Hiwa K

Cooking with Mama (2021)

Hiwa K’s project is a fresh and timely iteration of an ongoing work that premiered in 2006, prophetic for today’s (post-)pandemic reality. While studying art in Mainz for four years, Hiwa K invited friends to cook with him, while his mother back in Iraq gave instructions over videophone.

Since 2006, video conferencing has become a mainstay of global communication especially important to those displaced by the turmoil of the last decade or so. But it was only with the pandemic’s lockdowns that video calls to loved ones became ubiquitous, a way of sharing everyday moments and overcoming drastic distances.At the same time, home cooking became an obsession by necessity and, possibly, the zone for a new form of politics.

For the new, post-pandemic edition of the performance, Hiwa K has developed a special street kitchen bike inspired by food stalls found in Iraq and Syria. He invites migrants living in Graz to call close friends and relatives and to cook their favorite dishes with a live audience, hopefully sparking conversations about food and its hidden political dimension, about traditions, family, and the experience of being far away from home. The events will also be broadcast via video link and recipe lists will be published in advance, allowing online guests to join.


Bio
Hiwa K (1975, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region / Iraq) is an artist whose sculptures, videos, and performances weave together his own biography with those of friends, family, and perfect strangers. Bringing difficult topics like war, migration, and the effects of neoliberalism down to earth, his work often has a participatory dimension and involves collaboration with people from all walks of life. He has had major exhibitions at the New Museum, New York (2018, 2014); Documenta 14, Kassel and Athens (2017); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2017); Venice Biennale (2015); La Triennale, Paris (2012); Serpentine Gallery, London (2012); and Manifesta 7, Trentino-Alto Adige (2008). After decades of living in Germany, Hiwa K lives in Iraq.

11.9., 11:30, 16:00

DIE BRÜCKE – soziokulturelles Zentrum and online
Grabenstraße 39
8010 Graz

18.9., 11:30, 15:30

Afro-Asiatisches Institut Graz and online
Leechgasse 24
8010 Graz

25.9., 16:00

Verein JUKUS im Jugendzentrum ECHO and online
Leuzenhofgasse 4
8020 Graz

2.10., 11:30, 16:00

Fensterplatz – Initiative für Arbeitssuchende Graz and online
Griesgasse 8
8020 Graz

9.10., 12:30, 15:30

YAP – Young Active People (Jugendzentrum der Stadt Graz) and online
Orpheumgasse 8
8020 Graz

*Followed by artist talk with
Hiwa K


Please note that this event takes place outdoors. It is moved indoors if it rains.

In German and other languages

16/12 euros

→  Ingredients


Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ʼ21    

In collaboration with Afro-Asiatisches Institut Graz; DIE BRÜCKE—soziokulturelles Zentrum; Fensterplatz—Initiative für Arbeitssuchende Graz; JUKUS—Verein zur Förderung von Jugend, Kultur und Sport; and Stadt Graz Fachbereich Offene Kinder- und Jugendarbeit