One of the outcomes I had in mind for my MA project was a public art project that allows weaving together the narrative of a city full of people. I researched a bunch of projects and finally settled on my own idea inspired by little bits of all of them. I call this project ‘The Untold Edition”. The Untold Edition is underway for the month of July. I will be flying to Karachi to conduct it. Prior to that, I will be in Jeddah so a bunch of planning needs to be accomplished before I finally get there. So what …
Tag: culture
Artisans of Love
During my first ever tutorial, when art in Jeddah felt like a haze I was unable to penetrate, I talked to Jonathan about an art cafe I had discovered called Arbab al Heraf. It inspired a wonderful, artsy, curious discussion with wonderful, artsy, curious people and, you could say, it was the springboard for me exploring and understanding art in Jeddah. One of the things that emerged from that discussion was the idea that I could set up interviews with celebrated local artists. The stories that emerged would be a piece of narrative art in and of itself. Finally that …
The Other Story Project — Illustrated
The Other Story Project, mentioned in one of the previous blog posts, is a public art project I’ve been following for quite some time. I guess it is exactly my idea of using various forms of art and community involvement to build a cultural narrative. The Other Story Project often orchestrates a collaboration with artists to create a version called “The Other Story Project–Illustrated”. In January they reached out to me to join the team of artists illustrating one story each for the month of February. This is the story I was given (originally in Arabic, below is a close …
Experiment # 1: I capture the desert
I haven’t concretely written down my project proposal yet, but brainstorming and some research has yielded the following answers about what I am seem to be seeking: I want to build simultaneous narratives to explore the ‘slice of life’ story of an absent protagonist. I want my art to reflect the ‘stream of consciousness’ or ongoing story in the inner mind’. I want to unlock the narrative potential of everyday objects and materials, and their embedded cultural associations. I am inspired by the ongoing dialogue between art and the audience in this digital era, and the potential of the audience …
Baby Steps…
Everyday I have been taking concrete steps towards realizing my final MA project. Yet, it all exists in my mind like one giant amorphous cloud and the thought of writing it down and giving it shape and form simply terrifies me! But it’s gotta be done right? So I’ve decided to take some time out everyday to pen down some thoughts to provide more clarity, slowly and gradually, till I see a project proposal forming. So here’s today’s haul: