'When The Nest Falls' by Esna Su | Exhibition and Workshop
16, 20 and 21-23 June 2018
'When The Nest Falls', by Esna Su
As part of 'The Refugee I' collection, Esna presented 'When The Nest Falls', a workshop, performance and installation at Sarabande: The Lee Alexander McQueen Foundation.
Workshop
16 June 2018
10:00-18:00
Performances
20 June 2018
Doors open: 18:30
Performances: 19:00 & 19:45
“Pieces of The PEACE” Installation
21 - 23 June 2018
11:00-18:00
‘When The Nest Falls’ Workshop
Whether you’re interested in celebrating the culture, food and music of Turkey and Syria or the end of Ramadan, we have the event for you at Sarabande this Saturday 16thJune.
Drop by the foundation to be part of an extraordinary workshop, creating works using Swarovski crystals with jeweller and contemporary artist, Esna Su. Learn traditional techniques handed down through generations of artisans and explore both Turkish and Syrian heritage through food, music and community. Due to the nature of the workshop, this event is open to women and women with children to attend.
Come and go as you please, for an hour or the whole day! Start your Saturday with a delicious Turkish breakfast, feast on Turkish Mezes provided by Babel Cafe & Restaurant for lunch or make it in time for handmade Damascus cakes for afternoon tea!
Turkish Breakfast
10:00-11:00
Turkish Bagel & pastry
Coffee & Turkish Tea
Turkish Lunch by Babel Cafe & Restaurant
13:00-14:00
Turkish Mezes
Tortilla
Afternoon Tea
16:00-17:00
Home made cakes: Şam Tatlısı (Dessert of Damascus)
Coffee & Turkish Tea
Su is inviting 65 women and women with children, representative of the number of Syrian cities, to a unique workshop. Collectively, they will embroider 3,700 Swarovski crystals, this is the distance in km from London to Aleppo, forming one of the 6 Arabic letters of السلام (Al-Salam), The Peace. Like a shrapnel or seeds for hope, sharp yet luminous, the crystals inhabit the hand-woven carpet, which itself appears wounded. Su aims to facilitate and celebrate the collaborative process of creation, mending and reflection.
The Hospital Club 100 award-winning artist will present the completed carpet in an installation, 'Pieces of the PEACE' and as part of her performance, ‘When The Nest Falls’ during London Refugee Week.
Book your tickets now - only 65 spaces available! Attendees can come and go throughout the day as they please.
‘When The Nest Falls’ Performance
This performance will display three tableaus wearing Su’s hand-woven sculptures, which have been crafted using traditional Middle-eastern techniques of carpet making, 'Hasir', which involves constant weaving. Imbued with the weight of heritage, the organic shapes of the pieces envelop the wearer like external limbs. They illustrate the burden of displacement and the aspiration for protection and preservation in a troubled political context.
Each piece will adopt a unique role, embodying the refugees’ vast and varying challenges that have been perpetuated by a sense of fragile ambiguity. The tableaus will unfold to reveal how sharply stability can be toppled when the weight of the future is dominated by such dangerous uncertainty. The figures' elastic garments constitute the attempts of refugees to flee and reach out despite being so constrained, prompting an inevitable and repetitive return to the starting point.
Live music will circle the audience; drums will echo collective heartbeats before morphing into the pulse of war, the tempo of bombings. The sculptures will then translate into a shelter as Su points again to the theme of ambivalence through the constant interplay between multifaceted sounds, materials and movements.
‘Pieces of The PEACE’ Installation
Following Su’s ‘When The Nest Falls’ performance, her collection will remain in the space and will be displayed as an installation. The tones of these sculptures are representative of bridal homes, henna and the colour of the soil of Syria. In addition, waved blue Swarovski Crystals characterize the sea, paying tribute to the refugees who were drowned in the Mediterranean when seeking refuge.
At the entrance, the “Pieces of the PEACE” carpet will be presented. Here, images of destruction, war and exodus will be projected onto a splintered carpet, made from paper rush and woven with muslin and gauze, bridging the gaps and asperities of its surface. Each fragment is inlaid with 3,700 Swarovski crystals, representative of the distance (km) between London and Aleppo, forming one of the 6 Arabic letters of السلام (Al-Salam), The Peace. Like a shrapnel or seeds for hope, sharp yet luminous, the crystals inhabit the carpet, which itself appears wounded.
Each crystal, will be inset manually by 65 women and women with children during the workshop help by Su, indicative of the number of Syrian cities. This initiative aims to facilitate and celebrate the collaborative process of creation, mending and reflection.
It’s been over 7 years since the war in Syria started. Despite hope for the war to come to an end, it continues to expand, destroying the homes and lives of those in small villages and cities until they are completely unrecognisable from their former state. In turn, hopes of building new lives have been crushed, resulting in a surplus of refugees seeking asylum.
