Love and Peace
Street Art Project -Corner of Mason Street Foster Street, Dandenong.
Love and Peace is a street art project completed for Dandenong Council in Melbourne, Australia. This blog narrates the artist experience and provide a brief about the inspirations behind the artwork.
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The Aboriginal people have populated the land mass of Australia for more than 60,000 years. Over this period they have developed a diverse relationship and understanding of the Australian Environment and this understanding and knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation. The first Australians have a special spiritual, physical, social and cultural connection with their “country”, to them land is not only the source of identity and spirituality, but also provides the context for human order. Their connection with land is underpinned by the belief that ‘we don’t own the land, the land owns us’. As the land provides for all their needs –food, water, medicine, and shelter – the Aboriginal people treated their provider with respect.
I wanted to portray this intimate connection of the first people with their land as the core preposition of the artwork. I used dyed skeleton leaves, seeds and earthly / sandy colours to display this spiritual connection and depicted Mother Nature’s many and varied offering for its people by positioning the leaves to extend and reach out of the central core. In addition I surrounded the central core with seeds and shells to represent growth, development and life’s continuance.
"We cultivated our land, but in a way different from the white man. We endeavored to live with the land; they seemed to live off it. I was taught to preserve, never to destroy. -Tom Dystra"
The aboriginal connection of the artwork is further high lightened by the overall ensemble; as when the six panels are placed together they form a contemporary interpretation of indigenous symbol for a ‘camp site’. This concept also reinforces the title of the work- Gathering.
Most of the dried leaves used in this collage where collected in and around the City of Casey. Typically I dried the leaves for a week and then spray coated them with clear acrylic for protection and longevity. I transcribed a few quotes on environment and sustainability on these leaves to initiate the conversation prior to the exhibition and to provide focus and give examples to others. As more and more people joined this conversation on Australia day, and added their names and quotes, the artwork ‘grew’ and towards the end of the day, we ended up covering all the backing boards
The leaves on this collage not only acknowledges humans dependence on land and nature, but the display is also reflective of and celebrates a dynamic multi-cultural Australian society where people with different backgrounds ‘gather’ and work together to contribute to the development of a country.
While the ‘Australia Day’ date and its association with the arrival of first fleet to establish a convict colony in New South Wales is a matter of contention and marked with countries darker past, which most would like to forget rather than celebrate. Still, Australia Day wether seen as Invasion Day or Survival Day does present an opportunity to discuss, reflect, understand and appreciate our ‘Australian’ ethos and commemorate what is great about this country.
The objective of this artwork is just that. I hope the participants who come to Balla Balla Centre on the day and those who would later view the finished artwork would realize the need for a sustainable and environmental friendly approach to living and are able to take this conversation further.
Last but not the least, I would like to take this opportunity to thank CHARM (Cultural Historical Association of Rodriguans & Mauritians in Victoria Inc) and management of Balla Balla Centre, whose continual support and encouragement has made this project a possibility.
"The land is my mother. Like a human mother, the land gives us protection, enjoyment and provides our needs – economic, social and religious. We have a human relationship with the land: Mother, daughter, son. When the land is taken from us or destroyed, we feel hurt because we belong to the land and we are part of it. -Djinyini Gondarra"
It is difficult to describe the creative process that goes into any artwork, let alone one which embodies a range of subjects such as SalamMobile- Rumi. Though it has been a short while since I have finished the project, it is difficult to trace ones footstep and identify the first motif or design that started the journey. I can’t exactly recall why I made one choice over the other and neither can I claim that all my choices have been correct or whether on hindsight, if given an opportunity again; I would not design things differently.
The purpose of these notes is to provide a glimpse of the thought process; and to describe the aspirations and emotions behind the design. I hope that armed with this background information; the viewer would have a better appreciation of the overall design concept.
Rumi draws its inspiration from Truck Art. Originating in south east Asia, the truck art is an indigenous art form in which vehicles are decorated with complex floral patterns, graphic designs, portraits and poetic calligraphy, in the most radiant and innovative manner.
The history of decorating carriages in the sub-continent goes back hundreds of years when the people of stature decorated their ‘howdah’for travel. These ornate carriages or mobile thrones were positioned on the back of elephants or camels and were decorated with precious metals and jewels. Howdahs were designed to project power and wealth, and the motifs comprised of floral patterns, peacock symbols to signify royalty..
The restrained version of “Truck art” as we know it today, first appeared in the subcontinent in the early 1940's when Sikh Lorry drivers started painting their trucks with the portrait of their Gurus for good luck. After the partition in 1947, truck decorations in Pakistan evolved further, initially with the introduction of religious symbols and calligraphy followed by political slogans and then in the 1970's as full-fledged ‘pop art’ movement where the images and calligraphy started engulfing the whole vehicle. Today ‘Truck art’ is an established art genre in Pakistan and has evolved beyond the trucks into furniture, fashion-pretty much everything or anything which is paintable.
While the car is painted in truck art style, Rumi's design is intended to evoke inquiry and transcends beyond mere visual aesthetics; which is a hall mark of truck art, to a role of a storyteller.
The motifs are designed to send the viewers into different trajectories by providing them with small snippets of information and inciting them to explore the topic further. I would hope that in today’s technology savvy world, this would not be difficult task.
From my prospective, if at the end of the day; I am able to prompt 10% of the viewer to explore the concepts further and assimilate what is being said, my work will be done.
“Raise your words, not voice.It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder”
Flowers are symbols of love and serenity across the world and historically different traditions and cultures have associated different meaning to different types and colours of flowers.
Flowers and floral design form a key component of truck art painting; but most of this floral imagery is emblematic and with the exception of the roses have little resemblance to nature. This notion works well in the traditional scheme as the main aim of floral illustrations is to generate aesthetic appeal and use the flowers as space fillers between the main motifs being painted on the vehicle’s surface.
My aspirations for Rumi’s design were not as simple, I wanted to use the flowers not only as design building blocks but to go further; and use this traditional concept to represent the people of different regions, cultures and faiths.
Researching around (courtesy Dr Google) I found that some of the Muslim countries have adopted flowers as emblems to represent the uniqueness about their nation, and to reflect the different aspects of their cultural life and history. I therefore, used the images of these national flowers to represent these countries.
Bangladesh has adopted Water Lilly as its national flower, and is representative of the many rivers that run through the country. Cedar tree is symbolic of Lebanon; and quite literary has its roots in history and faith; the tree has been mentioned in Bible on several occasions and before Christianity the tree has been used by Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans for trade and construction.
Malaysia adopted Hibiscus as its national flower in 1960, to Malaysians the red of the petals symbolize courage, life, and rapid growth of the country, and the five petals represent the five guiding principles of Malaysian governance which are aimed at developing racial balance and cohesion in its society.
