Don't Miss Out > Tonight > Video(works) - a Group Exhibition & Prayer Rooms a Solo Exhibition by Artist Ammar Al Attar @AthrArtGallery May 14- June 13 2013

Hans Op De Beeck, Staging Silence II, 2013, Ed. 9/10
Image courtesy of Galleria Continua and the artist

Since the 1960s and advancement of technology, video art has taken a prominent route to becoming a fundamental contemporary art medium. With a growing number of international and Arab artists expressing their views, Athr Gallery is proud to present Video(works), a distinctive exhibition in that it celebrates the medium of video art rather than a

specific theme or topic.

 

Video(works) is an elaborate introduction to video art for the region, showcasing artworks by the likes of Ahmed Mater and his unique camera view of Jamrat (the stone throwing ritual in Hajj), Ziad Antar’s short art/documentary on the 2006’s war in Lebanon with a mixture of sounds and visuals, and Adel Abidin’s commentary on war and pop culture, next to Hans Op De Beeck’s architectural video masterpiece “Staging Silence 2”, David Zink Yi’s street dance performance and Sami Alturki’s protest on overwhelming advertising billboards in the region.

Participating artists:

Adel Abidin

Sami Alturki

Ziad Antar

Hans Op De Beeck

Ayman Yossri Daydban

Hazem Harb

Ahmed Mater

Motaz Nasr

David Zink Yi

Medina - Dar Al Salam Station 2012

Prayer Rooms

Ammar Al Attar surveys prayer rooms across Jeddah. Mandated in public buildings by national legislation, these informal worship areas are ubiquitous, providing the faithful a

place for their five prayers a day regardless of their location. The viewer experiences the artist’s perspective of these rooms as they are. Nothing is altered or staged, not even the

lighting. The authenticity of the depictions allows the series to collectively describe an engagement with a space. This uncontrived honesty towards a subject is characteristic of Al Attar’s oeuvre.

 

The interiors are often humble, in line with Islamic tenets and in contrast to the region’s exterior architectural opulence. Serenity and stillness are prevalent in these makeshift rooms, elevating their spatial reality as industrial caravans or rooms in malls and business centers, to that of egalitarian spiritual sanctuaries. The prayer rooms mark the passage of time directly through the ever-present, often multiple occurrence of clocks, and more imperceptibly through the awareness of the movement of the sun.

Artist Ammar Al Attar

 

 

Rituals that take place before entering the rooms are inferred – ablutions and perhaps even a call to prayer. One cannot help but wonder about the individuals in these very different

spaces, performing the same rites. This sense of order and togetherness offers a reprieve from the bustling chaos of urban development. Even the demarcated rows in the carpeting are a comfort.

 

Al Attar chronicles his surroundings and contemporary landscape, going beyond mere documentation, and engaging with issues impacting the social fabric. These empty constructs where people meet are widely scattered evidence of faith, embodying the crossover between public and private space. The locales appear obscure, but upon closer inspection provide a visual history of the artist’s rapidly developing country by presenting a cultural continuity which is rarely visible amidst overwhelming change.

 

Tuesday, 14th May 2013
7.30 PM - 9.30 PM
Exhibition Dates:
14th May - 13th June, 2013