Hošek Contemporary is pleased to host 'Mina ta Lilura', an exhibition by Amaia Molinet.
Exhibition open on Friday August 8, 2025 from noon to 10 PM
Free admission
In Basque, the word "min" has several meanings, including pain, suffering, nostalgia, desire, and… spicy. It can be used to describe something painful, intense, intimate, or vivid.
Meanwhile, the word "fascination" originates from the Latin "fascinum," which referred to a phallic amulet used in ancient Rome to protect against the evil eye and negative influences. This amulet, often depicted with a phallus, was believed to have protective and attractive powers. Therefore, the etymological connection between "fascination" and "phallus" is direct. It is scary how close those words are to the term “fascism” as well. So then, we are using the Basque word "lilura" instead. In short, "lilura" describes a state of deep admiration, illusion, fascination or enchantment, which appears to be unrelated to any masculine form of power.
…and it’s also my favourite word in Basque; isn't that a good enough reason to use it as a title?
Mina ta Lilura (pain and fascination) aims to analyse the feelings developed during an artistic process, especially when working in those contexts where a great social trauma, like a war, has occurred, even though it took place many years (and even generations) ago. It is only after the impact that the most intense emotions and impulses emerge and flourish.
By featuring a recent body of work on historical memory, Mina ta Lilura is a tribute to the constant state of both amazement and vulnerability from which an artist operates, an excitement that hurts and burns. A synesthetic translation into different sculptures and installations displays both tension and care through different gestures. Moreover, it concludes with a video screening that describes former scenarios of violence, with the restorative loving gaze that these places require.
About the artist:
Amaia Molinet (1988) is a Visual Artist and Researcher based in Bilbao (Basque Country, Spain) and Cluj-Napoca (Romania). She is an Associated Artist at Azkuna Zentroa-Alhondiga Bilbao (2023-2025) and a PhD Candidate in Contemporary Art at the University of the Basque Country. She develops her artistic practice from an expanded photography, addressing the relationship between territory and identity, highlighting the symbolic features culturally given to the landscape.
Amaia Molinet has been awarded grants and prizes by organizations such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, INJUVE Spanish Ministry of Culture, Creative Europe and Goethe Institut, Basque Government, Huarte Contemporary Art Centre and BilbaoArte Foundation, carrying out site-specific projects and artistic residencies in the Western Sahara, Iceland, Austria, Romania, France, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany, Portugal, Cyprus, Argentina, Chile, and the USA.
Solo exhibitions include “Scorched Earth” at Azkuna Zentroa-Alhondiga Bilbao Cultural Centre (Bilbao), “mina ta Lilura” at Hošek Contemporary (Berlin), “Transfăgărășan” at the Cervantes Institute of Bucharest, “The Earth may want to Be, like it was before existing” at the Citadel of Pamplona, and “Future Fossils” at the San Martín Cultural Centre (Buenos Aires). Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at Huarte Contemporary Art Centre (Pamplona), Montehermoso Cultural Centre (Vitoria-Gasteiz), San Telmo Museum (Donostia-San Sebastian), Fabra i Coats Contemporary Art Centre (Barcelona), Complutense Art Centre (Madrid), Gaep Gallery (Bucharest), Wunsch Gallery (Buenos Aires), Memory and Human Rights Museum (Santiago de Chile), BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (New York), among others.
https://amaiamolinet.com/
The gallery is located at
Motor Ship HEIMATLAND
Märkisches Ufer 1z
10 179 Berlin-Mitte
+49 1525 7486496
www.hosekcontemporary.com
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