Slavs and Tatars Debut Hong Kong Solo Show at Rossi & Rossi

The art collective Slavs and Tatars, founded in 2006 by Payam Sharifi, is holding its first solo exhibition in Hong Kong titled "胡 ( هو / who) are you?" at Rossi & Rossi, running until May 9, 2026. The show features iconic projects and new commissions across various media, exploring themes of identity, language, and belonging. Key works include "Dark Yelblow" (2025), handblown glass melons previously shown at the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, which examine the melon as a symbol of the Other across cultures. The "Love Me, Love Me Not" series (2014–) recovers original place names and scripts, highlighting alphabets as tools of empire. "Triangulations" (2011–) presents concrete road signs pairing secular and religious cities, such as "Not Detroit, Not Damascus" and "Not Bahamas, Not Baghdad." "Kitab Kebab (Fatima et Marie)" (2020) skewers books on a metal kebab rod, questioning Western analytical knowledge versus other forms of knowing. "Down Low Gitter" (2018) repurposes a German crowd-control barrier with Persian and Arabic book rests, addressing collective reading and canon formation. "Samovar" (2024) and "This Not That" (2024) translate Marcel Broodthaers' works into Eurasian contexts, replacing wine with tea and a pipe with a hookah, while referencing the mythical Simurgh bird from Attar of Nishapur's 12th-century poem "The Conference of the Birds."