2308KM
TIME
This artwork comments on the nature of conflict between groups of different power and methods of military communication through appropriation of maritime nautical flags. Originally created by the Portuguese in 1498 to facilitate naval warfare and later appropriated by American culture in 1948 in the movie "Portrait of Jennie". The flags are now repurposed by the artist to signal the intricate layers of war's language and the language of war. The nautical system navigates the turbulent seas of dialogue, where each flag unfurls stories of conquest, colonization, and the subsequent cultural appropriations that follow.
The flags wave a somber narrative of the glossary of dehumanization, a result of ongoing conflicts. They become symbols of the lexicon of war, each one representing not just navigational direction but also the directional flow of human discourse in times of war. The artist reclaims these symbols to critique the language systems that have historically been used to rationalize, obscure, and propagate acts of violence and subjugation. This artwork is thus a call to decode the signs of war—a battle against the war of language itself, where the very terms we use become tools for dehumanization and conflict perpetuation. Through this reclamation, the artist challenges viewers to confront the deep-seated narratives embedded within our communication systems, and to recognize the power of language as both a vessel of history and a weapon of the present.
SHAPE
Building upon the existing narrative, the artwork incorporates geometric shapes derived from the piece "One Day After" (2016), which uses ink on newspaper prints to capture the aftermath of the Palestinian Nakba on 16 May 1948. These shapes, cut from the front pages of Western newspapers, abstract the historic moment, reflecting the varying degrees of attention and framing that the event received in the global media. This artistic choice underscores the notion of 'the presence of absence,' highlighting the spaces where the Palestinian narrative has been omitted or marginalized by Western discourse.
The stark black forms delineate the weight—or conspicuous lack thereof—of the media's engagement with the Palestinian plight, presenting a stark visual commentary on the skewed representation in historical reporting. The integration of these shapes into the nautical flag installation amplifies the message of cultural appropriation and the silencing of subaltern voices, providing a historical counterpoint to the flags' present use as symbols of the language of war.
Against this backdrop, the artwork is layered with black and white stills from the silent 20-minute video "The Magic Hands," depicting images from 1948 Germany. The juxtaposition of these stills with the geometric shapes and the language of nautical flags creates a tapestry of time, memory, and narrative, inviting viewers to reflect on the mechanisms of historical documentation and the selective memory of global media. The silent moving images from a post-war Germany serve as a haunting reminder of the contemporaneity of the Nakba, offering a reflective space to contemplate the interplay of visibility, memory, and narrative sovereignty.
Together, these elements form a multisensory dialogue within the artwork, where each layer contributes to a deeper understanding of the systemic conflicts and the power dynamics inherent in the languages of war and media. The artist's work becomes a vessel for mediating the complex relationships between historical events and their representation, urging a reassessment of the ways in which we consume and perpetuate narratives of conflict. Through this, the artist not only critiques but also fosters a critical consciousness towards the historical and ongoing processes of dehumanization.
TITLE
2308 km bridge (Yemen - Palestine) is the same title of signs and collage workshop (جسر 2308 كم (اليمن - فلسطين with Palestinian-Yemeni Amman-based artist Hosam Omran.
