act of expulsion of Chechens from Carinthia, the Chechen immigrants have been stripped of their own newly established or «mutated» identity. Instead, they come to be seen solely as the «wild ones», ferocious, unknown, and different from «us». Through this premeditated act, which negates the process of individual transformation of the «domestic foreigners» and their potential assimilation/integration within that new society—they are forced to step back into the state of being only «the others», the different ones.
Unfortunately, this is the only way that the «ignorant» ones want to perceive them: as being different from «us» and thereby not as possible equals. This exhibition provides an overview of the stereotypical interpretations that typically occur in the relation between immigrants and the domestic population of a society, in order to abolish the circle of prejudices in which we all take equal part. This project would like to alert the immigrants about the nature of their potential contribution toward the stereotypical vision and established expectations of the majority in their new country of residence. Most importantly, this project aims to animate the immigrants’ sense of self-awareness and thereby initiate and encourage a revision of their position and role within that society.
Nada Prlja

Nada Prlja was born in Sarajevo (1971); she moved to Skopje (1982) and to London in 1999. She graduated from the National School of Fine Art (A Levels) and from the Academy of Fine Arts, Skopje, Macedonia and subsequently received an MPhil (Master of Philosophy) l research degree from the Royal College of Arts, London, UK. She lives and works in London.
Nada Prlja is an artist whose work deals with the complex situations of inequality and injustice in societies, ranging from political to economic issues. Using different media, her projects are multi-layered and «site, space or condition-specific.»
Solo exhibitions: Kortil Gallery, Rijeka, 2010; MC Gallery, Zagreb, 2009; The Museum of City of Ljubljana—Vzigalica, Ljubljana, 2009; Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, 2008; National Gallery of Macedonia, Skopje, 2007.
Group shows: Manifesta 8, Murcia, 2010; David Roberts Art Foundation, London, 2009; Skuc Gallery/Ljubljana Biennale, Ljubljana, 2009; Tina B – Prague Contemporary Art Festival, Prague, 2008; Hong-Gah National Museum, Taipei, 2008; Vera List Center for Art and Politics, New School, New York, 2008; Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2008.