Hussein+Chalayan

Craig_Yvonne Hussein Chalayan

Hussein Chalayan
 * Art Projects ** :

=**1999 EchoForm** =

According to Chalayan everything we do is an externalisation of the body. The most important theme of the Echoform project was speed, both as a natural aptitude of the human body as well as the way in which this can be enhanced by means of technology.

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**2000 Afterwards  **
At the time that alarming pictures from Kosovo were flooding the world, Chalayan showed his Afterwords collection, which focused on having to flee one's home in times of war. To Chalayan, born in the Turkish part of Cyprus, these current events referred to his own past, the time of the conflict between the Turkish and the Greek populations in Cyprus. The subsequent Turkish intervention resulted in a division of the island in 1974. Chalayan linked the refugee theme to the idea of hiding and camouflaging valuable possessions or carrying them along in flight. The show was presented in a stark, white setting with chairs and a round 1950s-style coffee table. Behind this set, viewers could vaguely see a Bulgarian female choir through a semi-transparent screen. Their singing was penetrating and the choir was clearly visible on a monitor in the “living room”. After the appearance of an average family, consisting of a father, mother, grandmother and children, a strange transformation took place at the end of the show. Models dresses in simple under-slips removed the covers from the chairs and wore them as a dress. The chairs themselves folded up to become suitcases and the coffee table was turned into a skirt, with the result that eventually the room remained behind empty and lifeless.



=**2004 Absent Presence**   =

The Absent Presence is an enigmatic story based on identity, geography, genetics, biology and anthropology. It opens the argument on how certain identities can or cannot adapt to new environments and generates a research based narration for Hussein's cross-disciplined installation with filmic images and sculptures.

The video was created for the first Turkish Pavillion of the 51st Venice Bienale 2005 and received unique comments and appraisal from both the critics and art enthusiasts.