AN ARTISTIC HISTORY LESSON

If No One Asks is Chechen artist Aslan Gaisumov’s first solo presentation in North America. This installation is being shown at Vancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery in the Alvin Balkind Gallery January 18^th – March 24^th 2019. If No One Asks is comprised of two works that had previously not been shown together. Their marriage however, creates a rich and fulfilling historical context explored through the mediums of visual art and film. Like much of Gaisumov’s work this explores the distorted portrayal of social political histories particularly those deeply personal histories regarding the people of the artists homeland Chechnya. If No One Asks discusses in particular the forced resettlement of several nations in the USSR during the Second World War and highlights 119 Chechen survivors.

Upon entering the dimly lit space, the first work, Memories of War, was displayed on the wall. A torn book page with line after line of words completely blacked out. Upon closer inspection one word remains, completely unaltered; “war”. This emotionally loaded word itself set a clear tone as I proceeded deeper into the gallery to find a nearly empty room with a film being projected largely onto a wall.

The film People of No Consequence portrayed an empty municipal hall lined with empty seats. As the film progressed a constant flow of elders in traditional Russian headwear is seen entering the room and filling the seats from front to back. As they took their seats they did not speak and they did not acknowledge the camera. Instead they sat with wandering eyes seemingly waiting for something to happen. Once all the seats were filled I found my own feelings mirroring those of the individuals in the video, as I waited anxiously for some sort of payoff. But instead the film fades anticlimactically to black leaving me feeling empty and unsatisfied.

I left this installation with question upon question of what I had witnessed. It seemed my questioning would lead me to further inform myself of these unfamiliar histories. While simple at a surface level, the artwork had layer upon layer of social political commentary. As I previously had no knowledge of the events referred to in the film, or even of the existence of Chechnya, this work left me feeling enlightened yet disturbed that such catastrophic events take place with little to no understanding of their aftermath. These feelings stuck with me and left an impactful impression that has me curious about the artists other works.