Nijat Hushur and his Art
“For me, art is meditation.
When I'm in nature, I see it, observe it, and all I see is that I really love these structures, the lines, the colors that change every day and every year. Then I come back to the studio. I meditate and what I have seen reappears in my pictures. They are a copy of nature. Not an exact copy of what I saw, but rather the result of an unconscious interplay of impressions, experiences, fears and hopes. I see, observe and bring it back to life through meditation. That's why you sometimes see two, three, four or five pictures that are very similar. One picture is not enough. One piece of paper is not enough, I have to take a second and a third one.”
Deutsch - Nijat Hushur und seine Kunst
„Kunst ist für mich Meditation.
Wenn ich in der Natur bin, dann sehe ich sie, beobachte sie, und alles, was ich sehe, ist, dass ich diese Struktur der Bäume, die Linien, die Farben, die sich jeden Tag und jedes Jahr ändern, wirklich liebe. Dann komme ich zurück ins Atelier. Ich meditiere und das, was ich beobachtet habe, taucht mit einem Mal auf meinen Bildern wieder auf. Sie sind eine Kopie der Natur. Keine exakte Kopie von dem, was ich gesehen habe, sondern das Ergebnis eines unbewussten Zusammenspiels von Eindrücken, Erfahrungen, Ängsten und Hoffnungen. Ich sehe, beobachte und bringe es durch die Meditation erneut zum Leben. Deshalb finden Sie manchmal zwei, drei, vier oder fünf Bilder, die sich sehr ähnlich sind. Ein Bild ist nicht genug. Ein Stück Papier ist nicht genug, ich muss ein zweites und ein drittes nehmen.“
Uyghur
سەنئەت مەن ئۈچۈن روھى ئويلۇنۇشتۇر.
مەن تەبىئەت بىلەن ئۇچۇراشقىنىمدا، تەبىئەتتىكى كۆزۈمگە چېلىققان ھەممە نەرسىنى كۈزۈتىمەن. كۆۈمگە كۆرۈنگەن سىزقلار، رەڭلەر ۋە شەكىللەرگە ئىنچىكە دىققەت قىلىمەن. ئۇلارنىڭ ھەركۈنى، ھەر يىلى ئۆزگۈرۈپ تۇرۇدىغانلىقىنى بايقايمەن. مەن رەسىم سىزىش ئۆيۈمگە قايتىپ كەلگەندىن كېيىن ئويلىنىمەن . كۆرگەنلىرىم تۇيۇقسىز ئېڭىمدا قايتا پەيدا بولۇدۇ ۋە تەپەكۈرۈم ئارقىلىق بىر-بىرىگە باغلىنىدۇ. ئاندىن ئۆزگىچە بىر خىل شەكىل بىلەن قەغەز ۋە رەخلەر ئۈستىگە رەسىم بولوپ چىقىدۇ. بۇلار تەبىئەتنىڭ كۆچۈرۈلمىسى بولسىمۇ ، ئەمما مەن كۆرگەن تەبىئەت دىتاللىرىنىڭ بىۋاستە كۆچۈرۈلمىسى ئەمەستۇر. ئۇ كۆرگەنلىرىمگە ئاساسەن ئويلۇنۇش ئىچىدە روھىمدا پەيدا بولغان بىر جەرياننىڭ ھاسىلاتىدۇر. تەپەككۈرۈمدە پەيدا بولغان رەسىم كۆرۈنۈشلىرى بىر پارچە تاختىغا پاتمىسا ، ئىككى، ئۈچ، تۆت ياكى بەشىنچى تاختىغا سىزىمەن. گەرچە بۇ رەسىملەر قارماققا ئايرىم-ئايرىم رەسىملەردەك كۆرۈنسىمۇ ئەمىلىيەتتە بۇ بىرلا پارچە رەسىمدۇر. رەسىملىرىمدە تەسۋىرلەنگىنى تەبىئەت كۆرۈنىشلىرىدەك كۆرۈنسىمۇ ، ئەمما
ئۇنىڭغا مېنىڭ ھايات چۈشەنچىلىرىم، ۋەتەن سېغىنشلىرىم ۋە سەرگەردانلىق ھاياتىمدا بېشىمدىن ئۆتكۈزگەن تۇرمۇش تەجىرىبىلىرىممۇ سىڭگەندۇر.
English - Curriculum Vitae
Nijat Hushur was born in 1969 in the small town of Pichan in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang (East Turkestan), China. He first studied fine arts and languages in Urumqi, later in Beijing and Shanghai, and then worked as an art teacher at a college for several years. He came to Germany in 2006 as part of an academic exchange program, continued his studies at the University of the Arts in Berlin and completed it with the master class and a master's degree in “Art in Context”. For several years, he has been living with his family in Sweden, working as an art teacher at a primary school.
While, during his training in China, Nijat Hushur became familiar with the basics of Chinese painting and socialist realism as well as the Uyghur concept of art, at the university in Berlin he got to know new techniques and materials. Moreover, he was confronted with new ideas and above all with the freedom of thought and the freedom of artistic work. Thus, he gradually broke away from the dogmatism of the art classes in China and found his own style, in which he tried to bring together elements of the three cultures that have shaped him.
Although all personal and professional ties to his homeland have been interrupted since 2017 due to state repression against Uyghur people and the forced sinicization, Nijat Hushur has followed the changes in the living conditions of his compatriots with a critical eye and he has always pointed out the consequences for the natural environment and society. Even in the abstract structures of his recent art works, memories of the natural environment of his homeland can be conjectured, e.g. snow-capped mountains, deserts and the vegetation of the river oases.
Nijat Hushurs’s paintings have already been shown internationally at numerous exhibitions, such as Urumqi, Shanghai, the USA, Norway, Sweden and Germany. His main concern remains to point out the fate of his people, which has long been overlooked by the world. His style of expression has changed over time: the more he became familiar with Western thinking and other art movements, the more abstract his paintings became. What remains: His art is fascinating and it draws attention to a threatened culture.
Deutsch - Lebenslauf
Nijat Hushur wurde 1969 in der kleinen Stadt Pichan im Uigurischen Autonomen Gebiet Xinjiang (Ost-Turkestan), China, geboren. Er studierte zuerst in Urumchi, später in Peking und Shanghai Bildende Kunst und Sprachen und arbeitete anschließend einige Jahre als Kunstpädagoge an einer Fachoberschule. Im Rahmen eines akademischen Austauschprogramms kam er 2006 nach Deutschland, setzte sein Studium an der Universität der Künste Berlin fort und schloss es mit der Meisterklasse und dem Masterstudiengang „Kunst im Kontext“ ab. Seit einigen Jahren lebt er mit seiner Familie in Schweden und arbeitet dort als Lehrer an einer Grundschule.
Während Nijat Hushur in seiner Ausbildung in China mit den Grundlagen der chinesischen Malerei und des sozialistischen Realismus sowie dem uigurischen Kunstverständnis vertraut wurde, lernte er an der Universität in Berlin neue Techniken und Materialien kennen, wurde mit vollkommen neuen Gedanken und vor allem mit der Freiheit des Denkens und der Freiheit des künstlerischen Arbeitens konfrontiert. So konnte er sich nach und nach vom Dogmatismus des Kunstunterrichts in China lösen und seinen eigenen Stil finden. Dabei versuchte er, in seiner Malerei Elemente der drei Kulturen, die ihn geprägt haben, zusammenzuführen.
Obwohl seit 2017 aufgrund der staatlichen Repressionen gegen die Uiguren und der gewaltsam erzwungener Sinisierung alle persönlichen und fachlichen Verbindungen zu seiner Heimat unterbrochen sind, hat Nijat Hushur immer mit kritischem Blick den Wandel der Lebensbedingungen seines Volkes begleitet und auf die Folgen hingewiesen, die der natürlichen Umwelt und der Gesellschaft, insbesondere der uigurischen, drohen. Selbst in den abstrakten Strukturen seiner Bilder lassen sich Erinnerungen an die Natur seiner Heimat erahnen, z.B. schneebedeckte Hochgebirge, Wüsten und die Vegetation der Flussoasen.
Seine Bilder wurden international bereits auf zahlreichen Ausstellungen gezeigt, so in Urumchi, Shanghai, in den USA, in Norwegen, Schweden und Deutschland. Und immer ist dabei sein Hauptanliegen, auf das von der Welt lange Zeit unbeachtete Schicksal seines Volkes hinzuweisen. Sein Ausdrucksstil hat sich mit der Zeit geändert: Je mehr er mit westlichem Denken und anderen Kunstströmungen vertraut wurde, desto abstrakter wurden seine Bilder. Was aber bleibt: Seine Kunst fasziniert und sie lenkt den Blick auf eine bedrohte Kultur.