Homecoming (WIP)
Description text:
Homecoming is an artistic-ethnographic project about the heritage and artist’s relation to the village of Khinalug. Khinalug is located in north Azerbaijan and is home to the indigenous minority speaking the unique language. Nilufer, the artist of Khinalug origin, deals with the nuances of digitalisation and institutionalisation, and how a trained designer can help community in overcoming in this matter.
Personal text/ motivation:
I often ask myself — who am I, what do I look like, do I accept myself for who I am? These questions usually brought back some gray noise that I preferred to ignore, go to sleep, listen to music, or simply doomscroll. Like a kaleidoscope, multiple identities, physical and mental wanderings silently echo somewhere deep inside and subtly leave. There has always been an aim: to rush from one place and achievement to another, iron my shirts, polish my shoes and grades, perpetually move through days, milestones, and deadlines, survive neurosis, bitterly joke back to offensive commentaries, walk forward and never stop to reflect and hear the echoes.
Walking forward brought me far away from where my dad is, and his walking brought him further from his dad. My granddad was the first one who changed his ancestors’ way of moving through life from a circle to an arrow, he ran down the mountain, chose education over marriage, so did my dad, and so did I.
On the mountain there is a village and once my dad and I came back there, not expecting anything. Suddenly it all made sense: circular life motion— droving between the summer and winter pastures, counting years using sheep — this year was a year of 20000 sheep and the next one is a year of 50000 sheep, living on top of each other — your backyard is someone’s rooftop. Hidden echoes transformed into the sudden feeling of belonging, big and overwhelming. In this project I begin to unravel the unspeakable, indescribable, it is a gentle museum of collected, reflected and created matters. Through this project I continue my journey back home.
Exhibition in Berlin:
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Publication based on a diary of researcher:
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Monography about the village:
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Digital archive interface:
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Thoughts about museums (foldout booklet):
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Photos from village:
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Local photoarchive:
Homecoming is an artistic-ethnographic project about the heritage and artist’s relation to the village of Khinalug. Khinalug is located in north Azerbaijan and is home to the indigenous minority speaking the unique language. Nilufer, the artist of Khinalug origin, deals with the nuances of digitalisation and institutionalisation, and how a trained designer can help community in overcoming in this matter.
Personal text/ motivation:
I often ask myself — who am I, what do I look like, do I accept myself for who I am? These questions usually brought back some gray noise that I preferred to ignore, go to sleep, listen to music, or simply doomscroll. Like a kaleidoscope, multiple identities, physical and mental wanderings silently echo somewhere deep inside and subtly leave. There has always been an aim: to rush from one place and achievement to another, iron my shirts, polish my shoes and grades, perpetually move through days, milestones, and deadlines, survive neurosis, bitterly joke back to offensive commentaries, walk forward and never stop to reflect and hear the echoes.
Walking forward brought me far away from where my dad is, and his walking brought him further from his dad. My granddad was the first one who changed his ancestors’ way of moving through life from a circle to an arrow, he ran down the mountain, chose education over marriage, so did my dad, and so did I.
On the mountain there is a village and once my dad and I came back there, not expecting anything. Suddenly it all made sense: circular life motion— droving between the summer and winter pastures, counting years using sheep — this year was a year of 20000 sheep and the next one is a year of 50000 sheep, living on top of each other — your backyard is someone’s rooftop. Hidden echoes transformed into the sudden feeling of belonging, big and overwhelming. In this project I begin to unravel the unspeakable, indescribable, it is a gentle museum of collected, reflected and created matters. Through this project I continue my journey back home.
Exhibition in Berlin:
Publication based on a diary of researcher:
Monography about the village:
Digital archive interface:
Thoughts about museums (foldout booklet):
Photos from village:
Local photoarchive:
