The Forgotten
A couple of hundreds of years ago in Middle East, there existed a tradition of story telling called ‘Naghaali’. A group of men would travel from one city to the next with their few belongings, recognisable by their significant costumes, music instruments and the large roll of canvas that they used to carry.
This canvas would later unroll to reveal a painting, illustrating scenes of a story. This story was often of heroic tales from ‘the book of kings’, mythical scenes of battles and -in later decades- religious figures.
As people gathered in the main square of town to greet the exotic arrivals, the story tellers began to narrate their tales in front of the painting with catchy voices and dramatic gestures, singing here and there while playing drums and bells.
“The Forgotten” is a project inspired by this tradition. However, it narrates stories of today. By selecting modern-life stories that have routes within documentations of reality, ‘The Forgotten’ aims to demonstrate that as much as heroes and villains / good and bad do not exist in the real world the same way that they do in fairytales; there exist a few of those among us whose battles with life are way more fierce and their survival, way more heroic than what we know.
By narrating the stories of these people -through words and images- this project opens a small and yet personal window to what has been happening in our time in other parts of the world and to others.
Assuming that a good story is the one we can believe -even for a short duration of time-,‘The Forgotten’ invites the viewer to enter stories that are often forgotten, the kind that we encounter in an everyday basis but take for granted shortly.
This project creates a zone where the abstract concept that makes us think in us and them terms breaks and allows us -for a few moments- to believe what happened. And by understanding, feeling and remembering the stories of these people, do not let their stories die.
The Mute Story
” … Samir looks at the lines of her mother’s hand. The slim & fine lines become slimmer and spin over the curves of her palm. The spirals go up and down and little by little her palm waves like the sea. In the landscape of the waves, Samir recognises the broken parts of a boat … “
The Mute Story |
part of the five panels illustrating the multimedia project The Forgotten |
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas | Panel Size: 200×120 cm | 2014
part of the five panels illustrating the multimedia project The Forgotten |
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas | Panel Size: 200×120 cm | 2014
The Legend of the Koy
” … The Koi liked to move against the flow of water and playfully ascended to higher parts
of the river in search of its source. Nobody knew then that this river was a forgotten spirit
that had appeared in form of a clear water pouring down the cliffs. Nor did anybody know that
the source of the river, a lake on the high peak, was a temple of the gods of the mountain… “
of the river in search of its source. Nobody knew then that this river was a forgotten spirit
that had appeared in form of a clear water pouring down the cliffs. Nor did anybody know that
the source of the river, a lake on the high peak, was a temple of the gods of the mountain… “
part of the five panels illustrating the multimedia project The Forgotten |
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas | Panel Size: 200×120 cm | 2014
Moaning of Ney
” … My baby girl’s face has begun to change. Her hands and feet are shrinking, her belly is swollen. She doesn’t cry anymore. Her eyes are wide open but there is nothing in her eyes. Her pupils are getting larger and larger like a dark empty hole. Those eyes terrify me… I’m afraid of her. She has nine months but she is smaller than a three-month-old baby… “
Moaning of Ney |
part of the five panels illustrating the multimedia project The Forgotten
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas | Panel Size: 200×120 cm | 2014
part of the five panels illustrating the multimedia project The Forgotten
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas | Panel Size: 200×120 cm | 2014
The Empty Story
“… Before the guards found him clinging to a broken log, she was swinging him in her arms and telling him bizarre stories. Stories of numerous children that she had collected for herself, somewhere around the bottom….
The Empty Story |
part of the five panels illustrating the multimedia project The Forgotten
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas | Panel Size: 200×120 cm | 2014
part of the five panels illustrating the multimedia project The Forgotten
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas | Panel Size: 200×120 cm | 2014
Tale of the Princess and the Dragon
“ … On the highest peak of the highest mountain, the last dragon was asleep for thousands of years.
The white beast had come to believe that humans no longer trusted in fairytales and the magic of imagination… “
The white beast had come to believe that humans no longer trusted in fairytales and the magic of imagination… “
Tale of the Princess and the Dragon|
part of the five panels illustrating the multimedia project The Forgotten
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas | Panel Size: 200×120 cm | 2014
part of the five panels illustrating the multimedia project The Forgotten
Acrylic and Mixed Media on Canvas | Panel Size: 200×120 cm | 2014