Don't Shrink Me to the Size of a Bullet: The Works of Hiwa K, edited by Anthony Downey (Walther König Verlag, 2017)

Abstract

Covering over decade of projects, Don't Shrink Me to the Size of a Bullet: The Works of Hiwa K provides the first comprehensive account of the artist's practice to date. Edited by Anthony Downey, with a foreword by Heike Catherina Mertens and Krist Gruijthuijsen, the volume includes essays by Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Natasha Ginwala, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Aneta Szyłak, and a conversation between the artist and Bakir Ali. A series of texts have been prepared and revised by the artist, and he has also included a collection of anecdotes that recount gossip, stories, jokes, personal insights, conundrums, and aphorisms garnered from multiple sources. These have all been translated into Kurdish for the first time. The volume is fully illustrated and will contain extended notes on the works. Don't Shrink Me to the Size of a Bullet offers context and background to Hiwa K's works from 2005 onwards, including Arbeitsplatz (Workspace) (2005), Cooking with Mama (2005–ongoing), Inappropriation (2009), and Country Guitar Lessons (2005–11), all of which either utilized or subverted spaces within an art institution. Other projects, such as Moon Calendar (2007), This Lemon Tastes of Apple (2011), and Do You Remember What You Are Burning? (2011), focus on historical events in Kurdistan and, more broadly, Iraq; while issues of migration and the fraught experiences associated with forced exile are explored in Pre-Image (2010). The historical and geopolitical realities of immaterial and material exchange come to the fore in Qatees (2009), Chicago Boys: While They Were Singing, We Were Dreaming (2010), It's Spring and the Weather Is Great So Let's Close All Object Matters (2012), My Father's Colour Periods (2013), and The Bell Project (2014–15). More recent works, such as Existentialism in Kurdistan (Raw Materiality 01) (2016–ongoing), call attention to the impact of neoliberal dogma on Kurdistan and its all too imminent impact on the region's population, economic history, and cultural practices. In the spirit of the artist's work, this volume will introduce a new audience to his projects and offer additional insights for those who already know it.