I Still Dream That Dream
Emma Fearon, Ireland - England
13 February 2023
Artists: Khadeeja Hamid, Reezan Simbawa, Agnes Fouda
Curators: Emma Fearon, Jess Wan
Zolforosso Terzo Spazio, Campiello del Spezier, Santa Croce 1996, Venezia
The window view of the exhibition, I Still Dream That Dream. Venice- September 2022.
I Still Dream That Dream (03/09/22-05/09/22) forgathered many pieces representing the abstract longing of migrants for their home culture in a new land, by acknowledging this longing as a process and journey. Physical journeys run parallel to internal tribulations which Khadeeja Hamid, Reezan Simbawa, and Agnes Fouda have united visually. The three artists address three major aspects of migration through their work; placeholder homes, creating temporary sacred spaces, and individual passages.
A tourist in search of this exhibition, in one of the thousands of alleys in Venice, would be flagged down by one of the two hanging signs, marked with I still dream that dream (bell hooks, Belonging: A Culture of Place, 1990). On the signs, each letter has been traditionally printed in the Venetian printshop, Grafiche Ellemme, with navy ink disrupted by a starry-like gradient. Framed by a warm hue, the remaining window space offers a glimpse into an old shop reclaimed as Terzo Spazio by the artists’ collective Zolforosso, accepted in its transitory state: a transitory state that only serves each artist further.
The tourist steps in to be greeted and welcomed by Hamid’s installation (Residual Light, 2022), and is implicitly invited to sit on the carpet, lean on a pillow and bask in the glow of the handmade lampshades . Each lampshade exudes the aroma of the spices and seeds it bears on its organic structure. Hamid handcrafted these works in collaboration with Fernando Masone at Carte Venezia, surpassing communication barriers through the shared language of making.
Installation comprised of Mountain, Valleys and Echoes, 2021, (film, 09:01) and Residual Light, 2022, (paper mache, seeds, lightbulb) by Khadeeja Hamid. Venice- September, 2022.
Khadeeja Hamid performing a spoken word piece, Brewing Tradition Warming Histories, 2022, at her Tea Ceremony on 4th September 2022.
Hamid’s film, Mountain, Valleys and Echoes (2021), projects across the temporary lounge, onto a fractured wall, adorned with holes reminiscent of gunfire. The film shows Hamid’s journey to Kashmir, her homeland in which she never lived. The film is a collage-like narrative that encompasses the complicated and cyclical nature of returning to a land of displacement. Shots of brash news reels are juxtaposed with tender moments of family photos and beautiful landscapes. The personal, forcefully politicised footage illustrates the symbiotic relationship between culture and conflict with the imagery of intricate craftsmanship in Kashmiri workshops, sharply imposed upon with barbed wire and watch towers. In a tender setting of Hamid’s installation, Hamid’s film sheds light on a painful family’s history.
This intimacy forged by objects serving as placeholders for unspoken histories acts as a precursor to Hamid’s tea ceremony (public programme). Set around the carpet, Hamid brews a blend of cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron and offers her sensory heritage to passers-by. While sipping the kahwah, Hamid performs a spoken word piece that is then opened into a wider conversation. Any participants are encouraged to consider their own histories and moments they too have left unsaid.
The tourist collects themselves and begins a path across the space, punctuated by Simbawa’s work. There are four prints, with a video conclusion. Each print presents a sacred place, chosen/curated by Muslim individuals across Venice. The works are absent of the practitioners, leaving exposed the selected landscapes with carefully placed prayer mats (when possible). This series of images show Islam as a religion of pragmatism that withstands the test of time, offering the world as a mosque. Each prayer mat is angled to the Ka’ba/الكعبة, which is the only commonality the tourist will find.
Sacred Within; Within the Restaurant, 2022, and Sacred Within; Within Venice, 2022 (print on canvas) by Reezan Simbawa. Venice- September 2022.
Sacred Within; Within Venice, 2022, (film, 01:52) with accompanying access QR code.
