photo exhibition
Max Klimburg, Mozhgan Hossinzade, Nasgol Afshar, Zarghona Hossaini, Masooma Hussaini, Razia Hossinzade, Zainab Qurbani, Sewida Eyssa Zada
19/08 – 03/09/2022
curated by Christiane Kalantari
co-curators: Elisabeth Kapeller, Tamana Niazi, Alexandra Pruscha
Opening: Thursday, 18/08/2022, 7 pm
Finissage: Saturday, 03/09,2022, 5 pm
Venue: philomena+ project room, front garden, Heinestraße 40, 1020 Vienna
The photo exhibition CULTURES OF PLEASURE invites you to a multifaceted search for traces through the recent past and present of Afghanistan and illuminates “cultures of joy and vitality” from the perspective of the Afghanistan expert, ethnologist and photographer Max Klimburg.
Cultures of pleasure – today hardly to be associated with numerous Islamic countries – traditionally manifest in feasts, singing and dancing, in colorful, vibrant clothing and jewellery, picnicking in flower gardens and in parks, in visits to often richly decorated teahouses, in games, kite flying, animal and other competitions, wrestling, as well as in uplifting spiritual experiences at Islamic shrines.
All these traditions – associated with an abundance of positive, often passionate emotions of joy, satisfaction and happiness – are currently under heavy pressure after the renewed takeover by the Taleban with their extreme patriarchal-hierarchical and religious concepts. ‘Joie de vivre’ is therefore once again suppressed in Afghanistan by denial, concealment, prohibition and danger.
Some of Max Klimburg’s visual documents from 1956-1960 and early 1970s are presented here for the first time. The historical photographs are juxtaposed with those illustrating authentic moods, living spaces and artistic positions of the new generation of Afghan women and civil rights activists in Vienna,- by Mozhgan Hossinzade, Nasgol Afshar, Zarghona Hossaini, Masooma Hussaini as a performing photographic artists – who are independently active and visible through photography and other media, thereby opening up unexpected views on often contrasting perspectives. The current political situation in Afghanistan means that those modes of vitality, joy and public spheres are increasingly pushed into subversive and digital spaces.
Cultures of pleasure – today hardly to be associated with numerous Islamic countries – traditionally manifest in feasts, singing and dancing, in colorful clothing and jewellery, picnicking in flower gardens and in parks, in visits to often richly decorated teahouses, in games, kite flying, animal and other competitions, wrestling, as well as in uplifting spiritual experiences at Islamic shrines.
All these traditions are currently under heavy pressure after the renewed takeover by the Taleban with their extreme patriarchal-hierarchical and religious concepts. ‘Joie de vivre’ is therefore once again suppressed in Afghanistan by denial, concealment, prohibition and danger.
Some of Max Klimburg’s visual documents from 1956-1960 and early 1970s are presented here for the first time. The historical photographs are juxtaposed with those illustrating authentic moods, living spaces and artistic positions of the new generation of Afghan women and civil rights activists in Vienna, who are independently active and visible through photography and other media, thereby opening up unexpected views on often contrasting perspectives. The current political situation in Afghanistan means that those modes of vitality, joy and public spheres are increasingly pushed into subversive and digital spaces.