Dropping

Art Show
By Rebeen Majed
On June 10th, 2021
At Esta Gallery2 in the Culture Factory of Sulaimany
Curator: Avan Omar
Dropping” is a direct-to-camera performance by Rebeen Majid Hamarafiq.

The theme of torture often appears in the works of Kurdish artists, which has an obvious connection with the history of their nation and the painful experiences of their families and friends.
Drops of milk fall at regular intervals onto the naked head of the artist filmed against a black background. Within a few minutes a small puddle of milk is formed on the top of the artist’s skull, and a thin trickle runs down his weary face. What we see is an obvious reference to the so- called Chinese water torture, in which cold water is slowly dripped onto the victim’s head. Seemingly mild and “humane”, deprived of spectacular violence and blood-shed, it is in reality painful, mentally debilitating and considered one of the most effective.
The theme of torture often appears in the works of Kurdish artists, which has an obvious connection with the history of their nation and the painful experiences of their families and friends.
The motif of dripping milk also refers to Rebeen’s experience of fatherhood. The artist looked after his newborn daughter while his wife was working toward her university degree. Attempting to cope with a new situation, weary with the day-to-day monotony and challenges, the artist was also haunted by fear for his daughter’s future, his desire to protect his daughter from experienced by Kurdish women sense of being unable to break through limiting social, religious and cultural circumstances.

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Rebeen Majid An artist and curator based in Sulaimany, South Kurdistan. Graduated from several places for his studies such as the Institute of fine art, the university for his bachelor and masters at the famous Goldsmith University, London. His work contains many different mediums and materials, fluctuating between concepts and displaying his outcomes in a contemporary vision. As well as, Rebeen had arranged and conducted many projects inside the Kurdish region and oversees.

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About The Show

The performance Dropping is a video performance made in 2014, the duration is 8 minutes and 37 seconds. This video has portraited Rebeen’s face and there is the repetitive drop of milk that consistently falls on his head . This Video has been displayed in my occasions and events overseas but the first time in Kurdistan and this art project, These people are working. Been on board for this project has boosted the main concept. This performance is an effort to highlight unfamiliar perspective of fatherhood in our familiar community. The commitment and obligations that decentralizing our aims. His performance had generated a series of discourse that most of the audience involved.

Dropping performance was available for the audience, during its time initially on the 10th of Jun 2021 at the Esta Gallery / The Culture Factory in Sulaimany, with the artist himself that delegated his performance. At the Esta Gallery been displayed on the wall surface within six meters wide, with a specific atmosphere to enhance the quietness. Meanwhile, the audiences were working out their optimum portion to have a better perception. Hence, the first day of the show, after the first hour of showing the performance, all of them attended people been invited to the open discussion and most of them have contributed. This was conducted by Halgurd Baram and Avan Omer. At that table of discussion, many concepts popped out such as the artist’s roles, milk as a material, cycling routine, torturing and its connection to the others and the performance and the fatherhood’s responsibility. The duration was for more than two hours and many of the audience were explaining their impression with the first exposure of seeing the performance.

Thanks for those who were helping and contributing this show especially: Daro Rasul, Azar Osman, Hemn Marif, Rozhgar Mahmood, Shirwan Fatih, Chya Jamal, Halgurd Baram, Rayan Yousif, Homan Wahbi Rasul.