Mira Hunter's Curriculum Vitae

>>CV

Emine Mira Hunter (née Burke) is a visual artist and second-generation sufi mevlevi whirling dervish, she began her traditional training at the age of 16 with her father Raqib Burke and Sheikh Jelaladdin Loras. As a visual artist, she studied at NSCAD and Yale, graduating with a BFA in Interdisciplinary. For the past 10 years she has collaborated with Turkish born, Canadian producer/musician/DJ Mercan Dede, performing at such acclaimed international events as the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Vancouver Folk Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Paleo Festival. She has toured all over the world, from New York, to London, to Japan. She was recently featured in David Michalek’s Slow Dance project that was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2008. Mira continues to challenge the fundamental forms of whirling by incorporating innovative movements and concepts, coaxing the 13th century practice into a contemporary context. She is preparing for an upcoming tour in Switzerland with the avant-garde performance group Stimmhorn. She currently studies Sufism under Sherif Baba Catalkaya and lives and works in Istanbul and Vancouver, BC.

Mira Hunter’s most recent piece Time Machine, which is the result of a collaboration with her husband Derek Hunter, features 65 disposable cameras fixed to a 360 degree rail made from reclaimed lumber, activated by electromechanical solenoids. The photographs, which feature Mira, are animated in a sequence, giving the audience the visual experience of revolving around a whirling dervish, caught in a single moment. The images, often displaying unusual exposure anomalies, were scanned and made into two films, which played simultaneously within a wooden yurt. It was installed at the SFU School for Contemporary Arts exhibition space in Vancouver, 2008. The Hunters are relocating to New York in the fall to work on the floating art exhibit, Waterpod™. They are currently working on a new companion piece to Time Machine, working title: Time Bomb. Time Bomb aims to be a novel look at reparative/restorative potential in art. Inspired by Fischli/Weiss and Mary Mattingly's future human Navigators, it will playfully document a moment when nature and the common animal will raise a molotov cocktail in the name of environmental injustice, through bullet time photography, stop motion animation, super 16 film, video and a rotating tripod machine.

Education
BFA, NSCAD University, Halifax, NS, 2000-2002.
Yale University Summer School of Art, New Haven, CT, 2001.
Capilano College Studio Art Program, N. Vancouver, BC, 1998-2000.
Mevlevi Order of America, Fairfax, CA, 1995-1997.

Solo Exhibitions
Golden Double Happiness, Capilano College Gallery, N. Vancouver, BC, 2003.
Batin Zahir, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS, 2002.

Group Exhibitions
Time Machine, SFU Studios, 611 Alexander, Vancouver, BC, 2008.
Experimental Empire, SFU Studios, 611 Alexander, Vancouver, BC, 2008.
The Dark Between, Beaumont Studios, Vancouver, BC, 2008.
Mary Mattingly’s Forecast: An Environemntal Disaster Opera, Whitebox Gallery, New York, NY, 2006.
We Go Round And Round In The Night, Feldman Gallery, Portland, OR, 2005.
1005 McLean, 1005 Mclean, Vancouver, BC, 2005.
The Life Boat, during Art Basel, Miami, FL, 2004.
Art Under Foot, Roundhouse Community Centre, Vancouver, BC, 2004.
The Aviary, Salon Des Arts, San Francisco, BC, 2003.
A Night At The Tigress, Roundhouse Community Centre, Van., BC, 2003.
Graduation Exhibition, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, NS, 2002.
Qiwhole, Moreland Clearwater Gallery, Vancouver, BC, 2000
Graduation Exhibition, Capilano College, North Vancouver, BC, 2000.

Selected Performances
Koç University with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Istanbul, Turkey, 19/11/2008.
Vredenburg with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Utrecht, Holland, 26/10/2008.
Trinity St. Paul's Breath with Mercan Dede, Toronto, ON, 2/2/2007.
Mary Mattingly’s Forecast:An Environmenta Disaster Opera, Whitebox Gallery, New York, NY, 19/12/2006.
Barbican Hall Concert with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, London, England, 20/10/2006.
Sinsaibashi Club Quatro with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Osaka, Japan, 5/10/2006.
Worldbeat:Nights of Ramadan with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Tokyo, Japan, 4/10/2006.
Saint-Denis Festival with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Paris, France, 16-18/6/2006.
Simdi Now Stuttgart with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Stuttgart, Germany, 26/11/2005.
MOVE Festival with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Prague, Czech, Republic, 15/9/2005.
Arena with Mercan Dede feat. Natasha Atlas, Istanbul, Turkey, 20/8/2005.
Le Parc De La Villette with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Paris, France, 14/8/2005.
The London Forum with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, London, England, 04/6/2005.
Seattle International Children’s Festival with Mercan Dede, Seattle, WA, 15-20/5/2005.
M15 with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, New York, NY, 06/05/2005.
Yeni Melek Sinemasi with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Istanbul, Turkey, 22/12/2004.
Simdi Now Berlin with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Berlin, Germany, 3/9/2004.
Forum with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Barcelona, Spain, 30-31/8/2004.
Stern Grove Festival with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, SF, CA, 1/8/2004.
Grand Performances with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, LA, CA, 31/7/2004.
Celebrate Brooklyn with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Brooklyn, NY, 23/7/2004.
SummerDance with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Chicago, IL, 22/7/2004.
Joe’s Pub with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, New York, NY, 19/7/2004.
Vancouver Folk Fest with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Vancouver, BC, 17/7/2004.
Guldestan with Modern Dance Turkey, Istanbul, Turkey 21-28/6/2004.
Don’t Go Back To Sleep with The Open Secret School of Whirling, Vancouver, BC, 15/11/2003.
Jazz A Vienne with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Lyon, France, 13/7/2003.
Montreux Jazz with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Montreux, Switzerland, 12/7/2003.
New Dance Festival, Halifax, NS, 3/2/2002.
Montreal Jazz Festival with Mercan Dede Secret Tribe, Montreal, PQ, 3/7/2001.