INGER-JOHANNE BRAUTASET EXHIBITION "THE ROAD TO ALEPPO"

The art project "The Road to Aleppo" started for Inger-Johanne Brautaset as a fascination for ancient traces and  structures from neolitic cities in Syria, which has been uncovered by archaeological excavations. As time went by the project has grown,- the war situation has leaved one´s mark on her works.  In the time she has been working with  project it has made a great impact to see that the ancientart and traces, which have fascinated Brautaset so much after her travelling in the country in peace time, now is the target for the wars destruction.
 
Professor of art history Siri S.Lexau says about Inger Brautaset work: "Quite often, Brautaset places a lattice between the viewer and the past, the grid is made by scratching openings through paper she has hand crafted herself. Brautaset works layer upon layer with that which has been, and that which is, but which can also disappear. She studies the traces left by the complexity of human life through the centuries, which are laying there, more or less open for interpretation. Similar to the way in which sand and wind conceal physical monuments, she also partly covers images at the deepest level of pictures. Some things she hides, some she shows. Memory are reality are the same. Those who survive the war in Syria have a heavy burder to carry into the future. Memories of destroyed buildings, social and cultural relations torn apart, pain and separation will accomany them. They will carry inside them an entiere city filled with trauma, but also beauty and joy. Some things will stand out, other memories will fade. Fundamentally, Brautaset´s work is about dimensions of time and all that it entails for human creation, memories and disintegration."

All the images are in handmade paper from the Nepoli fibre Daphne, pigments, acrylic paint, pva. on paper or canvas, mixed technique.

Inger Brautaset connect this show to the 25th anniversary of the independancy of the Lithuanian republic. In 1991 Lithuanian artists finally got the possibility to freely participate with their works at an exhibition outside of the border of Lithuania – the exhibition was held in Bergen in collaboration with the Foundation Gallery 3,14. As a major event for both Lithuanian and Norway, exhibiting Lithuanian contemporary art of highest artistic standards, it also showed an historical exhibition Lithuanian Art.