Jamal Penjweny

Autor kojeg predstavljamo kontaktirao nas je e-poštom, koju smo zamalo izbrisali misleći da je riječ o još jednom spamu, kakve nažalost svakodnevno dobivamo. Ipak ovaj put pismo naslovljeno sa „Dear Sir and Madam“, nije nudilo bolji web hosting ili tablete za poboljšanje potencije, već smo u njemu našli obraćanje cijenjenog kurdskog umjetnika, filmaša i fotografa iz Iraka. Javio nam se Jamal Penjweny, u nadi da bismo mogli surađivati.

Život nije animirani film, ne možeš nacrtati što bi htio.

Rad Jamala Penjwenya Iraq is Flying The Guardian stavlja među deset najboljih fotografskih radova u 2014. godini. Izlagao je u Iračkom paviljonu na Bienalu u Veneciji 2013. Njegovi radovi su objavljeni u publikacijama New York Times i National Geographic, a posebno nas se dojmila njegova serija fotografija objavljenih u Daily Mailu. Na tim fotografijama odrasli ljudi drže fotografije zanimanja kojima su se htjeli baviti kada su bili djeca.

jamalpenjwenyswimmer1

Wish - Swimmer

Intervju

Saznao sam kako ste se počeli baviti fotografijom još kao mladi pastir. Što Vas je potaklo na to te što su bili motivi Vaših prvih fotografija?

U selu moga djeda, koje se nalazi između Irana i Iraka, niste u to vrijeme imali mnogo izbora: mogli se biti pastir, švercer ili ratar. Ja sam bio ono prvo. No svakog sam dana govorio sam sebi da moram promijeniti svoj život. Počeo sam izrađivati predmete. Prvo sam počeo raditi skulpture od kamenja što sam ih nalazio u rijeci te ih oslikavao za prodaju. Napravio sam i autić od ostataka oružja što sam ga našao oko sela. Tako sam se formirao kao umjetnik. To je bilo posve slučajno.

Vaše mi fotografije, kao Europljaninu, djeluju kao da su nadahnute pričama iz “1001 noći”. U njima vidim nešto istodobno i epično i čarobno. Možete li nam reći koje su sličnosti i razlike kurdske i arapske kulture? 

Poput mnogih mojih vršnjaka mogu za sebe reći da sam ratno dijete. Ratovi u Iraku obilježili su sve faze našega života: rodili smo se na početku sukoba Irana i Iraka da bismo stasali u ljude nakon invazije Kuvajta. Već kao odrasli ljudi slušali smo pucnjavu kurdskog građanskog rata, a ženili smo se za vrijeme američke invazije 2003. godine. Sjećam se da u vrijeme moga odrastanja nismo imalu struje u selu, pa su nam u kuću dolazili stariji ljudi koji bi pričali priče o onoj ljepšoj strani života. Tako su se u mojoj duši stvorile lijepe slike i sva je moja umjetnost iz njih potekla…  Nedostaju mi i ti ljudi i te priče.

Kako Vaše fotografije prihvaćaju u Iraku? Smatra li se tkogod njima povrijeđen?

Mislim da još nije došlo vrijeme da svoja djela, i zbog njihove poruke i zbog koncepcije, prikažem u Iraku. To je nešto poput glazbe: ne želite biti preblizu izvođačima da biste je doživjeli – uvijek želite biti pomalo udaljeni od orkestra. Tako bi i prikazivanje moje umjetnosti u Iraku bilo preblizu kući. Prestao sam se baviti novinarskom, reporterskom fotografijom da bih se posvetio onoj umjetničkoj. Želim ispraviti velikim dijelom krivu sliku o Iraku kakvu je plasiraju mediji. Ona je većinom negativna jer se usredotočuje na Irak kao na zemlju u ratu, dok ja nastojim prikazati onu drugu njegovu stranu – baveći se prije iračkim životom i njegovom budućnošču nego ratom.

