Basmah Felemban Art Portfolio 2011-17 Basmah Felemban is a 90’s child born in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Felemban is a self-taught Graphic Designer who worked in various fields during and after graduating high school in 2011. Her first work “Jeem”, that was a transition from Design to Contemporary Art made its debut at the British Museum in 2012 as a sideshow to “Journey To The Heart of Islam: Hajj Exhibition”. She has recently graduated with an MA in Islamic and Traditional Art from the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London, UK in 2017. Basmah managed to skip the process of a bachelor’s degree, due to her vast portfolio and extensive research. At such an early stage in her career, Basmah has exhibited in many international and local exhibitions such as Art Dubai, 21/39, contemporary art Istanbul, Venice Biennale, and Art AbuDhabi. In [2014] she won The Arab Women Awards in the “Young Talent” category, and then was invited to be on the judging panel the following year. Driven by her experience as a young creative in Saudi, she puts supporting the local creative scene as a priority, from working in small startups to giving talks, workshops and her social media platforms. From that passion, she started Saudi Street Art Project, an online platform that encourages the public to pay more attention to their cities walls and try to understand the younger generation’s concerns through understanding their expressions on the streets. Basmah built a good relationship with local artists who keep their identities anonymous and Co-Curated a nonprofit show that allowed people to experience their work in an authentic environment while keeping their anonymity.
Jeem
Jeem is inspired by a poem written by the Sufi scholar Mohammed Abdul Jabbar Al-Nafari on the science of letters: . . .
جيم جنة جيم جحيم،الحرف يرسي حيث القصد قلت أهل الحرف الظاهر،قال يل من أهل النار قلت أهل الحرف الباطن،قال من أهل الجنة قلت علم ال يهدي إىل عمل،قال ما الحرف الظاهر قلت علم يهدي إىل حقيقة،قال ما الحرف الباطن
. . . A letter leads the way to intention, H, heaven, H, Hell
He said to me ‘who are the people of Hell?’, I said ‘the people of the outer letters He said to me ‘who are the people of Heaven? I said ‘the people of the inner letters He said what is the outer letter? I said ‘wisdom that does not lead to workh He said what is the inner letter? I said ‘wisdom that leads to truth . . . The poem sheds light on a fascinating and mysterious aspect of the Arabic language. Many Islamic scholars believe that there are two facets to every letter, al-zaher – an outer facet and al-baten – an inner facet. The outer relates to the function of the letter in everyday use. The inner relates to the hidden character of the letter; Ibn Arabi said “letters are like a nation of individuals, each with his own duty and obligation”, implying that each letter has its own existence and personality, that is longing to be acknowledge and admired
Jeem, 2012 Acrylic paint on layered plywood, 115 x 115 cm Edition of 3
Sidana
The pattern in Islamic art resembles an endless sea of geometric shapes, with no core beginning, and no end. Although the impression of infinity is true, as the pattern can go on forever, the impression of no starting point is not. It is but an illusion, for all creation has a beginning, even our infinitesimal universe. This idea led me on a journey of self-exploration; to question how we can separate who we truly are at the core, from who we have been shaped to be? Once stripped of all the trappings of life; our history, education, culture, experiences, what is left? These ‘ornaments’ build continuously with our every waking hour, as a pattern can spread continuously, but we must remember that there is always a core, a starting point, the purest state in which God made us and delivered us into this world. I believe that from the moment we are born, we spend the rest of our lives searching for this purest self, a search disguised as all of our relentless attempts to be happy, but all we are really doing is trying to find ourselves.
Sidana Acrylic and white marker on plexiglass, 120 x 90 cm Original
Sidana Acrylic and white marker on plexiglass, 240 x 122 cm Original
Drawn-out Truths Plexiglas panel, Digital print and marker, 150x200 cm Original
Sidana Stills from process video/ Acrylic and white marker on plexiglass Edition of 3
The Sam’a Dance
No discussion about Islamic art and spirituality can be completed without taking into account the importance of music. The qawwalis (or Sama‘) dance, which is a vocal musical performance of sufi poetry with instrumental accompaniment, generates ontogenetic plenitude and a blissful, ineffable and inscrutable state of spiritual enlightenment. The spiritual states evoked by classical music are closely related to the spiritual states (ahwal) of the Sufis, and through Sufi-tradition to the spirit of the Holy Scripture 1 (The Quran). The dance’s repetitive nature is both transcendent and spiritual, thereby losing its material essence. This dance is critical in the artist’s understanding of Islamic sacred arts (Geometric Motifs, calligraphy, and Arabesque) and their representation of our conditions as humans (Repetition, Balance, Symmetry, Compatibility). This series explores the paradoxes that exist in our being: love and hate, mortal and immortal. It tries to find a place where they coexist not contradict, through the exploration of different methods of visualsing text and literature. 1- Islamic Art and Its Spiritual Message - Dr. Khawaja Muhammad Saeed
Love, 2013 White acrylic ink on plexi, 110 x 110 cm Edition of 3
Mind, Body and Soul is a part of Sama’a Dance series that’s about harmony between paradoxes. The artist calculated the numeric value of the words Mind, Body and Soul that are the main elements in human to create balance. Mind: 214 Body: 200 Soul: 94 the work is and overlap of three layers, each layer is a number of concentric circles equivalent of the word’s numeric value that rotates clockwise and counterclockwise resembling a harmony in between the elements similar to cosmos.
