ENSEMBLE, an exhibition presented by Residency Unlimited & the Artistic Freedom Initiative

In this duo exhibition organized by Residency Unlimited and the Artistic Freedom Initiative, the visual artists Faten Gaddes and Nazanin Noroozi reflect upon notions of displacement, tragedy, and instability.

Nazanin’s delicately rendered prints and hand made paper works feature images combining private and super8 family photographs from her childhood in Iran with found imagery of environmental catastrophes, and man-made disasters. The artist questions archives as modes of cultural transmission and historical memory, and invites the viewer to enter into fragmented narratives based on images gone viral such as the downing of the PS752 flight by the Iranian government, Beirut’s blast in 2020, and the U.S air force clearance of Afghanistan in 2021.

Faten presents photographs of the remnants of an installation she realized in Tunisia a decade ago. Titled “Punching-Ball”, it denounced violence against women. Deemed blasphemous, it was burned down by a religious extremists group. Two years later, Faten left for the US with, in her personal belongings, an envelope containing three small pieces of burned polyester fabric which was all that was left from the installation. “It took me ten years to accept it, to be in the present, to understand, die a little, lose myself, come back, cry, howl, speak, observe, seek, find, hide, tear, glue, melt, disappear, continue, then lose myself again, heal a little and perhaps be reborn…”

Faten Gaddes and Nazanin Noroozi are 2020-2022 New York City Safe Haven Residency artists. This program is led by a coalition of local organizations including Artistic Freedom Initiative, Westbeth Artists Housing and Residency Unlimited. It is designed to house, integrate and nurture artists at risk who are persecuted on the basis of political affiliations, ethnic, locational, religious, and/or gender-based persecution. Faten’s and Nazanin’s residencies were respectively supported by The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

About:

Residency Unlimited (RU) is a non-profit art organization that supports the creation, presentation and dissemination of contemporary art through its unique residency program and year-round public programs.

Led by immigration and human rights attorneys, Artistic Freedom Initiative (AFI) facilitates pro bono immigration representation and resettlement assistance for international artists at risk. Dedicated to safeguarding the right to artistic freedom, AFI was founded on the notion that artists are uniquely situated to positively and powerfully effect change, provided their voices can be heard. As artists are increasingly censored, imprisoned, restricted from moving freely across borders, tortured, or even killed, it is more critical than ever that we safeguard the right to artistic freedom and zealously champion the courageous artists who exercise it.