'If No One Asks' A Capsule Review

Aslan Gaisumov is an artist from Grozny, Russia that relates his work on his personal experiences. His work, ‘If No One Asks’ is expressed within visual elements and social aspects related to war. ‘If No One Asks’ begins with a framed page titled ‘War Memoirs’ from the book ‘Memories of War’. Behind the wall is a video presentation playing called, ‘People of No Consequences’ that addresses the elderly Chechen survivors from World War 2. Aslan has brought together all these survivors for this piece. This installation is being held from January 18 to March 24 of 2019. The exhibit is in the Alvin Balkind Gallery at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver. This short work gives tribute to these survivors.

On the front wall of the gallery, there is a framed page on the wall. It reads, ‘War Memoirs page 600’ and underneath states ‘war’. All the other words are blacked out with black marker. This does not give a lot of context for the piece except knowing it is relates to war. Around the wall is a dark room with a projection on the wall showing ‘People of No Consequences’. The film began on a continuous loop. The content of the video consists of 119 Chechen elders that are silently entering a municipal hall in traditional Russian clothes. The men began to come in and sit in the front half of the room and the women proceeded after in the back. Once all the elders sat down there is a moment of suspense as you wait to see what else would happened. Unfortunately, the only thing was a blackout then progressed to loop again. The film was less than ten minutes long with only background noise from the elders moving and sitting. Thus, ending with text stating that these elders had been accused for collaborating with the Nazi’s which got them deported out of Germany. My initial opinion on this work was confusing as I didn’t quite understand what was happening or what it was about. While reflecting on Alsan’s work after attending the exhibit and realizing the issues it addresses, I was very moved. I thought it was an inspiring tribute for these elders. The title ‘If No One Asks’ makes you think about these issues on war in contemporary art and how often these topics get neglected. Gaisumov’s installation regarding surviving Chechen elders from World War 2 has very minimal content with a lot of powerful significance.

https://www.contemporaryartgallery.ca/exhibitions/aslan-gaisumov/