Mind Body, and Soul from the Sama’a Dance series Rotating plexi sheets, 140x140 cm
“He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living and brings to life the earth after its lifelessness. And thus will you be brought out” ar-rūm (19) Prophet Mohammed pbuh said “read the Quran and beseech it’s wonders”, reading it is key to understand it. It was brought to people as a linguistic miracle and therefor only through linguistic we can unlock the deep, hidden meanings in it. The that she and
artist was a Quran memorizer in her childhood and because of her passion to understand more about it grew along with her as was constantly told to read it by heart to understand it purely then say it out loud.
** Quran could be interpreted by its utterances deviating from its initial concepts into other meanings that go alongside and commit to the laws of observation and frontiers of thought, and exalt the Lord and deem him above fault and error. From this principle the artist read the verse “he brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living” from a rather personal perspective, one of the most simple yet complicated human experience which is love, the inspiration for most ancient and modern poets. The installation forms of different poems put in the order of love, loss, love, loss as an interpretation of bringing life out of death and death out of life. What’s interesting is that in the referenced verse there is no act of death mentioned, they were all acts of bringing life to or out of something. The poems in the work:
* ألخرجن من الدنيا وحبكم بني الجوانح مل يشعر به أحد الخُبز أَرزي* حرام عيل النوم يا ابنة مالك ومن فرشه جمر الغضا كيف يرقد عنرته بن شداد* أحبك حباً لو يفض يسريه عىل الخلق مات الخلق من شدة الحب محمد بن أيب أميه* سأندب حتى يعلم الطري أنني حزين ويرىث يل الحامم املغرد عنرته بن شدادmulla shirazi **
It is He Who brings out the living from the dead, and brings out the dead from the living, from the Sama’a Dance series Lasercut plexiglas, 30x14 cm
Pre(ab)sense is about the truth of the conscience of being – to decipher the paradox of absence and presence of the human condition. Through the artist’s studies/research, she realizes that absence is not the antonym of presence rather than a part of it! * Nothingness lies coiled in the heart of being - like a worm. Using a broken-down Islamic motif to symbolize presence or existence and then cutting specific elements of that motif to create yet another design of (the absence of the pattern). The artist speaks about the harmony in paradoxes, and being in peace and a part of the archetypes of existence Pre(Ab)sense is a codependent conscience. The supposition created is a harmonious state of being. * Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness
Pre(ab)sense from the Sama Dance series UV digital print and cutouts, 150x150 cm
Last Seen
The work is an encoded conversations that took place between two characters in literature, the artist encoded to further add a layer of secrecy to the illicit relationship. She immortalizes the story once again by suggesting that even today, their love would still be forbidden; that the two would only experience stolen moments, and encrypted whispered feelings. The code to create the language was formed by dissecting an Islamic geometric star. The work is an attempt to begin a conversation on censorship, prohibition of the most basic human rights and need, such as love, by those whom misinterpret and abuse religion.
د
ج
ب
أ
ز
و
ﻫـ
ي
ط
ح
ن
م
ل
ك
ص
ف
ع
س
ت
ش
ر
ق
ذ
خ
ث
غ
ظ
ض
Qais & Layla An encoded message between two prolific figures in Persian literature: Qays and Layla. The story of forbidden love became popular in Persian literature in the 12th century, with many adaptations throughout history.
:ليىل ماذا عىس عهدك أن يغري مام قد كان وما صار :قيس قد حكم الدهر عليه بحبك كام حكمت ببعدك عني األقدار :ليىل خذ قلبي عونا لفدقتنا والروح تحرسك واألجفان :قيس سيسكن قلبك صدري كام سكن حبك العقل والبنان
Detail
Qais & Laila from Last Seen... series Silkscreen print and pencil on fabiano, 152x112 cm Edition of 3
Qif Biltawaf
قف بالطواف ترى الغزال املحرما عنـــد الطـواف رأيتهـا متلثمـــــة أقسمت بالبيت العتيـق لتخبـــــري االســــــــم سلمـى واملنـازل مكـة قلت عديني موعـدا ً أحظـي بــــــه فتبسمت خجالً و قالت يـا فتـــــــى فتحرك الركن اليامنـي خشيـــــــــ ًة لـو أن بيـت الله كلّـــــــــــم عاشقـاً
حــــج الحجيج فعاد يقصد زمزمـا للركـــــن والحجـر املعظـم تلثمـا مااالســـــم قالت من ساللـة آدمـا والـــدار ما بني الحجـون وغيلمـا أقضـــــي به ما قد قضاه املحرمـا أفســـــدت حجك يا ُمحـل امل ُحر ّمـا وبكا الحطيم وجاوبتــــــــــه زمزمـا من قبـــل هـذا كـاد أن يتكلمـا
Qif Bil Tawaf, 2014 From the Last Seen...series Silkscreen printed on paper, 65 x 65 cm Edition of 3
S(HE)
Who writes history? Is a question that the artist shares in Her latest series that highlights names of women who participated politically and socially during Prophet Mohammed’s PBUH era but weren’t portrayed in that image in current school textbooks.
