Faig Ahmed: Weaving a Wonderful Tale

Art Week in Dubai is in full swing.  Gallery openings, design days, art fairs, art nights, workshops and enchanting exhibitions and installations have captured viewers and art lovers from all over the world.

Many have immersed themselves in the experience and through this have formed wonderful new relationships with friends and artists. I personally have met people from all over the world that I had only known before through social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.  Together we have attended events and shared stories, thereby getting to  know a little bit more about each other and about other cultures.

The stories we have shared with each other have further helped to weave the wonderful tale of interconnection and shared humanity that is slowly making itself heard today.   They have helped us to let go of stereotypes and question existing boundaries. 

One installation during Art Week captured my attention the minute I heard about it via social media. @cuadroart, the Instagram account for the Cuado Art Gallery, posted a picture with the caption, 

“Faig Ahmed’s yarn threads have started to stretch out of Cuadro and into the balconies of the neighboring buildings in the DIFC Gate Village” 

Faig Ahmed is from Baku, Azerbaijan. Currently he is exploring carpets, weaving digital patterns with the conventional recurring patterns to create bold optical illusions.  Faig states that “Tradition is the main factor creating the society as a self regulated system. Changes in the non-written rule happen under influence of global modern culture.”

Faig works are currently “an instantaneous expression” and he believes that in today’s world, “ideas that have been formed for ages are being changed in moments”.

One online article by a blogger called Will had this to say about Faig Ahmed’s work:

“Carpets are often regarded as an indestructible icon of the East, and a deeply respected item in many households used for visual and decorative means.  Faig’s work alters these standard stereotypes and creates new boundaries with a fresh outcome.” 

In his current installation, Faig takes this two-dimensional craft and by stretching elements of his work into space, takes it into a third dimension. As I read all of this, the tale became more captivating, and like a reader caught up in a gripping storyline, I was being drawn into this wonderful web. 

The DIFC is one of my favorite places to photograph in Dubai.  That the installation involved buildings was a bonus. 

I love taking photographs of buildings and presenting them in such a way that the viewer is encouraged to take on a new perspective.  We are so caught up in the beliefs and traditions of our respective cultures, that it is not always easy to see things from a different perspective.  Through my mobile photography I attempt to introduce this concept visually, both by not using a traditional camera and through my images.   

The evolving installation that met me in the Gate Village did not disappoint me.

As I began to capture my impressions of the installation as it unfolded, I realized the story being woven was almost interactive, with personal impressions being woven into the threads by its viewers. 

The installation has a dynamic movement and it excited me to see the buildings being joined in a way that made them look as if they were reaching out to each other, sharing stories and sharing the space they were in more intimately than before. This so tied in with my recent blog in which I received a tweet from a tower. 

My love of architecture and my passion for promoting interconnection through here2here  were being represented visually in a form I had not imagined before. 

When a couple met and hugged underneath Faig’s installation, another chapter in the tale was complete. 

As the story of the installation unfolded on Instagram it was gaining yet another dimension, this time in cyberspace.  

There was mention of “His palette of colorful yarns” and the viewer was informed that “Scaffolding keeps getting higher and higher as he works yarn from the gallery walls out the window and all the way up to the roof.”

While preparing this piece I came across an ancient metaphor:

“thought is a thread, and the raconteur is a spinner of yarns - but the true storyteller, the poet, is a weaver.”

A weaver of a wonderful tale had arrived in my world and I determined to meet him at Art Nights. Patiently waiting my turn I noticed his open engagement with others.  I was able to show him some of the photos I had taken and see his delight when he saw the couple hugging under his work. 

As mentioned earlier, I was present with Igers from all over the world at Art Nights, our online connections having overflowed into physical space, just as Faig’s yarns had moved from inside the gallery to the neighbouring rooftops outside. 

Antoine de Saint-Exupery spoke about “a mesh into which relationships are tied” and this was probably what Tim Berner-Lee had in mind when he created the term “World Wide Web” in 1989.

As we make our way through cyberspace, let us remember the importance of relationships. 

The complex membrane of information, called the noosphere by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, that is currently enveloping the globe is fueled by human consciousness.  Each tweet we send, each instagram pic we post or every facebook update we make, is a thread that can add to the beauty of the unfolding carpet of life. As we encounter others online in here2here space, let us treat them with respect as we listen deeply to what they share. As we collaborate with others, let us remember that we have more similarities than differences. 

We are threads in a wonderful tale, but we are also the weavers. 

Digital Archways

Living in Dubai, I am constantly surrounded by Islamic forms of art. Even many of the futuristic looking skyscrapers that grace the city’s skyline are modern interpretations of Islamic architecture. Calligraphy, geometric patterns, domes and arches abound, and one never has to look too far to find wonderful examples of these art forms.

