<p>From addressing civil rights in the US to Indigenous struggles in Guam, the Online Viewing Rooms shed light on some of the most pressing issues of our time</p>

Curator Larry Ossei-Mensah: ‘OVR: Portals’ captures the now

<p>登入並訂閱巴塞爾藝術展專題故事</p>

<p>Yet ‘OVR: Portals’ doesn’t just portray the contemporary moment. It also asks viewers to expand their understanding of the world around them. The artist <strong style="background-color: initial;">Troy Makaza</strong> – who is showing with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/21569/First-Floor-Gallery-Harare">First Floor Gallery Harare</a>&nbsp;from Harare and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe – transforms the tapestry tradition using contemporary materials such as pigment-infused silicone. His works are rigorous, critical, imbued with Zimbabwe’s complex colonial history – and loaded with hopes for its future. Moreover, Makaza is one of several artists in ‘OVR: Portals’ who lives and works outside the traditional ‘centers’ of artistic production. His practice is an invitation to look beyond the obvious.</p>

<p>The <strong style="background-color: initial;">Gee’s Bend Quiltmakers</strong> from Alabama – presented by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/1162/Alison-Jacques">Alison Jacques</a>, alongside&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7743/Sheila-Hicks">Sheila Hicks</a>&nbsp;– also use fabrics to tell stories. They employ the compositional language of quilt making to refine a distinctive visual vocabulary that is particularly treasured in the African-American community. Although Makaza isn’t quilting <em style="background-color: initial;">per se</em>, his utilization of fabric underscores the creative overlaps prevalent throughout the African diaspora. It is these conceptual connections that make ‘OVR: Portals’ special.</p>

<p>Art’s potential as a space of self-determination and agency is further explored through the lens of community and craft in <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/11570/I-Lann-Yee">Yee I-Lann</a> and her collaborators’ presentation at <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/1440/Silverlens">Silverlens</a>. Yee was born in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo; she moved back there from Kuala Lumpur in 2016/17, and has since been working with local weavers on <em style="background-color: initial;">tikars</em>, the multifunctional bamboo mats that are used across Southeast Asia. The humble <em style="background-color: initial;">tikar</em> embodies a tradition shared by sea-based communities in Borneo, undocumented migrants, and stateless Indigenous people who traditionally work the land. <em style="background-color: initial;">TANAHAIRKU #003 </em>(with weaving by S. Narty Raitom, Julia Ginasius, and Julitah Kulinting) (2021) is woven with the Malay/Indonesian words <em style="background-color: initial;">tanah </em>(land) and <em style="background-color: initial;">air</em> (water/sea) to make up <em style="background-color: initial;">tanahair</em> (homeland). These words thus bridge a historical boundary between two communities. Yee and her collaborators extend the democratic and communal spirit of the <em style="background-color: initial;">tikar</em> beyond the confines of the mat, prompting us to reconsider the notions of home, distance, and mutual exchange in a collective gesture of place-making.</p>

<p>In some ways, ‘OVR: Portals’ can be seen as reflecting the United States today.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/8036/Glenn-Ligon">Glenn Ligon</a>’s <em>Untitled (America) (</em>2019) – a light installation with the word ‘America’ upside down – is a powerful statement on view at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/1098/Galerie-Chantal-Crousel">Galerie Chantal Crousel</a>. By simply inverting the word, Ligon offers a lyrical metaphor for the chaos and trauma brought about by the previous presidential administration and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the work is also deeply infused with the optimism that comes with reorienting the country’s course toward justice and equity in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. It provides a much-needed sense of hope.</p>

<p><strong>Job Koelewijn</strong>’sworks at <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/3658/Galerie-Fons-Welters">Galerie Fons Welters</a> are part of an ongoing project that began in 2006. Every day, the artist reads aloud for 45 minutes from books whose subjects range from philosophy and art history to literature and science. The books and resulting recordings are displayed in specially made panels hosting stacks of cassette tapes, as in <em style="background-color: initial;">Relief 20 Nov 2015 - 20 Jul 2017 </em>(2015–20). As technology moved on, so did the works, and <em style="background-color: initial;">Relief 4, 28 Nov 2014 - 26 Jul 2017</em> (2014–20) features a carrying case of USB sticks. True time capsules, Koelewijn’s <em style="background-color: initial;">Relief </em>works are the outcome of a part-ritual, part-mental exercise. He utilizes time, language, and knowledge as material in his lifelong endeavor of self-exploration.</p>

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From addressing civil rights in the US to Indigenous struggles in Guam, the Online Viewing Rooms shed light on some of the most pressing issues of our time

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Curator Larry Ossei-Mensah: ‘OVR: Portals’ captures the now

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