Alibaba Conundrum

February 11 - May 7, 2023

Opening Reception: Friday, February 10, 6-8PM

Alibaba Conundrum, an artistic group formed by Vancouver-based artists Ali Ahadi and Babak Golkar presents its debut exhibition at Griffin Art Projects.

The exhibition critically examines how different ways of seeing, and subsequently those of saying, are manufactured today through the hegemony of the English language, globally conditioning the possibilities of thinking. It also explores how  the link between the socio-economic structures of neoliberalism, Christian theology and the global institution of art (with its English grammar) maintains the contemporary habitus of thinking through diverse regimes of image production and media cybernetics. 

In the contemporary world, one is either marked and affected by voicing/responding to the speaking of English, or one is equally left unmarked and still affected by the inability to voice that speaking. With the omnipresence of English, every peripheral language (vis-à-vis English) attempting to connect to the world becomes a torsion of English. Therefore, one is either an English-speaking-thinking subject or one is simply defined as the negation of it. In other words, every English-speaking subject is also a non-English-speaking subject, and every non-English speaking subject is definitely an English-speaking subject. The problem is the extremely unequal struggle for recognition between the two, the asymmetrical proportion of this dialectic. It is within this context that Alibaba Conundrum is a performer of the negation of the negation, a syntax/grammar attempting to counter-symbolize the grammar of the institution of art. In a word, Alibaba Conundrum is an It.

Alibaba Conundrum’s debut exhibition at the Griffin Art Projects consists of an installation showcasing multimedia works, including a short film, sculpture, a sound-installation, wallpaper, and a series of printed image-based objects.

Image: Alibaba Conundrum, 15 Commandments (The Origin of the Word), 2022, Inkjet on photo paper. Courtesy of Alibaba Conundrum.

Notes on accessibility for this exhibition:

• The passage between the foyer and main gallery space has a curtain made of vinyl strips, please take care when moving through this space.

• The first room contains a video projection with audio coming through speakers in the corners of the room. Our staff can adjust the volume of this video if you require. There are no closed captions provided.

• One work contains a flashing light inside a photo booth that may affect visitors with light sensitivity. This work is clearly labeled as such.

• One work requires the viewer to look through a small hole to view an enclosed screen. The hole is 30” above the ground.

• There are two instances of a power cord running along the floor from an installation piece to the wall. The cords are covered and secured to the floor, but may cause tripping hazards.

  For more general notes on the accessibility of our gallery, please see the ‘Visit Us’ page.