Emoplux

Rethinking Nature initiated in 2021 an exhibition cycle curated by EMOP partners, which continues today with the topic of Rethinking Identity. Of considerable scope and with major implications under all circumstances, the theme is more relevant than ever for contemporary photography. Today, photography’s role in constructing and deconstructing identities and its widespread use on social networks has become crucial.
For the six selected artists who are occupying the Cercle’s exhibition space, the notions of family and community in search of identity are prevalent. The transmutation of private images into public ones, challenging the very idea of belonging and intimacy, is the subject matter of new visual experiences set in relation to current attitudes towards traditional family concepts and recent community movements.
Looking for a family environment (in a broader sense) which protects and in need of a certain community in order to exist, Ulla Deventer uses photography, video, and installation in an interdisciplinary approach to reflect on taboo themes such as everyday violence.
When she was thirteen, Karolina Wojtas’ quest for a proper identity was seriously in trouble as the birth of a younger brother initiated a type of sibling rivalry she depicts in her photo installations.
By choosing him to be one of the players in her grotesque staging.
Finnish artist Emma Sarpaniemi’s approach to womanhood is best understood when she stages self-derisive scenes with the complicity of friends willing to pose.
Creating images of a dreamlike character, Cihan Çakmak investigates his Kurdish origins while raising questions of gender with regard to his community’s traditional and patriarchal culture.
In Jojo Gronostay’s multimedia work, the theme of identity often refers to his African origins. Via various art forms such as photography, sculpture or installations he explores the question of identity, neocolonialism and globalisation.
Lisa Kohl’s work, dealing with globalisation and migration, avoids a confrontational approach and rather seeks to deal with this topic in a sensitive and poetic way. The theme of Identity in transition and The encounter with the other in the predominantly harsh environment of exile translates into metonymic traces testifying to these difficult passages and upheavals.