Acts of Care Exhibition 3: Nayab Noor Ikram, Sampsa Virkajärvi “Families”
Kana Kawanishi Photography
Starts in 5 days
SHARE
Artists
Nayab Noor Ikram, Sampsa Virkajärvi
For the final phase of Acts of Care, KANA KAWANISHI PHOTOGRAPHY will present an exhibition by two artists, Nayab Noor Ikram, and Sampsa Virkajärvi, titled “Acts of Care: Families” starting April 5, 2025.
Nayab Noor Ikram is a Finland-based visual artist and photographer of the Pakistani diaspora from the Åland Islands. In her artistic practice, Ikram engages with moving images, photography, performances, and installations, exploring concepts related to the feeling of in-betweenness, cultural identity, and memory through rituals and symbolism.
The Family, a two-channel video installation featured in this exhibition, captures the performance of the artist and her family. Set against the backdrop of a stunning sunset, the mother ritualistically begins to wash the artist’s hair. While their elongated voices evoke nostalgia reminiscent of a childhood call and seem to resonate with each viewer’s roots, this improvisation fosters communication that elicits the tensions, emotions, and memories within each family member, prompting us to reflect on the creation and inheritance of traditions and rituals.
The other artist, Sampsa Virkajärvi, is a visual artist and documentary filmmaker interested in time and change and society, as well as in individual choices and the impossibilities of making them. This exhibition will feature two video works by Virkajärvi.
In What Remains?, the artist portrays the final years of his mother, who suffers from dementia, in her home, illustrating how time and place shift as the disease advances. How many homes does she inhabit at once? The work also seeks to depict some of the challenges that aging individuals and their caregivers face when she does not remember, see, or understand.
The other work, With You, is a nonfiction piece about his father, documented by the artist until the father took his last breath. His father, who was once the pillar of the family as a pilot, spends almost all day in bed during his final years. Although his father was quite different from the artist in many ways—including the societies they grew up in, their careers, and even their personalities—the artist expresses deep respect for his father while revealing quiet, mixed feelings, concluding with the following words: “Of your 80 years, we spent 18 together. (...) We may not have spent enough time together.”
Every person, creature, and life has a parent who passed down its genes. In our fast-paced lives, we often turn away from our childhood past and the inevitable separation that lies ahead. The works of these two Finland-based artists remind us of the importance of the family unit and the past and future we often overlook, highlighting the preciousness of what we currently hold in our hands.
Nayab Noor Ikram is a Finland-based visual artist and photographer of the Pakistani diaspora from the Åland Islands. In her artistic practice, Ikram engages with moving images, photography, performances, and installations, exploring concepts related to the feeling of in-betweenness, cultural identity, and memory through rituals and symbolism.
The Family, a two-channel video installation featured in this exhibition, captures the performance of the artist and her family. Set against the backdrop of a stunning sunset, the mother ritualistically begins to wash the artist’s hair. While their elongated voices evoke nostalgia reminiscent of a childhood call and seem to resonate with each viewer’s roots, this improvisation fosters communication that elicits the tensions, emotions, and memories within each family member, prompting us to reflect on the creation and inheritance of traditions and rituals.
The other artist, Sampsa Virkajärvi, is a visual artist and documentary filmmaker interested in time and change and society, as well as in individual choices and the impossibilities of making them. This exhibition will feature two video works by Virkajärvi.
In What Remains?, the artist portrays the final years of his mother, who suffers from dementia, in her home, illustrating how time and place shift as the disease advances. How many homes does she inhabit at once? The work also seeks to depict some of the challenges that aging individuals and their caregivers face when she does not remember, see, or understand.
The other work, With You, is a nonfiction piece about his father, documented by the artist until the father took his last breath. His father, who was once the pillar of the family as a pilot, spends almost all day in bed during his final years. Although his father was quite different from the artist in many ways—including the societies they grew up in, their careers, and even their personalities—the artist expresses deep respect for his father while revealing quiet, mixed feelings, concluding with the following words: “Of your 80 years, we spent 18 together. (...) We may not have spent enough time together.”
Every person, creature, and life has a parent who passed down its genes. In our fast-paced lives, we often turn away from our childhood past and the inevitable separation that lies ahead. The works of these two Finland-based artists remind us of the importance of the family unit and the past and future we often overlook, highlighting the preciousness of what we currently hold in our hands.
Schedule | Apr 5 (Sat) 2025-Apr 26 (Sat) 2025 Opening Hours Information
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://www.kanakawanishi.com/en-exhibition-054-acts-of-care | ||||
| Venue | Kana Kawanishi Photography http://www.kanakawanishi.com/ | ||||
| Location | 5F, 2-7-5 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0031 | ||||
| Access | 9 minute walk from exit 5 at Nogizaka Station on the Chiyoda line. 11 minute walk from exit A5 at Omotesando Station on the Ginza, Hanzomon and Chiyoda lines. 11 minute walk from exit 1a at Roppongi Station on the Hibiya or Toei Oedo line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-5843-9128 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it  |
Back to Articles
SHARE
Nearby Events
...
Loading.................................................
No comments yet