Rosemary P Miller Gallery

Manufactured Democracy by Huner Emin

Exhibit Details:
This exhibition, consisting of a series of light boxes, as well as a video, remarks on the experiences of the Kurdish and Iraqi people during and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Emin’s reference to the Purple Fingers election of 2005 provides a concise backdrop for the individuals whose names are represented and memorialized by the artist in his work. The installation is a somber reminder of the humanity of those whose individuality is so often lost in the statistics fed to those who are only experiencing a conflict of this scale secondarily.

Artist Bio:
Huner Emin is a stateless multimedia Kurdish artist. He grew up in south Kurdistan/northern Iraq and is now based in Bloomington, Indiana. His work has been exhibited in various museums and galleries internationally including CICA Museum of Art in South Korea, the Agora Gallery in NYC, and the Duhok Gallery of Art in Kurdistan/Iraq. He is a recipient of many Awards, Grants, and fellowships including the DeHaan Artist of Distinction Award, DC Art Commission fellowship, and Foundation for Contemporary Art Grant.

Huner studied Western classical art in Erbil, Iraq, and moved to the United States to earn an MFA in Studio Art in painting at Marywood University. Huner works on political and social subjects relating to his life, ecosystem, and identity as a Kurd. During the Arab Spring, he performed Geruk, which questioned governmental power and political dogma and led to his arrest twice between 2011-2013.

After leaving Iraq in 2013, Huner has never returned due to political and social issues. His work since has continued to comment both on his lived experiences and broader concerns in the Middle East, including honor killing traditions in the art project Blood Washing in 2017; the Baath regime’s 1987-1989 genocide campaign against Kurdish communities in his piece named 180,000 Seconds made in 2016; and crimes against humanities and aftermath of Iraq War atrocities in his art project Manufactured Democracy 2021-2024.