Aziz Hazara

Rehearsal

Youthfulness and gestures of play are central to Aziz Hazara’s practice. The artist uses these mechanisms as a lens to give pause to the behaviours of children as foreboding reflections of the enduring and all-pervasive effects of conflict and war. In the short video Rehearsal the artist documents two young Afghan boys imitating the guttural rattling of an automatic rifle, play-shooting in the field in front of them, and swivelling as if to suggest the gun is mounted. Their expressions are focused and deadpan, one taking aim and the other acting as the faithful machinery. They are both weapon and wielder. While this form of play is not unique to Afghanistan or other war-torn nations, the eerie accuracy of the motions the boys make points to learned behaviour, experience, and witness, questioning the innocence of their gestures. What are they waiting for, or, as the title asks, what are they rehearsing for?