Jasmine is a common plant in Pakistan and because of its attractive scent is a common feature of Pakistani gardens. The white jasmine is the national flower of Pakistan, it symbolizes attachment, amiability and modesty.
Plumeria, also known as ‘Frangipani’ is a signature flower of Balinese culture and represents our neighbouring country Indonesia. The delicate look of the flower makes it a symbol of grace, wealth, and perfection across Asia and Americas and different cultures in the region have assign different meaning to this flower.
Simpoh, the national flower of Brunei, can grow in white sands and its root are able to reach deep down for the underground water and in addition, the plants large leaves provide shade and protection for the other plant species to thrive. For Brunei, the unique blossoming of the flower and the green colour of its leaves symbolizes the economic growth and development of the country.
It is interesting to note how one’s preconceived notions are changed, when you embark on the journey of discovery. I had always attributed Tulips with Netherlands, and was surprised to find out that the flower originated from Central Asia and Turkey and were actually brought to Holland from Turkey in the sixteenth century.
The botanical name for tulip is Tulipa, which is derived from the Turkish word "tulbend" or "turban", which the flower resembles. Tulips were the most prized flower of the Ottomans, and that is why tulip adorns the walls of many Turkish mosques as well as being embroidered on handmade textile clothing, carpets, tiles, and miniatures from this period.
The popularity of the tulip in Islamic art also has a lot to do with its shape; as the word “Allah” (God) written in Arabic script resembles the tulip shape.
The ever popular rose is believed to be the native of central Asia and has been adopted by Iran and Iraq as its national emblems. Rose symbolizes beauty in Persian literature and the great Persian Sufi scholar and poet Rumi used the “rose and nightingale” metaphor to symbolize and explain the central theme of Sufism: Divine Love. (Sufi loves God as a nightingale loves a rose).
The Bouquet of Faiths
Love, peace, forgiveness and tolerance are the common traits of all religions and I wanted to use a floral arrangement to direct the viewer to focus on the commonality of the message instead of the differences. Although; flowers and plants have been embodied in various religious traditions, finding the right flower or plant to represent various faiths proved to be more difficult then I initially expected and my SalamFest team colleagues and I had to get in touch with friends and heads of various religions to get the appropriate answers.
Passion flower symbolizes Christ’s Passion and the Cross, whilst white Lilies symbolize chastity and virtue which is symbolic of the Virgin Mary’s purity in Christianity.
Etrog, palm leaves and olive branches have relevance to the Jewish festival of harvest-Sukkot, whilst Daffodils are the symbol of new beginnings, rebirth and the coming of spring and symbolize good fortune in Chinese culture.
Lotus flower is associated with purity and beauty in the religions of Buddhism and Hinduism respectively. Similarly, Roses take prominence in Islam as the fragrance of a rose represents the sacredness of people's souls.
This scheme of using flowers to represent people of different regions, cultures and faiths needed to be underpinned locally. I therefore decided to use the state floral emblems (ACT’s Royal blue bell, New South Wales Waratah, Northern Territories’ Sturt’s Desert Rose, Queensland’s Cooktown Orchid’ South Australia’s Sturt's Desert Pea, Tasmanian Blue Gum, Victoria’s Pink Heath, Western Australia’s Red and Green Kangaroo Paw) to develop this connection.
Set against the main SalamFest slogans of ‘Peace, Love and Compassion’ this bouquet of state national flower emphases the importance of the key message for all communities living in Australia regardless of their color, ethnicity and heritage.
As an artist I have greatest of admiration for the indigenous art and artist. I always wanted to incorporate the spirit of their designs into my work; and working on Rumi had given me an opportunity to explore this avenue further.
My initial thoughts were to represent the historic interaction between the first people and Makassan fisherman with typical icons for campfire, water and night sky; and overlaying this with aboriginal iconic dot painting. My story-line was simple and represented the interaction of the two communities as people sitting in front of a campfire and sharing stories and food.
SalamFest seeks to build bridges between various communities and we always wanted to involve the aboriginal artist in this project but were unable to locate someone who could contribute. I therefore initially started to work on the indigenous section of the car panel with the above story-line without seeking guidance or involving any indigenous artist to confirm my concept. This lack of consultation was creating uneasiness in the team and therefore; I decided to suspend works on the indigenous section until we got a resolution on the design. A renewed effort was made by the SalamFest team to get in touch with the local elders to locate an artist who would be willing to help. Eventually; we were successful and we got in touch with Brooke Wandin.
Brooke Wandin
Brooke Wandin is a Wurundjeri educator who visit schools to talk about local Aboriginal history and culture. She weaves in honour of her great grandmother and through her work; celebrates her female ancestors who have contributed to successful and sustainable agriculture that flourished in the country for generations. Her work highlights the deep connection that Aboriginal people have to the country and challenge the many stereo types placed upon her community.
Brooke has been phenomenal, she has an inspiring personality and open to conversation about her designs and heritage. Her commitment to her work can be gauged by the fact that, although she lives in Healesville nearly an hour plus ride away from my house, she agreed to help out and work on the car. When I first met her, I explained to her my concepts in greater detail. She took up the theme of the story and tried to accommodateher design to suit what was already there and suggested a few changes to the panel to make it more relevant with the aspirations of the local indigenous people.
Brooke’s work provided a much needed connection to the country. She belongs to Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria who are the traditional owners of the land from Mount Baw Baw in the east to Mount Macedon, Sunbury and Gisborne in the west. Their relationship with the land extends back tens of thousands of years to when their creator spirit ‘Bunjil’ formed their people, the land and all living things.The Wurundjeri’s connection to land is underpinned by cultural and spiritual values different to those of the Europeans. The Wurundjeri did not ‘own’ the land in the European sense of the word, but belonged to, or were ‘owned by’ the land. The land provided all that the Wurundjeri needed – food, water, medicine, shelter – and they treated their provider with respect.
“We are all indigenous to one place or another. We should be proud of who we are and where we are from!”
Brooke’s design explored this relationship further. She explained her design as ”Bunjil, created the landscape, the rocks, the rivers, the people. He gave us lore and taught us how to live in harmony. While the mountains around Healesville make me feel safe and content, they also lend themselves to layering and to a depth of knowledge.
Murnong was once a staple food for my people. My people had ingenious sustainable agricultural methods which provided food and nutrients regardless of the climate. The leaves reminded me of the deep and intimate connection of my female ancestors to Country, and a complete understanding of how to keep their families healthy and happy.
Water, the most precious resource. Waterways link us all. Water is the lifeblood of my country. Imagine hovering over Healesville. The rivers and creeks would look like arteries and veins running through a body. While painting this I was thinking of the reflection of the stars on the water. These stars are my ancestors watching over me, protecting me, guiding me.
