Pakistan Now
An exhibition by Manolo Ty in collaboration with Gudskul and Friends (2020)
Manolo Ty (Hagen, Germany) is a photographer with a special interest in the diversity of cultures, traditions and intercultural understanding around the world. With his works Ty wants to raise awareness of traditions and environments that are under threat as well as create a global forum for promoting an understanding of different cultures.
On Manolo's visit to Jakarta, precisely to the Gudskul Ecosystem, Manolo wanted to conduct an experiment. He asked that several artists and friends of Gudskul would respond to his work without restrictions of any kind. Each of Manolo's photographic prints are boldly re-interpreted, composed, and connected with other visual elements into a collaborative work of art; All in accordance with the the personal interpretation of observing Manolo's work for the first time.
I, as a friend of Gudskul, joined this project. I picked 3 of Manolo's photographs which struck me most and responded to them using embroidery and markers.
1. Bow
I chose Manolo's photograph which depicts a figure bowing down as they go through a praying ritual. I embroidered the piece with a white string and golden beads to give it a feel of a carpet.
I displayed the artwork on a low pedestal so that visitors need to bend down to look at it. Hence, the visitors unintentionally replicates the posture of the figure in the picture when looking at the work.
Embroidered photograph
Display of the work in the exhibition
Illustration of what the audience had to do to view my work
Close-up detail of the embroidery
2. Pet the fish
I responded to Manolo's photograph of several fishes swimming together to look like one bigger fish.
I embroidered rainbow flat circular beads to emphasize the scaly texture of the fish. I sewed them in a way that the colours are reversible by touch.
Side 1: Bottom fish's scale is purple
Side 2: Bottom fish's scale is green
3. Hopscotch
The last picture I chose was one which brought nostalgic emotions of flying in a plane. I connected the nostalgic emotions associated with travelling to the nostalgia of playing hopscotch as a child, travelling from one box to another and back.
