Azad Nanakeli Kurdish artist~ Erbil south of Kurdistan ; He lives and works now in Florence - Italy

Destnuej (Purification)

video installation, 2 channel video and sound, 7' 02''

In my language, Destnuej means purification, to cleanse the body from all sins. When I was a boy, water for daily use was extracted from wells for drinking, cooking, and washing. Long ago the water from the wells was clear and pure, but already at that time, however, things had changed: my friends who lived in the same area suffered from illnesses linked to contaminated water. My nephew contracted malaria and died. Since then, a lot has changed the wells no longer exist. Like in most places they were replaced by acqueducts but the problems persist. Residues of every shape and substance are poured incessantly into the water, poisoning rivers and oceans. Toxic waste, nuclear waste, chemicals, and multiply inexorably seeping into groundwater. Slowly, day after day, they enter into our bodies. For these reasons, the water is no longer pure. Drinking, cooking, washing. Purifying. Purification is an ancient ritual, disseminated in the four corners of the world. The man who always drinks this water is contaminates his own body. The man who uses it to purify himself contaminates himself. My work is based on and motivated by these themes, which are also linked to the general degradation man causes to the environment around us.

The Stars

mixed media painted on canvas, 140 x 320 cm (detail)

When we were little, during the summer we slept on the terrace of our home admiring in awe the millions of stars that appeared over our heads.

Our father told us that every time a fighter, a patriot fell, a star appeared in the sky.

 AU

mixed media installation with audio 280 (h) x 320 (w) x 200 (d) cm

"Au" means water in Kurdish. It is present on our planet in enormous quantities. For the most part, however, it is not available for use considering the salt water which makes up our oceans and glaciers. The remaining quantity, which we use for the needs of mankind could be considered sufficient for the moment, but the resources are not unlimited. The need for water increases in an exponential way with the rise of the world population, and in a few years time the supply might be in jeopardy. Add to this man's carelessness and irresponsibility. We waste and pollute the water supplies in the name of progress, of consumerism and of economic interests. It is estimated that within the next twenty years, consumption is destined to increase by 40%. What's more, already today a large part of the world's population does not have access clean water sources; among them are the people of the Middle East. In ancient days and until a few decades ago, these sources existed throughout the territory. They were called oases. Today after the building of dams by Turkey in the 70's and by Syria in the 80's, and the relentless draining of 15,000 square kilometers of Iraqi land- a decision by the regime- everything has changed: where there was once fertile land, there is now desert and desolation. The World Bank estimates that in 2035, 90% of the population of Western Asia, including the Arab Peninsula, will be without water. The small quantity that will still be available will be poured into urban areas, while the countryside will drown in inescapable aridity. The accumulation of refuse of large urban and industrial areas over the years has created further danger and damage to the integrity of this precious resource. Underground water levels are polluted by toxic substances. Non-biodegradable materials from dumps accumulate in canals and oceans. This work emulates the disturbing images from the media of islands composed entirely of accumulated waste.

  installation performance
Illumination uses the recreation of a site-specific landmark to transpose notions of recognition and value. Qala, an ancient fortress overlooking the city center of Erbil is one of many cultural heritage sites in Iraq. Perhaps the most important in Iraq's Kurdish north, the fortress was an ancient city to the Assyrians, Abbassids, Ottomans, and home to a lost battle by Alexander the Great. Its most significant designation is as the longest inhabited city space in the world. Recognized by Unesco as a world heritage site but long neglected, the fortress is currently undergoing revitalization as the city of Erbil and various developers are looking at ways to increase tourism. Illumination recreates the fortress as a site for mediation on the ephemeral quality of history, heritage, and how we mark the spaces that hold value. By establishing a participatory ceremony with the fortress at its center, the work presents a memorial not only to the site itself, but a moment for reflection on the architecture of what is lost and preserved.

Perfect World

video installation, 2 channel video and sound, 7' 30''

It never faded out. It is more and more present and huge; caused by wars, environmental disasters, famines and poverty. It is a phenomenon called migration.Statistical studies have tried for decades to define the consequences and measure its extension; in the last years the phenomenon has developed in such a way that it is virtually impossible to calculate its extension. The man of the future will therefore be, out of necessity, the result of these migratories flows: a crossroad of cultures and different traditions. A new individual, in the end, who will have the task to translate into reality an ancient and ambitious dream: to build a perfect world.

