Delving into the world of a city

In a city, human memories, desires and tragedies find expression in the form of designations and marks engraved in house walls and paving slabs. 

Exploring this thick layer of signs which a city contains or conceals, international artists Gusztáv Hámos and Katja Pratschke have put up an exhibition of cinematographic installations ‘Sample Cities/Imaginary Spaces’ at Khoj International Artists´ Association, Khirkee Extension. 

In collaboration with the Goethe Institut-Max Mueller Bhavan, Khoj International Artists’ Association has put on display a multi-media exhibition that delves deep into and explores public space and the living city. 

For the exhibition, nine photo sequences have been assembled into a tableaux or series of images and a three dimensional photo object. 

Every individual photo work already contains within it an idea, an arrangement, a programme, a concept – as scores, notations. 

Additionally, the pieces are the sequences that is a film in itself and narrates a particular story.

The source material for the installation consists of photo sequence works by Gusztáv Hámos, produced between 1973 and 2012. 

Each of these city perceptions sequences depicts essential situations of urban experiences containing concentrations of human and inhuman acts in a compact form.

The cities in which the series of images have been created since 1973, especially places with a traumatised past -Cold War, dictatorships and terrorist catastrophes, include Berlin, Budapest and New York. 

“The theme of the exhibition Sample Cities/Imaginary Spaces is personal urban perceptions, which we call the city. 

The city, as a living organism, reflects social processes and interactions, economic relations, political conditions and private matters. 

We regard the city itself as an expanded cinematographic experience,” says Gusztáv, a Berlin-based artist. He is a media artist, curator and author. 

His artistic work includes video, film, photography and installation which has been exhibited at several international festivals and museums Documenta, Biennale Venedig, ZKM Karlsruhe, Ludwig Museum Budapest to name a few.

He explains about the project, “Imaginary Spaces is inspired by Italo Calvino's book ‘La città invisibili’ also called as ‘Invisible Cities’ in English. 

 

Each video outlines an imaginary city. 

Each city description summarises an historic, social, economic, political or private aspect in a poetic narrative.

The installation deals on an exemplary level with the expansion of the 

cinematic space.”

The exhibition is on view till May 10 at Khoj International Artists´Association, Khirkee Extension from 11 am till 6.30 pm (Monday To Saturday).