Unvoiced issues, ‘illusion of continuity’ visualised in Darat Al Funun exhibitions

AMMAN — Two exhibitions showcasing Tunisian-Ukrainian artist Nadia Kaabi-Linke and Jordanian artist Raed Ibrahim opened on Tuesday in Amman at Darat Al Funun. 

Nadia Kaabi-Linke’s exhibition, “A Matter of Resilience”, features five works, among them a new site-specific work made in Amman consisting of a reconstructed metal barrier installation called “Das Kapital — Epilogue [2020]”, according to Darat Al Funun’s website.

“I was invited to stay here and produce something related to Amman,” the artist said in an interview with The Jordan Times.

“Das Kapital”, the work that emerged from this invitation, “is about gold-digging, how we exploit the earth and individualism”, Kabali-Linke, who is based in Germany, said.

The artist noted that her piece “Stretched Perm [2014]” is “probably the most personal”. 

“It is about the illusion of historical narration and the illusion of continuity,” she said. “It is done with my hair and my mom’s hair and inspired by my discussions with my grandfather, a Ukranian from Kiev.”

Raed Ibrahim’s exhibition references a proverb in its title “A Camel in the Room” and points to “major issues that are not discussed or acknowledged” using irony, according to Darat Al Funun’s website.

His exhibition includes “a grand, scaled-up version of the pink plush toy camels found in souvenir shops downtown”, an installation that “highlights the deep influence of the events of 9/11 on our time”.

An entire room of Ibrahim’s exhibition is dedicated to “The State of Ishmael: Jus Sanguinis [2010-ongoing]”, which “concretises an imagined state and its historical past through invented artefacts, fabricated archaeological finds and made-up symbols of statehood”, according to the website.

The exhibitions will be on display until July 31, and entry is free of charge.