“There is another world, but it is in this one,” said Surrealist poet Paul Éluard. In this exhibition, artists look to the future, imagining how we move forward from the tumultuous events of the past year. [read more]
Art in the Plague Year is an online exhibition organized by UCR ARTS: California Museum of Photography and curated by Douglas McCulloh, Nikolay Maslov, and Rita Sobreiro Souther. UCR ARTS’s programs are supported by UCR College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, the City of Riverside, Altura Credit Union, and Anheuser-Busch.
All works in this exhibition are reproduced with permission of the artists/copyright holders. Works (images, video, audio or other content) must not be used or reproduced for any purposes other than fair use without prior consent of the artists.
(b. 1984, Switzerland. Lives and works between Lisbon, London and Tallinn)
In this hot desert I miss the snow
Video, sound, 7:25 min. Best viewed in full-screen.
Evy Jokhova’s film In this hot desert I miss the snow explores memory, the invention of tradition, personal history, and the relationship with landscape and culture. Each of these issues has been brought into high relief by the global pandemic. Do they offer a way beyond its dislocations and disruptions?
The film is set the Caucasus Mountains and based in regional ceremonies and traditions. It features Azerbaijani actresses Nargila Qaribova and Rumiya Agayeva performing contemporary rituals with specifically made props and costumes. The project’s underpinnings, states the artist, are “personal stories of economic and political migration, the yearning for a reconnection with one’s culture of origin and family history, and a nostalgic love for the mountains,” all made vivid by dislocation.