Pre-Image (Blind as the Mother Tongue)

As a member of the immigrant generation that illegally journeyed from Iraqi Kurdistan to Europe on foot, Hiwa K simulates an experience of walking through foreign territory by balancing an object made of motorbike mirrors on his nose. This “adaptation tool” acts as an extension of organs and senses, involving both the artist and viewer in a balancing act. As the artist adapts his movements to accommodate the balanced object, viewers are made to shift their perception in an attempt to make sense of the disorienting mirror images. In this manner, they catch glimpses of what Hiwa K calls “preimages,” or fragments of a puzzled future that compel us to find our way without knowing in which direction we are traveling.