MUNTHE ART MONDAY: EVALAJKA PERVIN
Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.
I’m a multimedia conceptual self-taught artist, co-founder and artistic director of FOYER Contemporary, which is a site specific Artspace. My childhood fascination of my independent powerful female grannies in Lahore has always inspired me to believe in myself and strive for the impossible. If the gut feeling and integrity takes you down a path - one must wander. The keynote in my work is female rituals, the act of personal coiffure, cultural inheritance and mosaics of memories unfolded in video work, installation, spoken word, poetry and images on canvas and paper. Launching the site specific Artspace FOYER Contemporary in the borough of Østerbro in Copenhagen, which is a contemporary Artspace where artists are selected or invited to create work at one of the oldest movie theatres in Copenhagen, has given a platform for contemporary artists to be challenged in their process of creating art in a playful way, thus creating new angle in their line of work. Playfulness is the key word managing and creating the art space with Charlotte Malte and the members of the board.
What made you pursue a career in the arts?
I always knew there was something from my early childhood I needed to attend to, a way to tell stories about the lived life. When I was 19 after high school, I discovered sculpturing with clay that kicked off my pursue for a career in the art. Today I’m a storyteller using different kinds of media. As a self-taught artist, I’m always in a process of creating not just my line of work but also with collaborations with other artists and I’m very keen on also being able to create a platform at FOYER Contemporary to support emerging artists.
Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?
As a woman and a mother, the task, and the urge to be in a process to create, can be challenging and hard. I’m happy and honored to have female artists and people working with me, and friends who support and understand the position I’m in. It is utmost important as a woman to nourish the art and create a bond with like-minded people to be able to move forward. We all stand on the shoulders of the giants.
Can you name some other (female) artists inspires you and explain why they do so?
My deepest respect goes to Yoko Ono as a conceptual artist, especially the performance is mind blowing. She’s raw, the hybrid of two cultural worlds that’s her base to create from and the time she created in (1960 -). My favorite piece is “Cut Piece”, as it is not only an important piece of female art documented, but it also consists of so many layers, as is the body of my works around Lahore to Copenhagen. Marina Abromovich is also a conceptual, performance feminist artist, that I find inspirational. I’m fascinated with the relationship she explores between the performer and audience. In her famous piece “Rythm 0 1974” she is a very powerful performer inspiring me in my approach to performance. I must also mention Louise Bourgeois, the personal poetry in the sculptural installation the masterpiece “Cells 1986” (she created 60 cells) is a visual diary with so many layers spanning from childhood memories. This approach of creating opens my mind and approach towards dimension when I look at my video work as an installation.
What have been the most challenging aspect of being a female artist?
My art is not masculine. The images created are poetic and strong, just like my grannies from Lahore. That’s a challenging aspect, but I’m very happy that the times are changing slowly, and with other women in the arts we can make a change for women and all genders in any form.
What would you like people to notice in your artwork?
I truly hope my work lives as images with the viewer and when least expected they pop up in their mind sowing a seed of feminist art filled with humor, playfulness, and hybrid of cultural poetry.
Evalejka is wearing our GISELA jacket.