Onem-da. Love. We should love one another for our similarities and our differences. I am Indigenous to this Country. We are all Indigenous to one place or another. We should be proud of who we are and where we are from!
The diamonds represent the many generations that have lived here since time began and remind me to never take for granted the deep spiritual and physical connection that I have to this most wonderful place.”
Working with Brooke Wandin has been one of the highlight of this project and I will always cherish the experience and I sincerely hope that in future I will get more opportunities to work and learn from her and other indigenous artist about the first people and their culture and contribute towards building bridges amongst the many people who call this country home.
Traditionally, Islamic art focused on the spiritual representation of objects and beings and not their physical characteristics. Instead of attempting to replicate nature, the traditional Muslim artist tried to express what it represented. Geometric patterns were used to represent the infinite nature of the universe and reflect upon life and the greatness of creation.
The basic geometric shapes or repeat patterns used in Islamic designs were squares, circles, 8-pointed star and multisided polygons such as pentagons and octagons.
These basic shapes are combined and reworked to form complicated patterns and can be seen as mathematical tessellations, which can extend indefinitely and thus suggest infinity.
Biomorphic art such as arabesque is another fundamental component of Islamic art and is based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils or plain lines. Typically, it consists of using leaves, vegetal patterns, spirals and rolling circular motifs either on their own or in combination with calligraphy, geometric patterns and figural representations.
Traditionally, scrolling lines and floral pattern are used in truck art as fillers and for framing central motifs and quotes. Similarly geometric patterns mostly evolved by putting together a collage of basic shapes such as circles, rhombuses, ellipses and ovals cut-outs from reflective tapes.
I have sought inspiration from this conventional truck art design approach and added traditional Islamic arabesque and geometric patterns as part of Rumi’s design to showcase the Islamic art connection of the piece.
Unlike the ancient Roman and Persian cultures, Islamic traditions discouraged the use of precious metals such as gold and silver in eating and drinking vessels. Similarly, aniconism and figurative painting was also discouraged. This resulted in the development of pottery and glassware for tableware with designs dominated by Islamic geometric patterns, calligraphy and arabesque.
Of these, Iznik ceramics which were produced in western Anatolia, Turkey take prominence. These designs combined traditional Ottoman arabesque pattern with Chinese elements and was a result of active intervention and patronage by the Ottoman court in Istanbul who greatly valued Chinese blue-and-white porcelain.
From between the eighth and eighteenth centuries, some of the finest wares were produced in the region extending from Spain to the borders of China. During this period Muslim potters displayed an innovative sense of design and colour, and mastered the craft to develop new techniques and adopt old ones for new uses.
Like pottery, the art of metal engraving also took prominence during this period.Artisans used brass, bronze tin and steel to make a large variety of items such as vessels, lamps, armor, inkwells and incense burners by casting or working metal into intricate shapes of all sizes. Most of the time, these items were decorated with engraved inscriptions and occasionally inlayed with gold, silver and precious stones.
My choice of painting motifs around Iznik patterns, pottery and metal engraving on ‘Rumi’s was not only driven by finding a suitable filler for the overall design scheme but also to acknowledge and highlight the contributions of bygone Muslim ceramics and metal artisans whose ingenuity, inventiveness, originality and ability to create new shapes, new techniques, new forms of decoration was unmatched; and elevated their status to one of the greatest craftsman of their time.
Clothing and textile have a deep connection with history and evolved around the materials and technologies available in particular region at a given time. I have used textile prints in my design scheme to represent Muslims of different regions and countries.
Kufiya or keffiyeh essentially means “from the city of Kufa” (present day Najaf). It is a Middle Eastern headdress, fashioned from a square scarf and is traditionally worn by Arab people, however its designs and styling varies with different regions and countries.
As a headgear, it is commonly worn by Nomadic people in arid regions as it provides protection from sunburn, dust and sand.
The Palestinian keffiyeh is gender neutral (typically black and white) scarf usually made of cotton and worn around the neck or head. The scarf has become a symbol of Palestinian nationalism and dates back to the 1936 Arab revolt in Palestine.
Kilim, is a flat tapestry rug and is produced in countries from the Balkans to Pakistan. Cheaper then carpet, relatively less fragile, these rugs have been used as prayer mats and home decorations for hundreds of years. Traditionally woven by nomadic Turks, Kilim patterns comprise of messages and stories relating to the cultural, religious beliefs and social life of the weaver.
Similarly, I have used the bold prints of African Kente and Mudcloth to represent the people of the region. However, unlike the original version of the textile, where each colour is given a special meaning, I have selected colours that suited my design scheme.
As Islam spread beyond Arabia into many different regions and cultures, it came to be interpreted in different ways. Although, the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims are united in their belief about the central tenants of Islam and key religious practices, beyond these central pillars, Muslims worldwide differ significantly by country and region in levels of religious commitment and convictions. This diversity is the result of the core set of religious beliefs interacting in complex ways with the many different social contexts in which Muslims lived such as history, cultural traditions, economics, political structures, geography and physical location in the world.
There is a tendency in the ‘west’ to brand ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslims’ as single cohort. I wanted to showcase the diversity with-in Islam and acknowledge that like any other religion, Islam is a living and dynamic tradition that evolved according to context and circumstance of its adherents. This diversity is perhaps best represented by ‘Islamic architecture’ which evolved by absorbing a variety of local artistic traditions. As Islam expanded over large territories, the converts from other religions and culture redefined their knowledge and experience in arts and industry to conform to Islamic values and injected them into their new world. Muslims not only adopted local styles but instead of copying these blindly, modified and evolved them further.
The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (Israel) is the oldest Islamic monument and is sacred to both Judaism and Islam. Built in 691–692, the structure consists of a gilded wooden dome sitting atop an octagonal base, with the interior richly decorated with marble, mosaics, and metal plaques. As an architectural monument, the Dome of the Rock is a classic example of cross cultural interaction and historic interface of Islamic and Byzantine architecture.
Samarra Mosque (Iraq) was built around 850 and in its time it was probably the largest mosque in the world, with a total area of nearly 42 acres. The striking feature of the mosque is the minaret with the spiraling ramp that leads to the top.
Djenné Mosque (Mali) is a famous landmark in Africa. The mosque was first built in the 13th century and is the largest mud-built structure in the world. The walls of the Great Mosque are made of sun-baked earth bricks, sand and earth based mortar.
Xi'an Mosque (China) was built during the early Ming dynasty and the mosque's architecture combines traditional Chinese architectural (fengshui) form with Islamic functionality.
