About
Biography
Huner Emin is a stateless Kurdish artist. He grew up in south Kurdistan/northern Iraq and is now based in Bloomington, Indiana. He studied Western classical art in Erbil, Iraq, and moved to the United States to earn an MFA in Studio Art, Painting at Marywood University.
In 2013, Huner created and implemented an outreach art program called Art for Dumiz’s Camp in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. It was a collective project that worked to integrate child refugees from Syria into their new society and support them in processing and expressing their living situation through art and creativity.
Since leaving Iraq in 2013, Huner has never returned due to political and social issues. During the Arab Spring, he performed an art piece called Geruk, questioning Iraq's power and political dogma. This performance led to his arrest twice between 2011-2013 by authorities in northern Iraq. In 2017 He created an artwork that addresses the honor killing tradition called Blood Washing, first exhibited at Maslow Study Gallery for Contemporary Art at Marywood University.
During his MFA study, Huner performed an artwork in Kresge Gallery at Marywood University called 180,000 Seconds in memory of Kurdish victims of a genocide campaign conducted by the Baath regime between 1987 and 1989.
Since 2021, In the wake of the hoax of the American Dream, Huner has been collecting the names of Iraqi civilian victims of wars from 2003-2017 and handwriting the name in the shape of fingerprints, with purple ink on paper, to reflect on the crimes against humanity in Iraq. Inspired by the book Manufacturing Consent by Herman and Chomsky, the project called Manufactured Democracy revisits the images of the Iraqi first election, called the Purple Fingers Election, after the invasion of 2003
Huner Emin is a stateless Kurdish artist. He grew up in south Kurdistan/northern Iraq and is now based in Bloomington, Indiana. He studied Western classical art in Erbil, Iraq, and moved to the United States to earn an MFA in Studio Art, Painting at Marywood University.
In 2013, Huner created and implemented an outreach art program called Art for Dumiz’s Camp in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. It was a collective project that worked to integrate child refugees from Syria into their new society and support them in processing and expressing their living situation through art and creativity.
Since leaving Iraq in 2013, Huner has never returned due to political and social issues. During the Arab Spring, he performed an art piece called Geruk, questioning Iraq's power and political dogma. This performance led to his arrest twice between 2011-2013 by authorities in northern Iraq. In 2017 He created an artwork that addresses the honor killing tradition called Blood Washing, first exhibited at Maslow Study Gallery for Contemporary Art at Marywood University.
During his MFA study, Huner performed an artwork in Kresge Gallery at Marywood University called 180,000 Seconds in memory of Kurdish victims of a genocide campaign conducted by the Baath regime between 1987 and 1989.
Since 2021, In the wake of the hoax of the American Dream, Huner has been collecting the names of Iraqi civilian victims of wars from 2003-2017 and handwriting the name in the shape of fingerprints, with purple ink on paper, to reflect on the crimes against humanity in Iraq. Inspired by the book Manufacturing Consent by Herman and Chomsky, the project called Manufactured Democracy revisits the images of the Iraqi first election, called the Purple Fingers Election, after the invasion of 2003
Artist’s Statement
My works include various media styles, video art, installations, and paintings. The nature of my artwork is storytelling expressed by calligraphy or visual symbols containing various subject matters such as honor killing, genocide, or suppression. I work on investigative and multi-disciplinary art to spotlight social and political issues. I reorganize and reform shapes, materials, and data to create art pieces of multiple media styles, video art, installations, and paintings.
I create an art bridge between different art-making philosophies by reflecting on Middle Eastern and Western cultures. I studied western classical art in Iraq, where I learned to create art that resembles Western culture's horizontal perspective and visual aesthetics. Meanwhile, my art practices developed during my MFA study in the United States, where I worked on subject matters that reflect my country of origin's political and social issues. I sought authenticity in my work and established a system descended from Middle Eastern culture's verticality and poetic nature.
I began creating artwork that contained videos as well as installations. Somehow, these new and investigative art pieces represent both the Eastern and Western worlds. In my mind, video art stands for the eastern oral culture. Meanwhile, the installations stand for the western, predominantly materialistic, visual culture. It is a bridge I wanted to stretch between two cultures to reflect on my struggle, being transplanted and in exile.
My works include various media styles, video art, installations, and paintings. The nature of my artwork is storytelling expressed by calligraphy or visual symbols containing various subject matters such as honor killing, genocide, or suppression. I work on investigative and multi-disciplinary art to spotlight social and political issues. I reorganize and reform shapes, materials, and data to create art pieces of multiple media styles, video art, installations, and paintings.
I create an art bridge between different art-making philosophies by reflecting on Middle Eastern and Western cultures. I studied western classical art in Iraq, where I learned to create art that resembles Western culture's horizontal perspective and visual aesthetics. Meanwhile, my art practices developed during my MFA study in the United States, where I worked on subject matters that reflect my country of origin's political and social issues. I sought authenticity in my work and established a system descended from Middle Eastern culture's verticality and poetic nature.
I began creating artwork that contained videos as well as installations. Somehow, these new and investigative art pieces represent both the Eastern and Western worlds. In my mind, video art stands for the eastern oral culture. Meanwhile, the installations stand for the western, predominantly materialistic, visual culture. It is a bridge I wanted to stretch between two cultures to reflect on my struggle, being transplanted and in exile.
Copyright©Huner Emin