Hayv Kahraman “Re-weaving Migrant Inscriptions” at Jack Shainman

Jack Shainman Gallery is pleased to announce Hayv Kahraman’s third solo exhibition at our 24th Street space, Re-weaving Migrant Inscriptions. In this new body of work, Kahraman focuses on the mahaffa as an object of mnemonic value. The mahaffa is a hand-held fan made by weaving the fronds of palm trees that dates from the Sumerian and Abbasid eras and is still made in the exact same way in Iraq today. Most importantly, it was one of the few objects Kahraman’s family took as they fled Baghdad during the first Gulf War. Here, she describes the object and the process of weaving her canvas: