I struggled to start my MA blog, even though I have so many things to say. I’m learning and enjoying every minute of it, and I also feel lucky and honoured to be among a group of talented artists.
Last week, Jonathan asked us to experiment with failure and how we can allow mistakes to happen in our practice—how, through accepting mistakes and failures, they can become new opportunities and successes.
I made a short film to experiment and learn because I still see filmmaking as my weakest skill.
Weirdly, during the process, I stopped and ended the film with an image of Gaza’s latest fires. I felt I couldn’t finish what I was doing. But this also captured the feeling I was seeking. There’s something within me that’s preventing me from working the way I want and enjoying my art as I usually do. My work usually carries a sense of humour. Now, I realise I have a deep feeling of loss and guilt. I’m grieving for our humanity, and one year feels like a heavy burden.
Here’s a link to my short film Water: https://youtu.be/1OncD3MNXiY?si=ZwQMCftbvF5BnnHY.
And below is me reposting an old post from September 2020. Back then, I asked, “Oh, the past, are you still here?” Four years later, my answer remains: yes.
Oh, the past, are you still here?
Today I visited the Don McCullin Exhibition at Tate Liverpool. For the first time, my eyes did not shed tears in front of those tragic images. My eyes are usually beyond my control, but today they remained dry, and my throat was tight. A voice from deep within called out, “Oh, the past, are you still here?” What have I done to myself today? Or what have you done, Mr. Don McCullin?
Two hundred photographs from around the world, all the pain from west to east. It’s incredible how a blind object with one eye can capture what our own eyes cannot see.
What is the difference between yesterday and today? How many countries are still suffering? How many people are homeless? Have their numbers increased? Oh Iraq, are you any better? Oh Palestine, are you still alive? Oh Lebanon, tell me, how is your Beirut? Oh Africa, are you still hungry? Oh Europe, how are your homes? Many questions swirled in my mind, and many images resurfaced from my unconscious memory, voices calling from the past.
16/09/2020
Karema 