KW Institute for Contemporary Art and the Schering Stiftung present Don’t Shrink me to the Size  of a Bullet by artist Hiwa K (born 1975, IQ), winner of the Schering Stiftung Art Award 2016. For the exhibition at KW, the artist presents a selection of works from the past ten years as well as an ambitious new production, co-produced by the Schering Stiftung, with support of the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. Forced to leave his home country for political reasons, the disconnection with what was formally known as “home” is crucial to the artistic inquiry undertaken by Hiwa K.

This question drives the artist to produce work in which vernacular forms, oral histories, and political constructs are intertwined. The various references in his practice consist of stories told by family members and friends, found situations, and everyday encounters that evolve around make-shift solutions and pragmatic approaches to often complex ideas and concepts. In this capacity, the artist attempts to retain the traditions surrounding his upbringing while also obtaining the knowledge that will help him to further integrate into newer environments.

The longing for connection, curiosity, and the desire to learn remain key to the artist’s exploration of the relationship between personal and the collective systems of thought. When arriving in Europe in 2001, he took the opportunity to study music and became a pupil of the Flamenco master Paco Peña. Acting as a tool to create another dimension of critique within today’s society, his relationship to music has since become a key element in the work. Music has also functioned as a bridge to create a strong collective and participatory dimension within his practice and working models. The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive publication, which presents the entirety of the artist’s oeuvre to date. The publication, Don’t Shrink Me to the Size of a Bullet, is edited by Anthony Downey and is published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König.

Caption #1: Hiwa K, My Father’s Color Period (Detail/ detail) 2012, Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling

Caption #2: f.l.t.r.: Hiwa K, My Father’s Color Period, 2012; What the Barbarians did not do, did the Barberini, 2012/2017, Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling

Caption #3 f.l.t.r.: Hiwa K, The Existentialist Scene in Kurdistan (Raw Materiality 01), 2017, Multichannel video installation, This Lemon tastes of Apple, 2011, Single-channel HD Video, Installation view, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling

Caption #4 : Hiwa K, Moon Calendar, Iraq, 2007, Video, 4:3, /Color, Sound, 12:16 min, Video Still
© Hiwa KC
Courtesy Hiwa K und/and KOW, Berlin

Caption #5 : Hiwa K, Moon Calendar, Iraq, 2007Video, 4:3, Color,Sound, 12:16 min, Video Still
© Hiwa K
Courtesy Hiwa K und/and KOW, Berlin

Caption #6: Hiwa K, For a Few Socks of Marbles (Detail), 2012, Courtesy of the artist, KOW, Berlin and Prometeogallery di Ida Pisani, Milan/Lucca (IT)

Caption #8: Hiwa K, The Bell Project, 2007/2015, Two-channel video, installation, Installation view KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling

Caption #9: Hiwa K, Installation view Don’t Shrink Me to the Size of a Bullet, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2017, Photo: Frank Sperling

All works Courtesy of the artist, KOW, Berlin and Prometeogallery di Ida Pisani, Milan/Lucca (IT)