What is the question?

digital video, DVD, sound, 2'30''

What makes them speak the same language?

digital video, DVD, sound, 2'30''

Continual displacement, in a box, 2001

3D images printed on paper fixed on aluminium, 12 pieces 90x100 cm each

Testimony

digital photo printed on aluminium

Education
1983 Diploma in Lithographic Arts, International School of Graphic Arts Il Bisonte, Florence - Italy
1979 Degree from the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence - Italy
1975 Degree from the Institute of Fine Arts, Baghdad - Iraq
Exibitions
2013 Un mare d’inchiostro, Galleria del Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, Florence - Italy
2012 Palazzo Granafei-Nervegna, Brindisi-Italia
  Serdem Gallery, Sulaimaniya - Kurdistan, Iraq
  Media Gallery, Arbil - Kurdistan, Iraq
  Barocco Austero - Presenze nel nostro tempo, Museo Regionale del Barocco, Noto - Italy
2011 Mare di Cinema Arabi, Fondazione Horcynus Orca, Messina - Italy
  Wounded Water, Pavilion of Iraq, 54° Venice Biennale, Venice - Italy
  Antiche Cucine dell'ex Monastero dei Benedettini, Catania - Italy
2010 Visioni Irachena, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence - Italy
  The Berlin Wall, Media Art - Petro Marko Theater, Valona - Albania
  Illumination, Installation performance, Studio Azad, Florence - Italy
2009 Planet-K, 53° Venice Biennale, Venice - Italia
  Homage to Kamel Shiaa Abdullah, Bozar, Bruxelles - Belgium
2008 Istanbul Art Fair, Istanbul - Turkey
2006 Poetronica, Cinema Teatro Moderno, Lastra a Signa, Florence - Italy
2005 La mossa delle idee, Videodays 2, Sala Santa Rita, Rome - Italy
2004 Tracce Fuoricentro live, Fuoricentro, Livorno - Italy
  La mossa delle idee, Videodays, Cinema Alfieri Atelier, Florence - Italy
  Cinema Spazio Uno, Florence - Italy
2003 Outlook, National Museum, Crakow - Polland
2002 Grenzenlos, Volkshalle im Wiener Rathaus, Wine - Austria
2001 Wayfarer, Meier Gallery Arth a/see - Swiss
1999 Borup Hoiskole Kunstzentrum, Kopenhagen - Denmark
1998 Stefanini Gallery, Florence - Italy
  Pilonova Gallery, Ajdovscina - Slovenia
1997 Dovorni Trg, Ljubljana - Slovenia
1996 Under anden himmel, Il Salone Gallery, Kopenhagen - Danmark
  Duca Gallery, Vipava - Slovenia
  Eclisse Gallery, Locarno - Swiss
  Planque Gallery, Lausanne - Swiss
1994 L'Escale Gallery, Bruselss - Belgium
  De Muzerije Art Center, Hertogenbosch - Holland
  Artforum Gallery, Wine - Austria
1993 Kufa,Gallery, London - U.K.
  D.E.A Gallery, Florence - Italy
  Artforum Gallery, Wine - Austria
1992 Kunstlerhaus Gallery, Graz - Austria
  Cultural Center activity, S. Silvestro, Osimo - Italy
  Town Art Center, Trento - Italy
  Town Art Center, Rozzano - Italy
  Artforum Gallery, Wine - Austria
1991 Meeting for the peace, Rimini - Italy
  Salone espositivo Antonio Gramsci, Milan - Italy
  L'Artista che non esiste, Palazzo Valentini, Rome - Italy
  Institute of education, London - U.K.
  La Soffitta Gallery, Sesto Fiorentino - Italy
1988 Civic Gallery of Modern Art, Plazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara - Italy
  Central Cultural, Ortisei - Italy
1981 Palagio Parte Guelra, Florence - Italy
  Palazzo Ca' Giustignan, Venice - Italy
1979 Drawing on Paper, Tunisi - Tunisia
  Palazzo Strozzi, International Room, Florence - Italy
1974 Festival of the Kurdish Art, Baghdad - Iraq

Source:Site Kurdistan ART