Gotovo da mogu objektivizirati ljude koje fotografiram, stavljajući ih u središte svoga djela te ih oblikujući poput skulptura svojim lećama. To se posebno vidi u seriji “Irak leti”, koja obuhvaća moje prve fotografije, nastale upravo na vrhuncu građanskog rata. Te su me fotografije izvele na međunarodnu pozornicu.

jamalpenjwenyiraqisflying

Iraq Is Flying

Kako su Vaše fotografije prihvaćene u Europi i Americi? 

Radim za sebe ili – točnije rečeno – započeo sam iz dječjih sjećanja i djetinjstva, no sada vidim da je moja umjetnost postala dijelom svjetske umjetnosti o čemu svjedoči i komentar iz Guardiana: “Penjweny se rodio 1981. u selu koje danas pripada Kurdistanu. Počeo je snimati kao mladi pastir starom kamerom. Njegovi su motivi bili, i još jesu, ono što vidi oko sebe: ljudi iračkog Kurdistana. Njegove su tehničke mogućnosti skromne, pravi izazov za europske umjetnike: foto-aparat, mobitel, papir, kreda i olovka, a odnedavno i kompjutor za obradu snimljenoga. Iz toga je proizašlo djelo velike dubine, širine i suosjećajnosti, uvodeći nas u bogatstva nekoga drugog svijeta. Njegovo je kraljevstvo u njemu, kraljevstvo umjetnosti.

Koliko Vam digitalna tehnologija olakšava da prezentirate svoje djelo široj publici te kako ste se naučili njome služiti?

Fotografije su snimljene u različito vrijeme i na mnogim mjestima diljem Iraka. One prikazuju obične ljude koji žive usred rata. To su one fotografije u crno-bijeloj tehnici na kojima sam docrtao svijetle i ružičaste motive. Izvorne fotografije govore o žrtvi i stradanju, no moji ih dodaci dižu na višu razinu, dajući gledatelju poruku nade. Radim u skućenim okolnostima, s minimumom moderne opreme (foto-aparat, papir, kreda, olovka, mobitel – kako piše Guardian); kompjuter (za editiranje) tek je najnoviji dodatak mom arsenalu. No to ne utječe bitno na moj rad… Što bih učinio s naprednijom tehnologijom? Čini mi se da je to pitanje nebitno.

Što biste poručili početniku u umjetničkoj fotografiji koji želi biti poznat i izvan svoje domovine? 

Kada srećem ljude govorim im: “Želim prenijeti vaše snove, snove koje se pokatkad bojite sami izreći.” Kada imate nadu, ono što vam se čini nemogućim postaje moguće. No ono u što vjerujete ne možete vidjeti. Kada sam kao dječarac čuvao stoku u kurdistanskim planinama, nitko nije ni sanjao da bih mogao doći na takva mjesta kao što su London, Pariz, Amerika – čitav svjet. No ipak sam došao. Moji su me snovi tamo doveli. Ako želite uspjeti morate vjerovati u sebe i svoje snove.

No još bih nešto dodao.

Kada sam bio mlad došla mi je pod ruku knjiga o Michelangelu. Odrastao sam u kurdistanskim gudurama. Gledao sam u Michelangelove skultpure i radio svoje vlastite. Kada sam odrastao shvatio sam da je umjetnost nešto osobno, ona mora dolaziti iznutra. Ne želim nikoga ni ništa oponašati. Svatko ima dovoljno snage u sebi da se može izraziti u umjetničkom djelu. Danas je moje životno iskustvo ono što me inspirira.

jamalpenjweny

Interview - English
It was told that your began taking photographs as a young shepherd. What specifically moved you to do that and what were motives of your first photographs?

In my grandfather village between Iraq- Iran you did not have much choice at that time: you could be a shepherd, a smuggler or a farmer. I was a shepherd. Every day, I told myself that I wanted to change my life. I began making things. I made sculptures from stones I found in rivers and painted them so I could sell them. I also built a car for children from the remains of guns that I found in the fields around the village. This is how I developed into an artist. It was a complete accident.