Nuseiba Bint Ka’ab & The Battle of Uhud Fom S(HE) series Altered page from school book, 23x21 cm Original
Nuseiba Bint Ka’ab & The Battle of Uhud Fom S(HE) series
The Transcendent Wisdom Regarding the Four Intellectual Journeys. The limits to our existence are a lot less than we are made to think by modern society which evaluates a person by the quality and quantity of the objects they own. My starting point was Mulla Sadra’s book The Four Journeys (al-Asfar al-arba’a), in which he speaks about Universal Man (al-Insan al-Kamil), and the journey of each one of us returning to the essence. This book has been one of the main inspirations for this series along with other writings such as the books of Rene Guenon including ‘Universal Symbols of Sacred Science’ (translated into Arabic). Asfar is the plural form of safar meaning journey in Arabic, Sadr al-Din Shirazi intended the scheme of his book to match the four journeys considered by Islamic mystics, framed by: 1- The part on general issues (existence and its manifestations), 2- The part on natural philosophy (substances and accidents), 3- The part on proper theology, 4- The part on the soul, its origin and its resurrection. The four journeys are as follows:
The journey from creatures to God Based on Ibn Arabi’s book ‘The Bezels of Wisdom’ (Fusoos alHikam). Composed during the later period of Ibn ‘Arabi’s life (12th century), the fass or “bezel” of a ring is a part with which it is decorated and upon which the name of its owner is written. “Wisdom”, in this case, is knowledge of the Divine realities and attributes. In each chapter of this book, Ibn Arabi gives a jewel that helps to bring us closer to Universal or Perfect Man, in order to understand Al-il hiyyah (“the Divinity” or “Allah”), the name of the highest ontological level which embraces all of the levels of the divine Names and Qualities.
Detail
Typography Analysis
Click here for research Journal.
The Journey from Creatures To God, 2017 Laser engraved on coppered plywood with gilded embellishments and a rotating mechanism, 65 x 65 cm Edition of 3
The journey in God by God
(by God, in that the spiritual traveler leaves his or her own existence and ascribes his journey to God) A map of the constellations using Abd al-Raman ibn Omar al-Sufi’s work titled “Book of the Constellations of the Fixed Stars”. This is for when the traveller is on the high seas and his position can only be determined by measuring of celestial bodies.
Detail
Click here for research Journal.
The journey in God by God, 2017 Laser engraved on coppered plywood with gilded embellishments and a rotating mechanism, 65 x 65 cm Edition of 3
The journey from God to creatures by God (The journey in how pluralities were emanated from the unity or the observation of the stages of the creatures from the highest to the lowest) This painting is based on a manuscript by the 13th century scholar, Zakariya al-Qazwini, titled ‘Wonders of Creation’ (Aja’ib al-makhluqat wa ghara’ib al-mawjudat). In this book al-Qazwini takes us through the nine heavens in a mystical yet precise and observational way, descending to earth and travelling through mythical lands and introducing its inhabitants and environment. In Qazwini’s mind, making an encyclopaedia that stretches your imagination and entertains your soul will only bring you closer to God if you understand that he’s capable of so much more than we could ever imagine. Inspired by the illustrations and text in this encyclopaedia, I composed the painting to symbolise ascending through the heavens as well to try to understand the days of creation, to reach a level of transcendence where we understand God, Mulla Sadra’s final stage ‘with God’.
Detail
Click here for research Journal.
The journey from God to Creatures by God, 2017 Gouache on variously treated paper Original
The Journey in the creatures by God (The journey in the plurality of the creatures with the consideration that God’s unity penetrates in this plurality, and the observation of how the creatures return to God) Carrom is traditionally an Indian board game, the traditional design of a carrom board has a compass in the middle where the seeds are arranged to be hit by the striker by flicking it. I have redesigned the board in wood veneer, first to fit within the proportion of the moon (represented by the compass in the centre) to the earth (represented by the whole board); and second, by using maps of the ocean from Piri Reis’s 16th century manuscript ‘Book of Navigation’. In this, he mapped all the places he explored, as well as explaining in a poetic language the knowledge and tools that a sailor needs when he’s in the heart of the ocean. The game of Carrom requires understanding angles, motion, distance and tactics, things that you need to learn while travelling across seas, a journey that has been used as a symbol for self- discovery in much literature.
Detail
Click here for research Journal.
The Journey in the creatures by God, 2017 Waxed wood veneer on plywood. Original