Hrair Sarkssian, winner of the Abraaj Group Art Prize (2013), has exhibited internationally and his works are in major museum collections and art institutions worldwide. His photographic series ‘Execution Squares’ is part of the permanent collection of the Tate Modern in London, where it is currently on view.
The series ‘Unexposed’ to be shown at Kalfayan Galleries, was first presented in Marseille at the exhibition ‘Ici, ailleurs’ (curated by Juliette Lafon) and was realized with the support of Marseille-Provence 2013, Capitale Européenne de la Culture” (France) and Kalfayan Galleries (Greece).
In ‘Unexposed’, the artist explores different positions on migration, persecution and displacement. The photographs deal with descendants of Armenians who converted to Islam to escape the genocide that took place in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Today, having rediscovered their roots, and reconverted to Christianity, these descendants are forced to conceal their newfound Armenian-ness. Unaccepted by Turkish society and not fully part of the Armenian community, they remain invisible.
Sarkissian has photographed their homes, depicting the one place where they can express themselves without fear and where they do not have to conceal their ancestor’s past actions or their own present choices. The artist investigates the hidden components within what is visible, in this case expressing the hidden paradox between the constancy and beauty of the settings and the socio-historical realities they conceal.
