MINE KAFON

MASSOUD HASSANI
february 2013

press release

rene van der hulst

MINE KAFON
MASSOUD HASSANI
For the first time in an art gallery, Massoud Hassani shows Mine Kafon.
Friday November 23 2012 Massoud Hassani meets the press Exhibition from January 30 to February 23, 2013
Press/collector preview: monday january 28, from 11am to 7pm Public opening: tuesday january 29, from 6pm to 9pm Massoud meets the press: friday november 23, 2012
In february 2013 design-art Gallery Slott in Paris is honored to present the designer Massoud Hassani for his first solo exhibition with his project Mine Kafon. Born in 1983 in Kaboul, Afghanistan, Massoud Hassani recently graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven in Holland. As a child Massoud made his own toys playing in the windy desert. Like for many kids in his hometown, the playground run alongside the horrors of explosives and landmines. In Afghanistan there are more landmines in the ground than there are people walking on it. The project now in the making grew out of Massouds child experience in a country of war. Mine Kafon is a two-metre high deminer engine that rolls on the ground, made of metal, bamboo and biodegradable plastics. Its goal is to eliminate mines and non-exploded ammunitions hidden in the ground so that the population can walk safely. This sculptural beast moves with the only power of the wind rolling on its feet mounted on spring suspensions. In contact with a mine in the ground Mine Kafon explodes, looses some legs but continues to roll. Equipped with a GPS system in its metallic centre, the genius apparatus permits to locate the contaminated regions. Mine Kafon is currently being tested by the Dutch Army. The project has won much attention, like its nomination to Design of the Year 2012 in London and the recent acquisition of the object by MOMA in New York. During his first solo-show in Paris at Gallery Slott in February 2013 Massoud Hassani will take up a residency at SlottLAB where he will live and work. Performances, press meetings, private collector tours, and seminars will be featured by Gallery Slott during that time. Part of the proceeds from the sales of the object Mine Kafon and the exhibition catalogue will be donated to an NGO invested in assisting and helping victims of land mines in Afghanistan.

press release

for material and interview booking: stephanie@slottparis.com www.slottparis.com

Slott LAB 44 rue de Turbigo 75003 Paris FRANCE

 rene van der hulst

PRESS CONTACT stphanie rondeau-viger +33 (0)1 44 83 00 78 +33 (0)6 62 77 44 69 stephanie@slottparis.com

GALLERIST paola bjringer +33 (0)6 70 52 43 84 paola@slottparis.com Slott LAB 44 rue de Turbigo 75003 Paris FRANCE

www.slottparis.com