These photos display moments of temporary sacredness across Venice, interacting with its architecture, commerce, and public space. The first is a Murano glass jewellery shop (Sacred Within; Within the Jewellery Shop, 2022), owned by a jazz musician and his wife and the next a tourist shop bejewelled with historic Venetian masks (Sacred Within; Within the Gift Shop, 2022). The third in the series is situated in the quiet behind a Turkish Restaurant (Sacred Within; Within the Restaurant, 2022) and the next is in the open air by a bridge with the unsold roses of the day on the mat (Sacred Within; Within Venice, 2022). The final piece of Simbawa’s work is a video recording of the fourth prayer of the day (the Maghrib Prayer/صلاة المغرب) being performed, from Within Venice. The man removes his shoes and the distant church bells can be heard. The layering of different expressions of religiosity urges the audience to reflect on their own moments of sacredness or even flickers of heightened awareness. Through encountering these sites and their fleeting moments of devotion, the spiritual fabric of Venice gains an additional dimension.
Finally, the tourist reaches Fouda’s participatory piece. Threads flow from the ceiling showcasing stages of Fouda’s tapestry of migration, Oh Poor, Si Muove, 2022. The threads are tied with recycled fabrics and materials, accompanied by texts tracing contributors’ journeys across Venice that are marked by personally selected motifs. The tourist can learn of each journey and narrative as they travel further into the hanging pieces showing a layering of passages, while patterns emerge and yet maintain individual presentation.
The next stage for the tourist is to consider their own experience within Fouda’s guiding thread and reconsider the labels; tourist, traveller, and migrant. A table is set up with a range of materials from silk to metal, to be felt and reflected on in a bodily sense, evoking the tourist’s personal/physical experience. Maps are also laid out to be marked with participants’ individual paths to subsequently be woven into the evolving tapestry. Fouda is offering the audience the opportunity to step into her framework of migration full of accidental interlocking, temporary existences. The collaborative nature activated in showcasing a community in flux, serves to only embrace its nature compassionately.
Agnes Fouda guiding audience participation for Oh Poor, Si Muove, 2022. Venice- September 2022.01:52) with accompanying access QR code.
Process of Oh Poor, Si Muove, 2022 (recycled fabrics, thread). Venice- September.
I Still Dream That Dream found its sentiment in the works of bell hooks with each artist contemplating her work, through the lens of their own longing. Each artist, inspired by her iterations on what belonging means, while fearlessly imagining better. “I contemplate what our lives would be like if we knew how to cultivate awareness, to live mindfully, peacefully; if we learned habits of being that would bring us closer together, that would help us build a beloved community,” (Belonging: A Culture of Place, 1990).
These three artists seek to inform such habits and with that the exhibition will not end here. After the brief and warm embrace of Venice, the three artists have returned to England and prepare to hold a new space, reimagined.
I Still Dream That Dream was undertaken during a month-long residency at Venice Biennale supported by the British Council, with all artworks and materials being produced in under three weeks. This exhibition would not have been possible without the support of the British Council, Zolforosso, Anja Dimitrijević, Martina Bressanutti, and the British Pavilion fellows.
To see the next instalment & attend, follow:
@i_stilldreamthatdream
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More on the artists:
Khadeeja Hamid (Kashmir) roots her subject matter in physical objects that act as representations of memories, offering subjective re-imaginings. Hamid intertwines her affected family history (from Indian-occupied Kashmir) to wider discussions of culture and conflict through site-specific installations, film, assemblage, and textile intervention, intercutting between politics, protests, patterns, and partition trauma. Hamid graduated with a First Class BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts (UAL). Her presentation of personal belongings and materials intends to uncover what is not said and yet, still carried by families subconsciously and physically.
Follow at @butitsnotjustcarpets
Reezan Simbawa (Saudi Arabia) has a practice informed by her multidisciplinary background in academic research, interior design, fashion and jewellery design, and architecture. Simbawa centres her varying approaches on social inclusion and community. Currently completing a Ph.D. at the University of Liverpool, addressing global informality and the Middle East’s urban development Simbawa draws upon personal experiences of devotion to explore the elements that harness an intangible faith, in public or private spheres. Simbawa uses photographic documentation of Islamic prayer as a gateway to wider experiences of sacredness.
Follow at @humanscale_r
Agnes Fouda (Cameroon) started her artistic career as a playwright and authored a dozen books and plays before pursuing design. Having lived in several different countries, Fouda seeks to explore the practice of urban inclusion and collaboration in relation to issues such as migration and transnationalism. Fouda graduated from London Metropolitan University with a BA in Design. Her specialty, Design Studio Practice, is a multidisciplinary approach with a core in Furniture and Product Design, which allows her to combine her keen interest in social issues with her expertise as a maker. She is currently completing a Master in Environment, Sustainability, and Regeneration Design.
Follow at @ohpoorsimuove
* All photos are courtesy of the I Still Dream That Dream team.