Indira Cesarine is presenting her “Barbed Wire” photographic series at this years (un)SCENE Art Show, March 4-8, 2015.

Artist statement:

“The works that I am presenting at (un)SCENE 2015 were photographed at the site of notorious Cambodian dictator Pol Pot’s Security Prison 21(S-21) in the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. The prison of the Khmer Rouge was notorious for it’s cruelty, and many of the prisoners were tortured to death, starved to death, or buried alive in the “Killing Fields” of Cambodia. More than 25% of the population died during Pol Pot’s four-year reign from 1975-1979, which is considered one of the most extreme political genocides of the 20th century. Urban dwellers, many of whom were highly educated individuals, were forced to moved to the countryside to work in collective farms and do forced labour. The combination of malnutrition, poor medical care and labour caused the deaths of what is estimated to be as many as 3 million people. Hundreds of thousands of people were also forced to dig their own mass graves where they were buried alive. The Security Prison 21(S-21), also known as Tuol Sleng, which translates to “Hill of the Poisonous Trees” was one of 150 execution centers in Cambodia, where an estimated 20,000 prisoners died. Visiting the site I was struck by the symbolism of the barbed wires that surrounded the prison. To me they represented the essence of cruelty, the barbaric nature of genocide itself, in every spoke of the wire which was used in captivity to supress human freedom.”

Works in the exhibit by Indira Cesarine include:

Barbed Wire 1
(Khmer Rouge Security Prison 21)

Barbed Wire 2 
(Khmer Rouge Security Prison 21)

Barbed Wire 3
(Khmer Rouge Security Prison 21) 

(un)SCENE Art Show presented during Armory Arts Week 2015 for its third year. (un)SCENE, formerly known as (un)FAIR, is a show in contrast to “the maze of cookie-cutter, white-walled art fairs.” It wants to bring art back to passion, and away from the commercialized world it now sits, where openings are about cocktails, and price is about name recognition. The schedule of exhibits and events include innovative installations, performance art, painting, sculpture, and participatory pieces “with the goal of celebrating the spirit that underlies the work of the creative process.” The curators, art advisors, event planners, designers and artists that make up THE(un)SCENE team are united by a mission to differentiate the show in a crowded market of exhibitions. The artwork – representing all points of the art-universe spectrum — is united by “the unimpeachable passion and impeccable craftsmanship of the artists, and exhibits in an easily navigable space that is itself a work of art.”