As many of you know, I am a keen flaneur and iphoneographer who enjoys wandering and taking photos of Dubai’s architecture when the weather permits. With the heat outside on the increase at the moment, my outdoor expeditions are becoming a bit limited. A trip to take some photographs of the Wafi Mall the other morning, found me hastily looking for some shade.  

iPhone in hand, I found myself in an interesting outdoor passageway.  I was struck by the light and the different inner and outer arches. The pointed arch so typical of Islamic architecture caught my eye especially.  Out came my recently acquired olloclip, and this picture was the result using the fisheye lens:

Today when I looked at the photograph, I noticed how my recent reading was undoubtedly influencing the way I was viewing the image. The circle hinted at by the fisheye effect was a reminder of a wholeness within which the contents of the image appeared to be enfolded.  At the same time the distorted effect of the closest arch made it appear to be coming towards me, a reminder that it was unfolding from the space in which it was contained. 

Excited by the fact that with all the photo apps available to us now I could edit this image I set to work. My editing is done intuitively and I choose various apps according to what I feel will suit the photo at hand. Using the apps decim8, image blender and snapseed, and after four steps in the edit, this was the result:

 

Upon closer inspection you will notice that the image is not entirely symmetrical.  Certain sections are, but they stand alongside the asymmetry to be found in the overall image, adding to its enchantment in my opinion. The image, filled with color, light and shadow, hints at volume but also at void. 

The pointed arch in the middle, so typical of Islamic architecture, invites me to enter the passageway. At the same time, however, it allows me to slip around it to explore the surrounds. 

I have been reading about Baroque art and how in this art form with its many scenes flowing into each other and almost into the space of the viewer, the viewer determined the centre of the spectacle at any moment in time. This centre was constantly shifting depending on the viewer’s focus. My image reminded me of this. 

How Baroque-like cyberspace is. We are able to enter various streams, whether they be of words, sounds or images. Each tweet, for example, brings a part of you and your point of view right onto my screen. Your here is brought to my here via the interface of my screen, in itself an electronic stained glass work of art.  I can choose to focus on your tweet, follow its links if they are there, or reflect upon what has been said. I can also skim over it and many others until something in particular captures my attention and focus.

However, unlike in Baroque art, we are connecting in the digital world not with forms and figures on a dome but with real people. The fact that I am able to receive an immediate response to my posting from others all over the world in this polycentric environment adds a collective dimension to the whole event and is bringing about a level of interconnectedness not imagined before.

At one stage I wanted to call this blog “DIgital Baroque”, only to discover that a book by that name already exists! This discovery just added to my musings.  Perhaps all ideas exist enfolded in potential, and at different times and in different places unfold to make themselves known to those who can hear them. 

I have decided to take the edited image above and work with it further in the weeks to come.  I will post the results on Instagram and add them to a gallery on this website. As I live in Dubai in the Middle East I want the resulting edits to reflect the region but to also have a global appeal.  I wish to discover all that this image has to tell me. It is my wish too that the images will encourage viewers to open themselves to new perspectives, hold multiple perspectives simultaneously, shift focus where necessary, drop some of the boundaries that limit their vision, and open themselves to others as well as to creative potential.    

Interludes

"Are you South African?"

 "Yes. Could you tell from my accent?"

A big smile. "No, I saw your passport."

I looked down at my passport, which I had placed on the table. Sitting opposite me in an airport lounge in Dubai was a little girl with a pink coat and boots.  Her hair was swept back from her face and she wore big red glasses. 

"I'm Nigerian", she proudly told me, "but I live in Los Angeles".

"Were you in Dubai on holiday?" I asked, and so began a chat and many questions. How long did it take for the lift to reach the lookout point in the Burj Khalifa? She had seen the tower but not been up it. She did not like going so high. She did not like take off and landing when flying either. Actually, she declared, with distinct wisdom beyond her years, it was not so much a case of likes and dislikes but more a matter of what she feared. 

I told her that when the plane took off that day she should think about how cool it was that she was travelling so fast. I would think of her during take off.  Would she think of me? Another big grin and a big nod, followed by yet another big smile when I told her her glasses suited her face. 

The fourth child of five children, she was born in Chicago, now lived in Los Angeles and was in the sixth grade. Her favorite subject at school was, "Mmm, Science. Yes, Science". 

As it turned out we were on the same flight. Unfortunately, sleep got the better of me the minute I was settled on board (it was 2 o'clock in the morning!) and I did not even realize we had taken off! When I woke I realized I had not thought of my little friend as I had said I would. Whether she had thought of me and maybe faced one of her fears in a different way I do not know. I did however, during the course of my journey, send her love and light and wish her joy. 

In Frankfurt we passed each other briefly and waved goodbye. 

A seven hour layover in Frankfurt before our flight to Calgary gave me more than enough time to catch up on emails, check in on Twitter and post one photo on Instagram. I instant messaged with my one daughter eagerly awaiting our arrival in Canada, and Skyped with the other who was looking after some children for the day in South Africa. I had not met these children before but they too participated in the conversation and were fascinated when I took my iPad to the window and showed them all the planes coming and going on a busy Frankfurt airport. 

It was turning out to be a day of interludes - happenings in-between the main events. 

On our way to our connecting flight I stopped off to get something in the duty free shop. Standing next to me in the queue and in front of a shelf was a young man holding a box of chocolates and an exquisite pottery jar with a lid covered by a material cloth. 