Similarly, Mughal architecture of the sub-continents is an amalgamation of Islamic, Persian, Turkic and Indian architecture. One of the wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal is the finest and most sophisticated example of Mughal architecture. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan ordered to build this beautiful building as a memorial to his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj is famous for its stunning gardens, lavish ornamentation, and its overt use of white marble and is considered the ultimate symbol of love.
From the outset, the Taj was conceived of as a building that would be remembered for its magnificence for ages to come, and to that end, the best material and skills were employed. Shah Jahan made sure that the principles of Mughal architecture were incorporated into the design throughout the building process.
Going further west, Alhambra presents another variation in Islamic architecture. Alhambra is located on the left bank of the river Darro, in the city of Granada, Spain and is one of the most visited monuments in the world
First constructed in the 9th century, the site is famous for its tile patterns, curved stucco and wooden ceilings. Since its initial inception, successive Muslim rulers extended this site; however each extension followed the consistent theme of wanting to create a "paradise on earth".
Alhambra is distinctive among medieval palaces for its sophisticated planning, complex decorative schemes, and its many enchanting gardens and fountains.
The basic Arabic alphabet contains 28 letters; however other languages such as Urdu, Persian, Sindhi, Pushto, Persian etc. have adopted the script by adding and removing some letters.
Arabic is not a native language for most of the Muslim world, yet Muslims read Arabic in their daily prayers and when reading the Quran or use Arabic words in simple conversations with each other. Arabic thus forms the common link between the diverse communities of believers.
The motif at the back end of the car is based on the alphabets of Arabic language and the various infill colours represent the diversity of the people speaking the language. The design is strategically placed on the rear panel spanning along both sides to represent the common feature between the diverse communities of the Muslim world.
Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī was a 13th-century Persian Muslim poet, jurist, Islamic scholar, and Sufi mystic . Rumi’s thoughts and practices revolved around humanity, love, compassion, tolerance, and respect for others and their beliefs. He is perhaps one of the most quoted poets in the West and his works have been widely translated into many of the world's languages. After his death in 1273, his followers founded the ‘Mevlevi Order’, which is also known as the Order of the Whirling Dervishes, famous for its Sufi dance.
Rumi, the poet, emerged in a time of social and political turmoil, not too dissimilar to what we face today. I personally believe that some of the anarchy in today’s world can be eliminated if we learn to understand and appreciate the differences amongst us. Rumi recognised that the world was a global village and empathy was fundamental for coexistence in this village. His influence transcends national borders, varying languages and ethnic divisions, and thus he provides the inspiration for this artwork.
The design on the roof acknowledges Rumi’s global message with four whirling dervishes showcasing the cardinal directions North, South, East and West. The skin colour and the cloak of the dervishes (traditionally white); have been intentionally varied to signify universality of his message irrespective of sect, skin colour and background. The composition is surrounded by four popular quotes from Rumi’s which reiterate his message of tolerance and love.
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be acheived by understanding”
Love, Peace and Compassion are the cornerstones of Salamfest and guiding principle of Rumi’s graphic designs. I therefore used; a white dove with an olive branch which is the universal symbol of peace, humanity, and love, to showcase this key message. While the peace dove takes a central position on the front hood of the car, the trajectory of adjoining pattern continues further and extends towards the side panels to resemble stretched wings to signify flight and to high light the message and the messenger.
Unfortunately, the path to peace has not always been smooth and often many lives are lost as ‘collateral damage’ in this ultimate quest. I have acknowledged this fact by painting geometric pattern from the tomb of Jalal-al Din -Uzgen, Kyrgyzstan, in (unconventional) red as a background to the dove symbol.
During the First World War, red poppies were among the first plants to spring up in the devastated battlefields and there is soldiers' folklore that the vivid red of the poppy came from the blood of their comrades soaking the ground. Red poppies are therefore used as a symbol of immeasurable sacrifices made during conflicts and are used to commemorate Remembrance Day.
Similarly, white Poppies represent a commitment to peace and challenge the attempts to glamorise or celebrate war.
The banner has ‘Peace’ written in Persian, Hindi, Chinese, Italian, Bengali, French, Hebrew and Arabic.
The use of white and red poppies as a backdrop around the peace banner recognises that war is an unnecessary evil and reminds us that conflicts can be resolved without bloodshed.
‘Lest we forget’.
For centuries people have moved from countries of their birth to other countries. This movement occurred for all sorts of reasons; at times people were drawn to new places by ‘pull ‘factors such as better job and education opportunities, economic stability, improved human rights and religious freedom, while at other times, people were compelled to migrate because of ‘push’ factors such as poverty, high unemployment rates, lack of career opportunities, natural disasters, internal conflicts and war, prosecution and lack of human rights.
Whether, migrations is driven by push factors or pull factors, for most people migration is a major step and is not taken lightly. As people move, they leave behind their families and friends, cultural ties and traditions and venture into a completely foreign environment with diverse ethos and social value system.
The new migrants face a number of challenges as they rebuilt their lives from scratch and adopt to the environment of the host country. While the immigrants benefit from this enterprise, these new citizens bring energy and innovation as they offer their skills; and bring color and cultural enrichment to their adopted homeland.
I wanted to showcase the various aspects of this journey and highlight this collaborative relationship between the immigrant and the host country through my motifs. I have used seals from ancient civilization of Mohenjodaro, Lahore’s Red fort and the Shalimar gardens to emphasis the significance of heritage and cultural linkage in the immigration story. The scenery depicting a boat facing the mountains identifies with the difficult journeys (whether by boat or air) taken by people to travel in search of a better future.The cityscape of Dubai with all its glitter and glamour represents the new techno-dynamic world of the host nation.
I have used the symbol of Turkey’s iconic Bosphorus Bridge which spans between Asia (East) and Europe (West) to indicates the reaching out by the new immigrants to the people of the host countries and symbolize the dialogue and communication between the people. This discourse can be used to alleviate any concerns that may perpetuate in the host community due to unfamiliarity with the new cultures and customs of the arriving people and help to ‘span’ across the apparent differences and to promote cohesion in the society.
The backdrop of Ankara’s (Turkey) cityscape and the rising sun symbolizes the offerings of the new emigrants to their adopted homeland. Recognizing the differences is a first step in reconciliation. We are naturally afraid of the unknown, but by developing an understanding of the differences, this fear is removed and we recognize that the world is a global village and empathy for others is fundamental for coexistence in this village.
Assimilation and integration with the new environment and respecting the rules and regulation of the host country by the new immigrants is equally important. I have emphasised this thought and reaffirm the allegiance of the new Australians with the country by strategically placing the slogans ‘ ‘Home Is Here’ and ‘Australian’ around the indicator lights.
