YARAT's Isolation Room/Gallery Kit to be held in Baku

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

YARAT is delighted to announce a one month collaborative project with Isolation Room/Gallery Kit which will take place in Baku, on March 12. The project is scheduled to coincide with American Week, organized by the US Embassy in Baku.

Isolation Room/Gallery Kit is an evolving project which consists of a ‘gallery kit’ or 7’ x 7’x 9’ box which can be readily constructed in any interior space. Isolation Room/Gallery Kit then forms a modular viewing space or gallery, complete with lighting rig, in which an individual art work can be shown. The project will host a changing series of exhibitions showing work by two artists from the United States alongside 2-3 Azerbaijani artists. Local artists were selected through an open call engaging the local art scene and promoting an exchange between American and Azerbaijani artists.

Originally conceived by Daniel McGrath and Dana Turkovic in St. Louis, America, in July 2010, Isolation Room/Gallery Kit allows the artists to place a work of art into a state of quarantine, removed from any pre-existing themes or contextualization. Forcing both the viewer and the artwork into a confined space, the project encourages spectators to engage with the work on a purely aesthetic level and re-establishes the relationship between artists, curator and audience.

Over three and half years, Isolation Room/Gallery Kit has been built and experienced in a variety of local, national and international venues such as: The Fabrikken, Copenhagen, Denmark; The Lemp Brewery, St. Louis; Hunter College Galleries, New York; The Luminary, St. Louis; and has exhibited works by Ed Ruscha, Marcel Dzama and Alison Jackson.

To accompany the work, YARAT will organize an additional lectures and discussions by Daniel McGrath and Dana Turkovic.

11 Mar, 7:30pm – The Matroyshka Model and other Curatorial Projects , a lecture by Dana Turkovic

13 Mar, 7:00pm – Revenge 101 Lecture , a lecture by Daniel McGrath

The project will run till April 4.

Yarat Contemporary Art Center is the first permanent space for the not-for-profit organization Yarat, which has commissioned over 80 projects since it was created in 2011 by Founder and Creative Director Aida Mahmudova and a group of artists.

The center is a dedicated hub for contemporary art and art education in the region.

Education is at the core of YARAT’s activities and a study center, with a library and auditorium, will house YARAT’s comprehensive education program featuring talks, screenings and workshops for diverse audiences from student artists to families.