The second part of the group exhibition The Ocean in the Forest opens on May 4 with new outdoor projects by Youmna Chlala, Evan Ifekoya and Eduardo Navarro who invite visitors to discover immersive art works in the forest that, through storytelling and healing sounds, evoke the potency of collective action, dreaming, and the imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not too far from Wan\u00e5s, on the seabed of the Han\u00f6 Bay, the remains of a prehistoric pine forest, dating back to 10,000 B.C., is a reminder of the evolving nature of ecosystems, on land and at sea\u2014nature was here before us and will likely be here after. The Ocean in the Forest<\/em> is the anchoring image of the exhibition, inviting four international artists\u2014Youmna Chlala, Evan Ifekoya, Lavanya Mani and Eduardo Navarro\u2014to explore its dreamlike essence, in response to the unique site of Wan\u00e5s. Youmna Chlala<\/strong> (born in Beirut, Lebanon and based in New York, USA) uses drawing, sculpture and installation to explore language, fate and architecture. In Chlala’s installation in the park, a group of deckchairs forms a streak of color on the horizon and invite the viewer to sit back and listen to a poetic story where the artist’s childhood memories of Beirut are mixed with reflections on the nature of the sea and forest.
Amid intense political, economic, and ecological pressures affecting us collectively, it became important to push beyond apocalyptic visions of humaninduced climate disaster. Instead, we dove deep into a more expansive, sensorial understanding of the oceanic and the stories and fables that shape humanity\u2019s relationship with the planet and its diverse life forms.
The artworks explore an intuitive connection to the ocean through our bodies, cellular and genetic memories, and our shared experience starting in the womb. Rather than offering clear-cut statements or answers, the artists invite us into their interior landscapes, and ask us to observe, listen and become attuned to our surroundings. We hope that the art projects will inspire careful attention to which words, thoughts, stories, sounds and sensations we give our focus and our energy, because they write our shared history. Dreams and storytelling are vital since they expand our horizon on what it means to be human, and sometimes offer the seeds we need to collectively envision alternative futures. It is our hope that this exhibition will offer a new way to sense and experience the forest at Wan\u00e5s, whether you are a new or returning visitor. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nBIO<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Evan Ifekoya<\/strong> (b. 1988 in Iperu, Nigeria, based in London, UK) is interested in the interaction between sound, architecture, nature and the human body. On a hill in the sculpture park, Ifekoya has made an architectural intervention in a gazebo or \u201cfolly\u201d thought to have been constructed by the landowners in the 1920s, creating a sensory space for movement, sound and energy and their healing and transformative power.
Eduardo Navarro<\/strong> (b. 1979, based in Argentina) creates situations that affect the senses and our perception of the world around us. In the sculpture park, Navarro invites the visitor and the wind to playfully interact with a huge jellyfish-like sculpture wrapping an old oak tree. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nWan\u00e5s Day Party may 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n