SCREENING: kicking in the air; folding index fingers

“kicking up the dirt to see what lies underneath

 

kicking up the water, up towards the moon, away from the burning mountains”

Bringing together artists from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Kurdistan, and Morocco, the community screening, kicking the air; folding index fingers, will be projected on the façade of the Everson Museum of Art on April 30, 2023 from 8:30 pm to 10 pm. The screening draws on the theme of this year’s Urban Video Project theme of “The Porous Body of the Earth.” The title invokes a series of ritualistic gestures between passivity/resistance, absurdity/futility, and caring/neglecting from bodies kicking and folding within their environments.

Curated by Fatemeh Kazemi and Zelikha Zohra Shoja, kicking the air; folding index fingers is an alternative body gesture for resistance and resilience. Participating artists include: Nooshin Askari, Mohammad Al Faraj, Maryam Faridani and Fatemeh Kazemi, Alaa Mansour, Leila Mousa, Gazelle Samizay, Maryam Tafakory, Rojda Yavuz, and Imane Zoubai. 

The selected videos are collective, repetitive, layered performative acts that confront and expose deeply embedded social and political landscapes of violence, repression, and colonial extraction. Attendees will experience an immersive, large-scale projection in downtown Syracuse and a participatory, interactive video installation by Imane Zoubai.

Co-sponsored by Syracuse University Department of Film and Media Arts, Syracuse University Humanities Center, and Visual Arts Experimental Garden.

Co-curated by Fatemeh Kazemi and Zelikha Zohra Shoja.

Contact zzshoja@syr.edu for more information.