‘Between Us’ is about bodies and space, about distance and connection. The exhibition brings together ’Haleh Chinikar’s calligraphy collages and Mimi Kunz’ calligraphy paintings.
Haleh, can you tell us about your series ‘Somewhere in between‘ ?
Departure, arrival, saying goodbye and hope have been part of my life for more than 13 years. In this series I highlight missing parts of stories of people who have decided or been forced to leave their home, to start over elsewhere from scratch. How do you do it? To be part of another life? Another society? To change the community? Find a new one? Leaving, staying, home, lack of, family, shelter, friendship, roots, language, distance, memory… What do these words mean? With calligraphy, writing, collage on paper and fabric I create a kind of loop that brings together missing parts.
Mimi, tell us about ‘The Shape of Us’.
How do we see that a couple is in love? What makes the walk of a friend stand out in a crowd? The body is our mother tongue. It’s a universal language and unique like hand-writing. I started drawing body language in 2016. The first are called the ’Pedestrians’, after our common feature: walking on two legs. Paintings from 2020/21 are named ’The Shape of Us’ as the relations between bodies and the body and the mind, became more important during the pandemic. The calligraphy paintings don’t show faces but their postures are recognizable — we know this feeling, what its like to move that way, to dance, to be together