PARS PRO TOTO

Online Screenings by peer to space

Pars Pro Toto is peer to space’s online series showcasing video art works which focus on very personal stories narrated by the artist or by the protagonist. The works are embedded in a thematic context of cultural, social, political, or environmental issues. A new iteration focusing on a further topic will be released quarterly.

Pars Pro Toto creates a digital space for users to be silent observers and to simultaneously witness the social complexity of the world. By discovering artworks based on individual experiences yet presented in a broader context, the series demonstrates how the personal symbolizes a part of the whole, a pars pro toto. The personal story seen as an extract of an overall reality becomes visible and fits into the mosaic of the collective experience. Exploring larger issues through the individual lens activates awareness within the viewers. This leads to a deeper and more empathetic understanding of today’s global social conditions. The series promotes the importance of freedom of expression and the necessity of providing a voice for everyone as a basis for a caring and participatory society.

Another Person In You

(Online from April 1 until June 30, 2021)

Works by Meggy Rustamova, Yarli Allison, Nina Mangalanayagam

Curated by Gloria Aino Grzywatz

The fifth iteration of PARS PRO TOTO focuses on language as part of our identity. The stories of artists Meggy Rustamova, Yarli Allison, and Nina Mangalanayagam explore how the language we think and interact in influences the way we are. Just like the individual self of its speaker, each language has its own history and cultural origins. As such, it expresses particular cultures, both individually and collectively. Language as a crucial form of communication connects and divides us equally. It influences our specific perception of reality, provides information about our own identity and simultaneously shapes it. The exhibition title refers to the czech adage Every language is a person in you. This saying reflects the influence of language on our self-perception and view of the world. Who am I when I think or speak in a certain language? Do I see the world differently depending on the language I speak?

**Meggy Rustamova (BEL/GEO), Babel, video, 7:41 min., 2019**

BABEL_Video_still_Update_2020_Rustamova_Meggy Klein.jpg

*Meggy Rustamova, Portrait © Tomek-Dersu-Aaron*

Meggy Rustamova’s work Babel depicts the artist’s mother trying hard to remember some words from her native language: Assyrian. Simple words like numbers and days reappear from the bottom of the age. Juliette Rustamova’s memories emerge little by little. Shared moments of childhood, moments of joy and pride related to a language are transmitted intuitively. Assyrian is threatened with extinction despite the existence of many Christians from Syria, Iran and Iraq who still speak it while migrating to Armenia and Georgia. Language is the link to these religious communities, an inheritance both individual and collective. Passing down and translating an endangered language in a minority context is critical. Like all life that passes, this film portrays the irremediable loss of wealth fallen into oblivion as well as the family heritage and ancestry we must preserve.

meggyrustamova.com

Yarli Allison (GBR/CN), In Virtual Return You (can't) Dehaunt 於虛擬的彼岸魂(不)散, video, 24:18 min., 2020

Yarli Allison’s work In Virtual Return You (can't) Dehaunt 於虛擬的彼岸魂(不)散 follows the real life stories of four queer Hong Kong (trans)migrants, reconstructing their losthouses in virtual reality. This draws attention to diasporic narratives and cultural archives through the process of cognitively metaphorical returns. Throughout the work, the concept of obsessive return is exposed and attempts are made to move from longing to belonging. Metaphorical representation of in- between, embodiment of unconscious imprisonment and cultural alienation often associated with acquisition of specific tongue. Allison's work shows how speaking and thinking in different languages connects us with or alienates us from the place where we live. Although the digital connection of the Hong Kong diaspora’s strengthens their temporal sense, migration always remains impractible.

yarliallison.com

Nina Mangalanayagam **(UK), We call her Pulle, video, 22:00 min., 2015**

*Nina Mangalanayagam, Portrait © Hendrik Zeitler*

Nina Mangalanayagam’s work We call her Pulle focuses on the artist’s relationship to her aunt, Pulle. Her aunt lives on the Jaffna peninsula in Sri Lanka, where Nina’s father was born. Due to the civil war in Sri Lanka, Nina had little relationship to Sri Lanka and her Tamil family while growing up in Scandinavia. The work shows an intimate relationship between two women of different generations in one family, who do not share language, culture or experience. The completed artwork contests ideas of origin and the stories we construct about ourselves, and questions assumptions and attitudes that Nina has brought with her from her European background. We call her Pulle examines and interrogates how we build an image of our past and ourselves – through parents`memories, historical narratives, visual framing and language.

ninamanga.com