bing pixel

Soo Bood, Bood / Come Jump, Jump – Kaamil A. Haider

>

SOOMAAL FELLOWSHIP EXHIBITION – 2019

Soo Bood, Bood / Come Jump, Jump – Kaamil A. Haider


August 1 – 29, Gage Gallery

Artists Talk & Reception: August 17, 2019, 6pm, Gage Family Art Gallery


Artist Statement

Soo Bood, Bood / Come Jump, Jump is a multi-channel video installation that uses traditional Somali dance as its starting point. The work examines the internal environment and logic of dance and its accompanying elements of movements and sound. Dance, as in all cultures, particularly in this Somali cultural context, call for many reasons, e.g., celebration, social connection, and self expression. This installation offers varied vignettes of the transformation and transcendence the body assumes as the dancers move, chant, clap and stomp in a unified frenzied rhythm.

In his practice, the artist’s engagement and preoccupation with rituals through repetition are related to his exploration of memory, archives and experiences of his community. Themes of discussion found in this installation, and in many other works by the artist, are constant discourse within the Somali diaspora communities such as the passage of knowledge, rituals and physical connection with their heritage as they forge a new life in their new homes.

Bio

Kaamil A. Haider is Somali born visual artist and graphic designer based in Minneapolis. He has received his B.F.A. in Graphic Design at the College of Design, University of Minnesota. In his art practice, Kaamil considers the power of memory and archives in relation to his personal experiences and that of his larger community. With over a dozen exhibitions, themes of discussion found in his artworks are constant discourse within the Somali diaspora communities such as the passage of knowledge, rituals and physical connection with their heritage as they forge a new life in their receiving societies.

In addition, Kaamil is a co-founder of Soomaal House of Art, a Minneapolis based Somali artists collective supporting a growing number of emerging and established Somali artists living in Minnesota and beyond. He is the recipient of the 2018 University of Minnesota Alumni Association’s U40 Alumni Leader Award for his academic achievement and community engagement through Soomaal. Kaamil is one of the two 2019 Soomaal Fellows, an initiative by Soomaal House of Art and in partnership with Augsburg University Art Galleries. He is also a 2019 Springboard for the Arts’ 20/20 Artist Fellow.