The word "coffee" entered the English language via the Dutch koffie, which borrowed it from the Turkish kahve and in turn borrowed from the Arabic qahwah.
While the origin of coffee is thought to be from Ethiopia, the earliest substantiated evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree is from the Sufi monasteries of Yemen who used the beverage as an aid to concentration as they chanted the name of God.
With this humble beginning in Yemen, by the early 16th century, coffee had made inroads to the rest of the Middle East, India , Persia, Turkey, Northern Africa and then to the Balkans, Italy and to the rest of Europe and America.
The motif represents dallah which is a traditional Arabic coffee pot used for centuries to brew and serve Qahwah -so coffee anyone!
I wanted to showcase the past and present Muslim interaction with Australia and therefore dedicated a section of the car panel to narrate this story.
Based on rock art paintings at Arnhem land, the first contact between the Muslims and the Indigenous population occurred somewhere between late 1500s to early 1600s when Macassan fisherman from Indonesia began visiting the coast of northern Australia in their wooden boats ‘Perahu’.
Under the British, in the 1800's when the exploration in Australia was at full boom, camels and their drivers were imported from the sub-continent to help in the exploration and development of the mainland.
Between the 1860s to the early 1900s, these Cameleers and their 'ships of the desert' became the backbone of the Australian economy. This was followed by Indian hawkers and merchants who arrived from Karachi, Peshawar, Baluchistan, the Punjab and Bengal, and travelled across the Australian countryside, offering their merchandise for sale to remote settlers.
From these humble beginning to the present, Muslims have, and are contributing towards the development of the country. From highest echelon of professionals to ordinary citizens, Muslim contribution is apparent in all walks of life. I represented this achievement with swirling lines and cogs to emphasise that Muslims are part of the modern Australian DNA and are an equal contributors to the economic development of this country and needed to be recognised as such.
Life is unpredictable, full of challenges and surprises. In the early part of this year when the hoop-la around my photo collage that I had completed at the Australia day event had died down, I received a phone call that changed the course of my artistic ventures for the year and perhaps will continue to affect the art I will do into the future.
It all started with an overseas phone call in March this year, the caller had a simple and interesting proposition. “There is an artist coming for 'Parramasala Festival' in Sydney, and we are hoping to get him to Melbourne to paint a car for the SalamFest program using traditional Pakistani truck art design. He will be in Melbourne for 3-4 days and will require some support with the car painting. Will you be able to help?”. I was a bit amazed at this unexpected offer and before I could evaluate the pros and con’s I found myself saying “Yes, sure I should be able to help with this”.
Though I had researched Pakistani Truck art in some detail in the past and had assembled an art exhibition “Mechanical Imprints’ inspired by truck art back in 2014, my practical involvement with Truck Art is limited to inspired compositions on paper using ink and acrylic paints. I looked at this offer as an opportunity to work and learn from a seasoned practitioner and I therefore blocked off 3 days in my calendar for this event. I thought to myself, why not? With plenty of annual leave outstanding, 3-4 days of artistic work didn’t seem that big a price to pay for the experience.
As faith would have it, the gentleman did come to Sydney as planned and ended up painting a Toyota van, but unfortunately his Melbourne escapade of painting the car didn’t materialize and was postponed on one pretext or the other. A few days later, I received another phone call, “As the Pakistani artist arrangement has not worked out, will you be able to paint the car for us?” This time my anxiety kicked in and I tried to repudiate my initial response and acceptance by thinking of all the excuses that I could think of at the time “…but I am not a truck artist, I have never painted a car or as a matter of fact seen one painted, I wouldn’t even know what paint to use”. Credit to the caller, her persistence paid-off and after much rumination I agreed to take up the offer - on the condition that I will not be trying to replicate traditional truck art, I will be given plenty of time and that I will be given complete freedom to choose and execute my designs.
The next few weeks were spent researching materials on ‘How to’ of Pakistani Truck Arts. There is plenty of material in cyberspace on truck art- photos, YouTube videos, interviews and articles, but none (at least that I could find!), about how to develop designs for truck art and more importantly what materials to use on the vehicle surface.
Luckily during my exploits on the net, I came across a Facebook page about “Phool Patti Pakistan’s Truck Art Team”. This group is passionate about truck art and Ali Salman who is the managing director and brains behind the group was more than helpful and was able to brief me on typical truck art design, concepts and materials.
An ‘Art Nouveau’ movement, Pakistani truck art focuses solely on the decorative dimensions. Modern day ‘truck art’ practices are aesthetically bold, and rely heavily on standard motifs and slogans to cover the painted surface. It uses a variety of material and methods ranging from oil paints, stickers, reflective tapes and stencils to achieve this end result. Most practitioners of this art form have not gone beyond the aesthetic component of the style to compose compositions that attempt to narrate a message or pitch a story.
I didn’t wanted to replicate truck art in its traditional form as an exposé of colors and pattern without context. Rather, I wanted the artwork to convey the core messages of SalamFest, of ‘Peace, Love and Compassion’. In addition, I wanted the finished artwork to go beyond a ‘conversation piece’ to a raconteur that could intrigue and lure the viewer to explore the subject matter further.
The car donated for the project was a mid-sized sedan, a 2004 Hyundi Accent. Though not a gem of a design from a modern prospective, the car had a clean, ‘healthy’ surface, with a minor ‘dimple’ on the left side but nothing major that could not be fixed with some muscle power. I started doodling the designs on the sketch pad but soon realized that to get a true appreciation of the area involved I needed to work on actual scale. I scaled off the sizes from the free vector images available on the net to rolls of paper and soon had a paper equivalent of the car surface.
It was only then; that the sheer scale of what I was trying to achieve truly dawned on me. Compared to a typical size painting, the available surface area on the car is enough for one or two very large size murals or easily 10-20 pieces of artwork!
This was further complicated by the fact that unlike paper the external surface of the car is not uniform. Each car has a unique identity and persona; and the car body stylist and designers spend a huge amount of effort to get the contours and the shapes just right. Working on 1: 1 scale drawing provided me an opportunity to tap into these forms and lines to highlight various aspects of the composition.
Just as naming a child is an exciting time and an important first step in shaping their identity, naming one’s ride has a nostalgic appeal, especially for oldies like me. In my younger years; owning a car was considered a step towards self-reliance and freedom. As the intent was to use the SalamMobile as a mascot for the festival, SalamFest team thought it would be nice to give the car a nick-name of sort.
