Hamja Ahsan, I DON’T BELONG HERE

The catalogue to the exhibition of the recipient of the Grand Prize of the 33rd Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts contains the introductory text by the curator of the exhibition Yasmín Martín Vodopivec and the artist and activist Hamja Ahsan entitled From Otherstan to Aspergistan: Imagining a homeland from solitary to solidarity. A curiosity of sorts is the list of Shy Radical songs prepared by the artist during the exhibition, which you can listen to at the attached link. The selected songs encompass his dispositional worlds, tied to the making of the project.

The exhibition I DON’T BELONG HERE (10. 9.–21. 11. 2021 at ZVKDS Gallery) refers to the award-winning project Aspergistan Referendum, which took place in Ljubljana and asked residents to vote for joining the imaginary land of shy, introverted and autistic people. The exhibition toyed with the positive outcome of the referendum at that time and showed the history of this activist movement against the domination of extroverts. It ironically addressed the repressive aspects of the state apparatus, the forced polarisation of society, and the relevance of individual initiative to bring about the radical changes needed in the community.

“Extroverts may rule the world (…), but introverts create worlds.”
(Maureen Marzi Wilson)