北九州市立美術館 連続美術講座
講座 現代美術史
２-２．作品紹介
Andrea Robbins and Max Becher 《金髪》(｢ドイツ・インディアン｣シリーズより)、1997-98年
German Indians: Karl May Festival and Cologne Karnival
No country has more of a fascination with Native Americans than Germany. For more than a century, Germans have been developing Native American hobby clubs, open-air theater festivals, fairs, and carnival costumes. Besides a deep-rooted romantic view of a pre-industrial past and the imagery of cowboy Western movies, the primary cause of this fascination is the work of the nineteenth-century writer Karl May. Though May didn't visit North America until late in life, he wrote many novels about the Wild West, portraying Native Americans as heroes and whites as villains.Source: Visual Arts-German Indians
(04/1/7)
Saira Wasim 《9.11以後の友情》(｢ブッシュ｣シリーズより)、2002年
A Pak painting inspired by Mughal court produces ‘the American effect’
If Gen Pervez Musharraf were running a Mughal Court, Pakistani painter Saira Wasim will get 101 gold Dinars. Quite used to seeing his photo in The New York Times, Gen Musharraf woke up in Boston to find himself immortalised by President George Bush’s embrace, as depicted in a painting reproduced by the daily.
Saira Wasim’s “Friendship After September 11,” (gouache on wasli paper) shows a new era of amity between Pakistan and the United States. The artist took inspiration from “Mughal court paintings that recorded for history the victory of the kings”. Under a royal canopy, Gen Musharraf is shown coming up to Mr Bush’s forehead, the brown man in military uniform, the white man in a suit.
With Gen Musharraf in America, the paper would have normally extended its op-ed hospitality to a Pakistani scholar loaned by Islamabad to an indebted American university. The daily perhaps felt that in the contemporary crazy world, artists can say more on international relations. It asked some artists about their work which is to be exhibited in New York.
The artists from 30 countries explore the ways in which the United States influences the rest of the world. The exhibition titled “The American Effect” is obviously part of the continuing effort to seek an answer to the post-September 11 question, “Why do they hate us?” At least, the Pakistani artist answered: “We don’t”.
Saira Wasim says her painting “depicts President Bush embracing President Pervez Musharraf for helping him in the war against terrorism in South Asia. Beneath this, people in the two countries are celebrating the victory of peace and hope: the cow and the lion (symbols of strong and weak) are together.
There is an American nation that is friendly and optimistic but has suffered from state terrorism and now wants to live in peace. And there is a Pakistani nation that is happy to be friends with this superpower...”
So far so good, but what Saira Wasim shows further may only reinforce the Mullahs' belief that all paintings are works of infidels. The Mullahs are “portrayed as sad on this occasion”. The artist says: “The Mullahs are oblivious about their own religion (Islam being a faith of peace and love). They are ones who misinterpret their religion and manipulate the innocent public to commit violence in the name of jihad.”Source: Deccan Herald News page
(04/1/7)
Yongsuk Kang 《無題》(｢Maehyang-ri｣シリーズより)、1999年
What is MaeHyang-Ri?
MaeHyang-Ri is in KyongGi province, 50 miles south of Seoul, South Korea. In 1952, the United States Air Force (USAF) established Koon-Ri Range, bombing training sites located on the seashore near the village of MaeHyang-Ri and on the nearby Nong Island. There are an estimated 2,448 residents that live near the bombing range.Source: Peace in MaeHyang-Ri
(04/1/7)