As the car was inspired by truck art, the initial tendency was to pick names from Urdu and other regional languages. We wanted to select a single syllable word which would be easier to palate for the western tongue. I was tempted to name the car Harry (after the first camel which landed in Australia in 1840), but reverted against it when I realize that Harry the camel had a reputation for being ill-tempered. I even contemplated ‘Paulie’ after the animation parrot character which spoke and narrated its journey to its owner but refrained myself from suggesting this name due to possible association of the name with one of the stalwarts of ultra-right wing politics in this country who has the tendency to capture headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Love, peace and compassion are the cornerstones of Salamfest, and the event drew lot of its inspiration from sufistic philosophy and we wanted the car’s name to relate to this message. After a bit of deliberation, the name ‘Rumi’ was proposed after the great 13th century poet, sufi mystic and scholar Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi. Rumi’s thoughts and practice revolves around humanity, love, compassion, tolerance, and respect for others. This aligned perfectly with the festivals message.
Moreover, his works have been translated to a number of languages and is widely recognised in the west. In short, Rumi’s name ticks all the boxes and therefore it was a no brainer to name the car after him.
Naming the car, gave a sense of direction to the design development process. Just as Rumi tried to create an atmosphere of dialogue and tolerance through his writing and poetry, I wanted the imagery to give a sense of discovery and conversation.
Given the cultural diversity that exists within people who identify as Muslim, I felt it was important to make clear and highlight that; like other ethnic groups, 'Muslims' are not one homogeneous group of people, but are impacted by their unique history and cultural heritage. I sincerely believe recognition of this fact, is important to avoid 'branding' and promote assimilation and harmony within our society.
They are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. The challenge was to capture the diverse nature of the people and cultures within this group in a format that acknowledges their heritage and yet maintains the affiliation with the faith. I started collecting motifs and designs from various Muslim countries which were unique with the region and soon enough, I had an album of images of Muslim countries floral emblems, textile patterns, traditional arabesque and geometric designs to work with. With so many countries to look into, it was not practical to include motifs and symbol from each and every Muslim country in the world; I therefore decided to group the nations into identifiable regions.
The interaction of Muslims with the local indigenous population in the early 16th century brings in an important dimension to the conversation about harmonious collaboration among the diverse group of people in this country.
The images of small sailing boats of Indonesian Makassan Muslims similar to the one found on Wellington Range in Arnhem Land, northern Australia provided this opportunity. Similarly, the key role that the Afghan cameleers (camel drivers from region that is now covered by Pakistan, India and Afghanistan) played in the late 19th and early 20th in opening up the deserts, providing supplies to remote stations, and helping to lay crucial national infrastructure like the telegraph line and the north to south railway needed a mention.And lastly, I felt that there was a need to tie these historical achievements to the present day roles and contribution of Muslim Australians.
I feel that the ‘popular’ discussions around immigration (whether by boat or plane) in this country, is lopsided and tanned by short sighted political agendas and ignores the benefits of multiculturalism to the host society. Thus I wanted Rumi’s design to initiate this dialogue and highlight the journey as well as contributions of the new citizens to the Australian community.
I believe, all faiths fundamentally focus on goodness and humanity. Somewhere along the line in our quest for the ‘right verses wrong, them verses us’ debate, we tend to abandon the fundamentals of the message. We start focusing on rituals but ignore the underlying principles. I wanted to convey this thought in my artwork and reiterate; that though we may follow different pathways to the truth, they are a lot of underlying similarities that needed to be acknowledge and celebrated.
And last but not the least all these individual component needed to be tied into the universal message of peace, tolerance, acceptance, compassion and love which were the key message of the festival and explicit in the writing and teaching of Rumi.
Finding symbols that identified with Rumi was not difficult as whirling dervishes are universally identified with Rumi. The difficult part was to select a few key quotes which were representative of the overall message and yet brief enough to be manageable within the confines of the available space. I started off with a nearly a hundred quotes and eventually selected four that got included in the car design.
Once I had a reasonable idea on the type of imagery I wanted to use, I started putting these designs to my paper equivalent of the car, to get a feel of the scale and aesthetic implications of the choices that I had made. I had to drop some components and rethink some others but eventually was able to pull together nearly 70% of main designs on paper before I actually started painting the car.
I had elected to use oil based paints for painting the car on the pretext that they will be more resilient to weather and general wear& tear that the car surface would endure during its travels. The ready to apply enamel paints available at the hardware store were easy to apply and relatively quick drying and cured within a day, whereas artist oil paints had an extensive pallet of colours but was taking too long to dry. I explored quick drying additives and mixing of enamels and oils to achieve the required properties of colour and drying performance.
Earlier in the piece, my truck art friends from Pakistan had provided me with a catalogue of various styles and types of stickers used in their razzle dazzle industry; I selected a handful of designs and imported these across to Australia to be used as fillers and connectors in the overall composition.
The enormity of the task in hand became apparent once I started the work. I soon realised that I will need some help to complete the project in time. I live in south east suburbia and most of my contacts live on the ‘wrong’ side of town. The SalamFest team made a few artist call outs and they were a few hands raised but unfortunately most of the people were an hour plus travel time away and though committed at heart, it was apparent that the logistics of the exercise will make it impractical for them to contribute on a regular basis for weeks at end. A few of my artistic family friends (Jamil Khateeb, Shanaz Akhtar and Anushe Khan) tried to assist where possible despite the lengthy commute and contributed where they could. An honourable mention especially goes to Jamil who not only spent couple of hours travelling each weekend and participated in the painting works but also took ownership of the design of his panel.
Luckily, my sister in law Shagufta (Sha) who lives nearby and is a budding artist herself; and my wife Lubna came to the rescue. While I pondered on transferring the paper designs to the car surface, working out placements and forms, these ladies started brings the designs to life by coloring them in. Though time constrained, hours spent by them were the hours not spent by me.
Considering that I was only able to paint on weekends, I always anticipated that the project would take a few months to complete. I soon realized that hours literally fly when you are having fun. There were some moderate size sections of the design that took 8-9 hours to complete and other smaller pieces which took days to achieve the end results. Soon 8 hours shifts stretched to 10 and later to a 15-hour sojourn. Weekend work become 9 days continuous 12-13 hours daily stretches during a week off and in the last few weeks I was even working after hours during the normal work week. Holidays, celebrations and festivities were all gobbled up by the project.
As the work on Rumi progressed, my admiration for the Yemeni Sufi mystics who introduced coffee to the world grew, and coffee and sugar loaded crackers became my favorite snacks. Proper food was an project interruption; that could and where possible, had to be avoided.
Me and my contributing artist did not maintain formal time sheets, however towards the end, cumulatively we would have easily spend an impressive 1000 hours plus on this project.
Earlier in the project I had made choices regarding paints and materials based on intuition and limited research. I had not worked with these materials before. As the project came to an end, the apprehension regarding the durability of the artwork kicked in. Once the artwork was finished, I carefully washed the car, each scrub and wipe was examined to see if the paint was holding on to the surface. Luckily, it did. I then applied couple of coats of clear gloss acrylics to the surface to provide additional protection and gloss. Once dried and cured, Rumi got two coats of premium polish with lots of 'elbow-grease', to create a lustrous shine.
While at times the physical support was limited, I had plenty of people supporting my effort. Out of the blue, a start up video company ’C61 Media’ got hold of my efforts and proposed to do a short documentary about my art. The talented duo, Main Shabaz Munir and Abdul Basit Javed spent nearly a whole day recording me to deliver an incredible three-and-a-half-minute short film,“The Mechanics of Love”,capturing the essence of my work.
The whole SalamFest team was behind me in spirits throughout this journey. They cheered my every effort, thumbed-up each Facebook post that I posted and provided messages of support to ensure that I continued to be on a ‘high’ throughout this journey.
The Journey that started around 5th of March came to an end on 7th of October, when I together with some of the contributing artist finally handed over the car to the SalamFest team. We commemorated the unveiling of Rumi with a celebration and cake cutting ceremony to mark the end of the journey and perhaps flagging the start of another.
From now onwards Rumi will be out and about amongst the people, it will be exhibited in various gatherings and festivals up until the last week of November, where it will be displayed outside the State Library of Victoria for SalamFest 2017. The intent is beyond November the tour will continue in perhaps a less hectic pace.
Only time will tell how the people will react to Rumi and whether this art-venture is successful in initiating a dialogue and understanding amongst the wider audience as intended.
As far as my personal artistic fulfilment is concern, during the past 216 days, I have learnt a lot about the content and the practice. I have met some wonderful people, made new friends and learned to appreciate the efforts of the special group of people who volunteer and go above and beyond their normal calling in life. I am humbled by the accolades received about my art and contented about the tiny contribution that I might have been able to make to bring people closer and appreciative of the difference between them.
So, to the question of hind sight, knowing what I know now, would I do it again?
The answer is a resounding …Yes.
Gondwana, Super continent...Artist blog?
While I may have just been able to sneak into the two second attention span of most of my readers as you browse the net, any further dwelling on the science of ‘palaeogeography’; I’m sure will result in a ‘finger flick’ and loss of readership.
So rest assured, this post is not about the 180 million years old split of the Godwananan super continent that eventually resulted in the development of the landmass that we now call Australia, but about my journey and behind the scenes thinking process for putting together a community art project that I recently completed to commemorate Australia Day.
For the past 3 years I have had the privilege of hosting community art events in collaboration with CHARM (Cultural Historical Association of Rodriguans and Mauritians) at Cranbourne’s Balla Balla community center on Australia day. The artwork completed on the day is then displayed at the community center for the year. These projects are designed not only to engage and involve the participating crowds in a short, fun filled activity, but also to reinforce, reaffirm and reiterate the message of tolerance, integration, harmony and multiculturalism – i.e. all that I consider great about modern day Australia.
This year the idea started off as a simple concept, take a bunch of instant photos and organize them into an artwork ‘Portrait of Australia’ that is aesthetically pleasing and can be easily displayed at the community center. With this goal in mind, I started throwing around a few concepts in my head. The trick was to develop a unique design that relates to Australia and conveys a message of harmony, integration and multiculturalism (concepts that are dear to me and very pertinent to the country and the municipality I live in).
The overall dimensions of the finished artwork had to be large enough to accommodate a sufficient number of photographs but at the same time be easily transportable. Similarly the piece had to be sturdy but light so that it could be easily displayed at the community center rail hanging system. It is always good to recognize and work within the limitation of the display locations as this may impact the overall design of the piece.
I decided to use the Australian map as the back drop, but had to use artistic licence to modify the geometry to maximize the number of photographs that could be fitted in. The backdrop was cut out of thin plywood but had to be strengthened with wooden bracing to keep the final piece from collapsing on itself. I decided to break the mainland into 3 parts to facilitate construction, transportation and display. The display wall had a slight curve, and ideally the art work needed to conform to the wall contours.
Tasmania being separated from the main land presents an interesting challenge as it needed to tie into the overall artwork while maintaining its isolation from the rest of the continent. I decided to use brass studs to maintain the gap and at the same time attach Tasmania to the main piece. Later, I used the same technique to change the aspect ratio of the final art piece, creating a gap between the three pieces on the mainland map as well.
Defining the final outcome of a community art activity is difficult, as the audience participation and enthusiasm can vary. Contingencies had to plan into the design, so that lack of audience participation does not impact the overall aesthetics of the piece. My initial plan was to have a simple pre-marked grid to locate the position for each photo and I extended this theme to included colour grids. This not only made the overall art work more vibrant but also contributed to the overall theme of cultural diversity and harmony.
I used doted lines to highlight the indigenous theme and to integrate the piece together into a single body. Though seemingly random, each line was designed to intersect with the others at various locations signifying collective effort and the coming together of the community in achieving a common goal.
Just like communities, I wanted the art piece to evolve in a random fashion during the course of the event. I numbered each grid and introduce a sub-activity of requiring the participants to draw out numbers that defined the location for their photo. This improved participant engagement and also avoided formation of groups based on ethnicity, colour or background. We invited participants to sign their photos and write messages and also provided token gifts to encourage participation.
Community participation based art projects require one to take up multiple roles – designer, organiser, communicator and an events manager both before and during the event. My experience suggest that its best to recognise that that this is not a single person job and therefore it is best to get some help especially during the event. For this year’s event I was lucky enough to recruit two volunteers who took ownership of the event and helped me in executing the project.
We had great participation from the community and the project was a great success. I am sure as long as the artwork hangs on the wall of Balla Balla centre, it will serve as a constant reminder of what we as Australians stand for and should aim to be as a society.
Long live peace, harmony, integration and multiculturalism.
Proclaimation. Acrylic and ink on 300gm paper, 50cm x70 cm
While ‘Dhol’(Indian drum) music is generally associated with traditional music and dance that mark festive occasions and weddings, historically, beating of ‘Dhol’ signified the movement of royal family, military exercises and provided a prelude to the public announcements. This painting is inspired by one such historical proclamation made to the beats of the Dhol more than 150 year ago.
In 1857, people of India took their first steps towards freedom from the British Raj; when people from all walks of life, irrespective of cast, creed, religion and ethnic background rose against the foreign occupiers. This defying movement is remembered in the sub-continent as the first War of Independence and derided by some Western historians as the ‘Sepoy Mutiny’. The uprising that started over the incident of greased ammunition cartridges in a cantonment of Meerut in Bengal, about 40 miles from Delhi, soon engulfed the whole country. The Sepoy set out to revive the Mughal Empire and reclaimed the cities that they took over.
