Letters: Fragments of a Memory

11 Jun 2017 - 30 Sep 2018

Athr Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Picture of Yellow Cow

Curator

Mohammed A. Hafiz

Venues

Athr Gallery, Jeddah
Toured to Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi

A group exhibition that took Omar Saif Ghobash's 'Letters to a Young Muslim' as its starting point. Featuring Yellow Cow, View Masters and Slides, from 100 Found Objects and Cowboy Code.

In the contemporary globalised world we live in, shaped by money, military and media, finding space to value the authentic and interpret the unadulterated is a feat in and of itself. Each chapter of the exhibition presented a personal letter from Ghobaish to his son, based on an aspect of Islam prevalently misunderstood and misinterpreted in wider society. Ghobash carefully unpicks it factually based on his immediate life-experience. What simmers to the top are fine bubbles of wisdom, open-mindedness and judiciousness, adhering firmly to the forward-thinking openness of Islam.

Taking the themes explored in Ghobash’s book as a foundation, 36 international artists presented works in response, from direct commentary and themed inspiration to candid response. Each work was then subcategorised into its own respective group. The ventured topics interweave their multilayers and overlap thematically.

The chapters included; Fragments of Memory, Landscapes, Youth and Other, Probable Questions, Power of Language and The Grey Area. This cross-fertilization within each sub-category generates waves of dialogue, further emphasizing the conceptual depth and breadth of the continued interpretation of religion in today's world.

Exhibited Artworks:

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