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Coinciding
with the end of the project involving general restoration within
its upper area, this art place thus offers a novelty to old and
new visitors alike.
“The
idea for upper boundary walls and entrance”, Hiyari’s
brainchild, “emerges from the very nature of the site itself,
which, in essence, is a complex stratification of diverse historical
layers that have their roots in ancient history and extend to
the present.”
This other
layer that “endorses the plurality and contrasts present
within the site, thus remaining consistent with the site’s
history, process of development and its function as a home for
the arts”, is made of stone and concrete.
“The
two diverse languages coexist and form the cadence of that specific
district in particular, and of Amman in general… create
a link between the two identities, through an unfamiliar body
that oscillates between both yet never belonging to either,”
says Hiyari about the wall whose “articulation as a fabric
of three-dimensional blocks, marking the entries, corners and
connection to existing structures provides the visual structure
for a new front of Darat Al Funun.”
This and an
original display of architectural works by the same architect/painter
are definitely a point of attraction.
His installation
of drawings is placed within a black cube that seems to cancel
everything else within. The projects, white luminous trajectories
on the right hand and white scale models placed on black cubes
that make them look as floating in the space on the opposite side,
are attracting visual images, more like artistic creations than
engineering works of precision. The black around is meant to place
emphasis on the projects and obliterate the space around, forcing
the eye to focus on them.
For those with
poor space orientation, in an adjacent room in the upper Blue
House there is video projection where projects are shown tri-dimensionally,
making it easier to understand how the final product looks. The
viewer is constantly engaged, drawn, involved, guided.
Down in the main room, the selection of artworks from the Shoman
private collection “revolves around one theme inspired by
the video art film “So much I want to say” by British
Palestinian artist Hatoum.
The haunting
image of a face whose mouth is constantly blocked by hands comes
syncopated with the words that give the film its title. It is
a clear allusion at censorship and the artist’s claim to
the right of free speech. It “shows the insistent desire
to speak and be in contact with the world beyond borders”,
another attempt of this artist at incorporating “the social
and political aspects of exile, without transforming them into
activist banners”.
Nearby works by Adnan Yahya (Jordan), Vera Tamari and Nasser Soumi
(Palestine), and Sweden-based Iraqi Ibrahim Rachid “interpret
exile and loss of nation in a personal and intimate manner”.
Also on display
here are works by Adam Henein (Egypt), Ismail Fattah, (Iraq),
Munif Ajaaj, Germany-based Marwan and Basel Al Saadi (Syria),
Samer Tabbaa and Sahel Hiyari (Jordan).
Aesthetically
rewarding and offering food for thought, the exhibition will run
until Nov. 27.
to the exhibition |
