Prayer mats are a staple item in any Muslim and Saudi household. In this work, Sultan bin Fahad recalls his time as a young student when he carried his prayer mat everywhere, even repurposing it as a satchel for his school books, as did many other students in Saudi Arabia at the time. These rugs are mainly made in China, India or Morocco but sold in shops under the premise that they are made in Mecca. The artist collected personal prayer mats from the people he encountered and formed them into the shape of a traditional prayer room. He then used coloured neon lights to write a full prayer with only their diacritics: "اللهُمَّ أَنتَ السَلامُ، وَمِنْكَ السَلام، تَبَارَكْتَ وتَعَالَيْتَ يا ذَا الجَلالِ والإِكْرَام" In this work, the artist draws a parallel between the spoken word, the absent letters and the collective of bodies, making corporeal what we do not perceive.
| Category: | Mixed Media |
|---|---|
| Length: | 98 Cm |
| Height: | 137 Cm |
| Width: | 1 Cm |
| Framed: | No |
| Edition: | Unique |
| Country: | Saudi Arabia |
| Shipping from: | Saudi Arabia |
Saudi Arabia
Sultan Bin Fahad
Sultan bin Fahad (b. 1971, Riyadh, KSA, where he lives and works) considers art as a journey between intangible memories and tangible cultures. Throughout his abstract drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations bin Fahad’s central theme and object of concern remains material culture in his native Saudi Arabia. In his practice bin Fahad reinterprets history, stories and narratives with the use of material culture; he transposes these narratives to contemporary means as a reassessment and personal take on Saudi Arabia. Themes central to his practice revolve around reimagining found objects, Islam and Saudi history and identity.
