ONE WAY TO A DESERT
6/10-13/11

Dear friends, strangers and people I have met in the future,

I am very happy to finally introduce you to a project I have been working on for some years. I have found my two participants willing to travel for a one way trip to the Sahara desert. For those that have encountered me, you know how much I am really, truly excited to finally achieve this piece, which does not really need me, has no shape and can never be repeated again. Furthermore, there won’t be any opening. Nevertheless, you are warmly invited to drop by the exhibition space at any stage of the process. The Finissage will be held the 13th of November at House of Foundation (see information bellow).

I sincerely look forward to see you there.

Hanan Benammar

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One way to a desert is a performative project in which 2 people won a one way trip to the Sahara desert.

The exhibition will be an experimental space of production based on sound and empirical researches, where the aesthetic will be consequential, accidental and conceptualized as a time capsule; reflecting on the process of discovery as a parallel of making.

To win one of these trips, the participants had to compete through an online open call and textually answer the question: «Is constraint always the opposite of freedom?». The question was inspired by Nietzsche’s text The Wanderer and his shadow, negotiating the notion of freedom and choice.

After going through the applications, the jury - composed by the scientist Stéphane Douady and the artist David Guez - have selected two winners. Their one way trips will be organized during the exhibition at House of Foundation. Their departures will be the 5th of October 2015, which will be the starting point of the exhibition process.

Each of the participant will travel for an undefined period of time to the Sahara desert. One goes to Boujdour City (occupied territories of Western Sahara) and one to Boujdour refugee camp (Polisario territories in Algeria, near Tinduf).

Both places have the same name. It has been thought that way, so people will remember where they came from after the decolonization process (which never happened).

These two places are singular, as they relate to the ongoing struggle of the Saharawi People. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the occupation of their country by the Moroccan Army.

I would like to develop a narrative through the strength and performativity of traveling. The desert is a space of projection and myth, where everything is possible. The wanderer (and his shadow) is a metamorphic figure that has the capacity to re-enact the complex mechanisms of a deserted space where the political, geological and environmental are merged.

Program:

22/10 Screening of Life is Waiting, by the director Lara Lee with an introduction of Erik Hagen (director of Norwegian Support Committee for Western-Sahara)

13/11 Finissage inviting the jury, other guests and more..

The project is generously supported by Norsk Kulturrådet (Kunst og teknologi) and House of Foundation.
Thanks to: Artifariti, Polisario representatives in Norway and Netherlands and Norwegian Support Committee for Western-Sahara for there great help, advices and support.

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House of Foundation
Henrik Gerners gate 12, 1530 Moss, Norway
Tuesday-Friday 10h00-15h00, Saturday-Sunday 11h00-15h00