The drum beater’s proclaimed this event in the streets and towns as; “ Khalq Khuda Ki, Mulk Badshah Ka, Hukm Subahdar Siphai Bhaddur Ka (the world belongs to God, the country to the Emperor and executive powers to the Sepoy Commandant in the city).
The revolt signified the nationalist sentiments of the country and was aimed to drive out ‘foreigners’ from the entirety of India. Unfortunately, the Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar, failed to capitalize the sentiments of the country, and in September 1857, the British reoccupied Delhi.
British retribution to the rebellion that started with court marshal and public hanging of two sepoys ‘Mangal Pandey’ and 'Jemadar Ishwari Prasad’, and culminated in the massacre and hanging of hundreds and thousands of innocent people. The old king was captured and later deported to Rangoon and his family shot dead.
Native press and publication were among the many casualties of the event, as gagging orders were imposed on vernacular press and freedom of expression was curtailed. Publishers who dared to write against the government atrocities had to pay a very heavy price in the form of forcible closures, trials and punitive action such as life sentences.
The image of the drum beater* surrounded by Urdu alphabets and slogans signifies this historical event and the fading alphabets in the background and the two twine strings across the alphabets signify the aftermath.
*based on drummer photograph on the web
Painting Detail
Every three years Australians go to the polling booths to cast votes and elect a group of ‘nincompoop’ people to govern us. To some naive believers; regular federal elections are a proof that the system works, and every three years the nation gets an opportunity to reset and redefine its goals. For the more cynical, federal elections is another season of the soap opera ‘Days of Our lives’ where just like the drama characters, the dead policies are repackaged and relabelled, unreal promises are made using forward estimates of revenues that are unlikely to be generated, the nation is reminded about the threats that could be teleported from another ‘galaxy’ and made to turn a blind eye to the more immediate social threats that exist. It is a season of handshaking, selfie taking, kid kissing, pollies discovering hard hats and fruit and vegetables markets, shopping centres, seasonal spike of ‘boats’ on our shores, last but not the least security raids and 1800123400 advertisements. And so the circus continues.
It is distressing to note how poorly our political parties rate the nation’s I.Q and even more depressing to know, how time and again they have been proven right!
Lot of noise and lot less content, somehow remind one of the ‘Seven Commandments of Animalism’ in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. It is difficult to establish who is right, who is wrong, who is real and who is fake, who is visionary and who is vision deprived.
To me, one of the solution of this dilemma is to make up a list of things that are near and dear to us and we believe are essential elements of our society in Australia and gauge the parties and their policies against these ‘Non-negotiable’. Though introspective, the approach safe guards the Real, what is; against what will be (la promesa!).
The fact is; we don’t have inspirational leaders such as Obama, Trudeau, Merkel and the like to choose from. While Australia deserves better, what we have is; what we have and once again we need to choose between the lesser of the evils. The lucky country cannot afford a Donald Trump look alike. Equality, humanity, diversity and multi-culturalism, and a fair go for all is non-negotiable.
So whatever you’re political persuasion is; Red, Blue, Green or Grey, whether you are one of disgruntled member of ‘whatever’ generation that votes only to dodge the fines, or naive supporter of the system or simply lured to the polls by the smell of barbeque sausage and onions rolls, you and I have a role to play in shaping this country’s future.
The tradition of storytelling - ‘Dastan or Qissahgohi’ can be traced back to medieval Persia. As the Persian speaking rulers gained afoot-hold in India, and established courts across the country, professional story narrators –‘Dastan goh’ became an essential part of their entourage. These stories were generally cultivated in the royal courts, and usually contained fictionalized versions of the wisdom, bravery and successes of the rulers and became the chief source of folklore. As Urdu gained popularity in the sub-continent, this genre was adopted by Urdu speakers and became the medium of oral ‘Qissah’ (story) narration in central and southern parts of the subcontinent. This artwork builds up on this tradition of storytelling and narrates the story of the storyteller.
Sometimes life presents people, who are difficult to forget. During our recent visit to Lahore’s Badshahi mosque, we came across a short frail old gentleman standing in one of the mosque enclave’sgiving a discourse about the mosque architecture. One would have ignored him as one of the many guides that haunt the place, but there was something different in his presentation, maybe it was his English or the way he made his words reverberate that got my attention.
Faqir Muhammad Shami as he later introduced himself to us, knows the exact spots in the architecture of the mosque where the designers of the time had built a unique feature that allowed the words spoken by someone at that precise spot to echo and be heard a long distance away. A Mughal era microphone system of sorts, either designed to make the preacher’s sermon be heard by a larger audience or perhaps force their voice and words to linger in the listeners mind.
During his shot spiel about the greatness of Mughal architecture and design, Shami candidly mentioned his presence on Youtube and Facebook.I would have ignored him as another ‘wacky’ gentleman to cross our path as we toured around, but something in Shami’s attitude had captured my attention and intrigued me to validate his claims. Moreover, my daughter’s photograph of Shami had captured the lines and forms of his aged wrinkled face so masterfully that it presented an opportunity that had to be explored.
Consulting ‘Dr Google’, lo and behold, Shami does have a cyberspace presence. His admirers have uploaded his interviews on Youtube(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8NrpkomU_Q) and he has been featured in national newspapers (http://tribune.com.pk/story/599460/lahores-unofficial-tourist-guide-the-rime-of-the-ancient-qissa-goh/). He also has a Facebook page dedicated to him and photos of him also appear on Flickr.
In his own right, Shami is a historian, a political activist, a poet, a tourist guide and has his say on everything, from Shakespeare to current government policies. He has his own view of the world, what is and what ought to be. Even his hand written visiting card is unique and after presenting the trivial details about his mobile phone number, name and address disseminate his view point aboutthe chaos in the world and reads ‘on the day when we can fully trust each other there will be peace on earth’.
Being the sucker for left-field ideas that I am, Shami’s life story has enough material to inspire me to paint this piece - a story of the storyteller. This one is dedicated to you Mr Shami- God Bless.
Australia Day 2016 Community Weaving event designed to showcase collaborative effort, multiculturalism and respect for Land.
Read MoreMy art exhibition ’Arabic Abstraction II’ continues at City of Casey offices, Magid Drive, Narre Warren until 29th January 2016.
The novel part of this exhibition, are my compositions with paper cuts. Paper-cuts have allowed me to extend beyond the two dimensional space and explore the possibility of using depth, ambient light and shadows to create contemporary abstract compositions around alphabets. Though minimalistic in its execution, this technique is very inclusive from the viewer’s point of view.
In the featured work ‘Light and Shadows #1’, the characteristic of the letter change and the rhombic dots appear or disappear depending on the orientation of the work and placement of the light source.