Perhaps he saw me gazing in admiration at the jar, because the next minute he looked at me and said, "Excuse me, do you speak German?".  My affirmative reply resulted in me having to tell him what was in the jar. Reading the label I could tell him that it was a delicate mustard made in a monastery in Germany. Oh no, he did not want mustard and the jar was replaced on the shelf.

"Do you live in Germany?"

"No, in Dubai but I am originally from South Africa. And you?"

"I am from Kazakhstan but have just been to Vienna on a conference for law students. There were 1500 student from different universities all over the world attending."

"How interesting and great to meet so many different people. Kazakhstan! And your accent?"

"I studied law in the US for four years, picked up the accent while there and funnily enough have never lost it". 

At this point it was time for me to pay, but while I was paying he told me he had picked up a few German phrases while in Vienna, such as Gruess Gott. I told him that that was also a common form of greeting in Bavaria where we had lived and that it actually means I greet the God in you. Oh, that was interesting.

Till slip in hand, it was time to part ways. We wished each other a good flight and I walked away feeling pleased to have met him. 

People tell me that strangers often talk to me. Over the years I have come to see this as something special for which I am grateful. We make so many plans, but most often it is the unexpected happenings in between that are the ones we most remember.

For the next while I will be in Red Deer in Alberta, Canada.  After traveling for twenty four-hours I have gone back ten hours in time and have arrived on the same day on which I departed. My body-clock is adjusting. I am perhaps physically closer than usual to many of you reading this and for the next while might even be sharing the same time zone. 

The architecture of online space, however, allows us to be always close in a special way. Its design is such that interludes are encouraged. Time and space are no barriers to here2here encounters.  Invisible connections are being made every time we make the effort to connect with another. The web of relationships is growing and bonds are being strengthened.  At the heart of this all is the realization of interconnectedness and the need for compassion for self and other in the world we find ourselves in today. 

Next time you enter a social media site, stop for a moment or two beforehand and become mindful of what you are doing. This awareness could alter your way of interacting and provide the gap for an interlude and the mystery of creation! 

Notes on the Skyline

For a while now words have been hiding from me. Or perhaps they are always there and it is I who have failed to find them. This evening they flow from my fingers as if asking me to let them loose to speak of the spoken and attempt to point to that which is beyond mere letters.  

While attending a poetry recital this afternoon by Bahareh Amidi, I was aware that  words filled the room but that so much more that was unspoken permeated the air. 

The lady who hugged the poetess afterwards, clearly deeply touched; the college professor standing, clapping and calling for more; a chat with a young man, Abhinav Chauhan, whose desire in life is to get rid of the word hunger from the dictionary; the two calligraphers I met afterwards whose work spoke of an inexplicable beauty; all these little happenings and others were filled with an energy which words could not express.

The poet Rumi wrote,

“Explanation by words makes many things clear,

but love unexplained is clearer.”

And so I write - if only to allude to the unexplained love which is everpresent.

As I drove home from the Emirates Literature Festival, the skyline at sunset was breathtaking.  I attempted to capture it and have called this piece, “Notes on the Skyline”.  Each building seemed to be singing its own note to make up a beauty which far surpassed the sum of the parts.

The architectural beauty of Dubai has been part of my life these last few weeks where the weather has allowed the flaneur in me to stroll Dubai’s streets.  I have attempted to capture the beauty of Dubai in my instagram pics and to allow these photos to speak for me. 

It might sound like a cliche but we are all notes on the skyline of life. Each note is vital for the symphony of life to be heard. 

Each one of us is also a stroke in the calligraphy of life. The flow and patterns of our beings interweave and become an expression of beauty and significance. Those with ears to hear, will hear this beauty.  

The words of one of Bahareh’s poems still ring in my ears:

“Life is knowing that we are all here and we are all connected”.  

This evening I celebrate life.  

Awakening to Light

In a response to my last blog “Closer”, Bahareh Amidi wrote: 

“What a beautiful image, the spinning of the spinning top, such as the whirling of the Dervishes until they become one..... Until webecomeONE.”

Her mention of the dervishes immediately reminded me of another poem I wrote exactly two years and one day ago.  

Awakening

10.01.10

A new day dawns -

amidst the mysteries of technology.

Notice:

The digital tree

branching through the world

hears the gurgling stream

speak a language never heard before -

a chorus of interconnectedness

communicating in symbols, links and tweets.

See:

Among those

speaking the language of We,

are the twervishes ,

twirling and whirling on the deck

of the flagship Internet.

From many countries, faiths and worldviews,

in the twitterverse

they  #twance  -

communicating with joy

and a sense of participation

the dance of liberation

as consciousness becomes aware of itself.

Awaken:

Stillness is at the center of these tweets –

the axis of the twervish twance.

Speaking of me, speaking of you

but more than this

Singing of We

as a new days dawns -

amidst the mysteries of technology.

10.01.10

I thank Bahareh, @BaharehAmidi, known as the “American-Iranian poetess of light”, for the reminder, and to spread this light in the world, I include here a video of her recent wonderful poetry recital at the Pavilion in Downtown Dubai.