Jeanno Gaussi

Peraan-e-Tombaan, 2012
Performance-based video installation (traditional Afghan men’s clothing with military insignias), duration: 8 min 34 secs

Peraan-e-Tombaan (Pant and Shirt) is a performance-based video installation where a group of dancers appear to be dressed in traditional Afghan men’s clothing, a combination of loose pants and a wide, knee-length shirt with an embroidered yoke. The costumes are in fact stitched from fabric used for military and police uniforms, and the embroidered pattern is made up of a combination of military insignias.
Confronting past (represented by the folk dance attan, now considered Afghanistan’s national dance) and present (symbolized by the fabric and insignias, which reflect the massive change in Kabul’s urban landscape and social behavior, militarized by security rules and the scars of war), Gaussi again faces her own blurred understanding of a reality that escapes her, but with which she nevertheless attempts to connect.

جینوغوثی