Your photographs seem to be inspired, as we Europeans see it, by the stories of “1001 nights”. There is something in them both epic and fantastic. Tell us, please, how you see the differences and similarities of Arabic and Kurdish culture. 

Just like many others of my age, I can say that I am a child of war. Iraq’s wars have marked the phases of our life: we were born at the beginning of the Iraq- Iran war and we became teenagers after the invasion of Kuwait. We were adults when we listened to gunfire during the Kurdish civil war and we were getting married during the US invasion of 2003.  I remember in my village growing up we didn’t have electricity so when I was a child I brought all the old people to my house to tell stories about life and the beautiful things in life. That is where I got all the beautiful images in my mind and all of my art comes from that… I miss them.

How your photographs have been accepted in Iraq? Has somebody been offended by them?

From my idea and concept of my art works I think now is not the right time to show my work in Iraq. It’s a bit like for music – you don’t want to be too close to the stage to appreciate the music – you need to be at some distance from the orchestra – showing my pictures in Iraq would be too close to home.
I stopped my career in photojournalism to dedicate myself to the artwork. I expressed frustration at the recent focus of media on Iraq, it has been largely negative and focused on Iraq as a war country, fundamental desire was to show another side of Iraq – to show the life and future of Iraq rather than focusing on war. I focuses on photography as mean of expression, I training as a sculptor continues to influence to this day.
I almost objectify the people I photograph, placing them at the center of my work, and capturing them like I would for sculptures through my lens. Notably started in the peak of the civil war, “Iraq is flying” was one of my first art projects. Through it, i attempts to present a more optimistic view of Iraq. This project helped me to gain considerable international attention since and became the first of many projects.

How your photographs have been accepted in Europe and the US?

I am doing my art work for my self, I start doing my art with my childhood memoirs and childhood life, but now as I see my art works its part of the world art and the world, here is one of the comment about my work in the Guardian newspaper: “Penjweny was born in a village in present-day Kurdistan in 1981. He first began taking photographs on an old-fashioned camera as a young shepherd. His subject was and is all around him: the people of Iraqi Kurdistan. His means are so limited they would challenge many a European artist: the camera, a mobile phone, paper, chalk and pencil, nowadays a computer for editing. From these he has made work of great depth, breadth and empathy, taking one into the furthest reaches of another world. His is a kingdom in, and of, art”.

How did digital technology help you to present your work to wider audience, and how did you learn to use it?

The photographs were taken at different times and in different places all over Iraq, these are ordinary people living in the midst of war,
these are black-and-white photographs on to which I have scribbled bright and rosy drawings. The original images speak of sadness and loss, but my additions elevate them, telling the viewer to read instead a message of hope. My works in straitened circumstances, with minimal modern equipment (camera, paper, chalk, pencil, mobile phone); a computer (for editing) is a recent addition to the weapons in his armoury. But this makes no difference to the power of my work and resonant, my work give breadth, depth and empathy… What would I make with more advanced technology? The question becomes irrelevant.”

What is your advice to beginner artists who want to be noticed outside of their own country?

When I meet people, I talk to them: I want to interpret their dreams, dreams they don’t even dare to express sometimes. When you have hope, what seems impossible becomes possible. It’s about believing in that which you cannot see with your eyes. When I was a little boy, working as a shepherd in Kurdistan’s mountains, no one believed I would ever reach places like London, Paris, America and all the world. But I did. My dreams brought me there.”, If you want be a great person should believe your self and your dreams.

If you want to add something, please do.

When I was young I discovered a book about Michelangelo. I grew up in Kurdistan mountain. I looked at Michelangelo’s work and made my own sculptures. As I grew older, I realised that art was personal and had to come from within. I don’t want to copy anything. Everybody has a lot of power inside them, or ambition, which art can express. Now, my own experiences are what motivate me.

The Guardian BBC Pink Dream Daily Mail