Artist: Salwa Aleryani
Exhibition title: Far from closing the circle
Curated by: Heinrich Dietz
Venue: Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
Date: January 28 – March 12, 2023
Photography: Marc Doradzillo / all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Kunstverein Freiburg
Note: Exhibition’s handout is available here
Moving between a water tank, a fountain, a roundabout, and a penny press, Salwa Aleryani’s exhibition Far from closing the circle follows a trail of artefacts and symbols, which serve as protagonists of national narratives, or as carriers of value, marked by events that express political aspirations and power relations across geographies. Stops include: the printing plate of a postage stamp that was created to commemorate Yemen’s admission to the United Nations, but never released. Another presents a correspondence between the Royal Mint and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen central bank, Masraf Aden, as well as illustrations on banknotes, which trace back to a German composer and photographer.
Aleryani shifts from bird’s-eye view to close-up, giving attention to the individual stones of a building and the individual coins of a currency; the inconspicuous carriers of built landscapes and capital, from which in turn social spaces and their structures arise. How could they be shaped and minted, so that they become the substance of the narratives, needs and desires of those who inhabit these spaces?
Far from closing the circle is Aleryani’s first institutional solo exhibition in Germany.
