I awoke to images of two tall buildings on fire on my television. I must confess I did not feel much of anything, except perhaps that I was currently occupying surreal space in a Diego Riviera painting, a member of the sleepy middle class rubbing my eyes while symbols of capitalist power burned to their destruction before me. And then the frenzy began. Not a war on terrorism but something more insidious — doubt in things that have been centuries in the making: ideas about human rights, the right to basic freedoms, the right to voice opinion, the right to live alongside each other with simple human dignity, despite differences. Ma ny of us find ourselves in a precarious position as citizens of countries settled through immigration: we have so many affiliations, so many communities to which we belong that we are neither ‘us’ nor ’them’. In the rhythm of our daily interactions, there are other priorities than terrorism binaries. However, we now need to find a sense of peace within ourselves, and to understand what we have lost and what we stand to lose as governments continue on their non-humanist agendas. My opportunity to articulate these issues came from Amir Ali Alibhai, curator at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver, inviting me to contribute to Dust On the Road: Canadian artists in dialogue with SAHMAT .
My piece,Twin Spirits, pulls the lens back from the images of devasta- tion, grief and fear at Ground Zero to a place where transformation through healing can begin. For the spirit who leaves the Earth, death is a freeing, a return home. And for those of us who are left behind, death marks the need to mourn, to let go and find a way to continue on until our own moment of freedom comes. Twin Spirits is a site at which the process for letting-go can begin. Dance when you are perfectly free WTC 11.09.01 Sherazad Jamal
Dance when you’re broken open Dance if you’ve torn the bandage off Dance in the middle of the fighting Dance in your blood Dance when you are perfectly free Jalaluddin Rumi
The towers are twelve feet tall and are made from white cotton fabric, referencing the Muslim tradition of burial in white cotton and the Hindu tradition of signifying widowhood through the wearing of white cotton sarees. Inscribed in white paint on the towers are repeating, abstract patterns originally from Muslim art sources, and within them Celtic-looking knots. On each side are quotes from various religious, activist, scientific and poetic sources. All these voices seem to weigh in with similar messages: life and death are a circle of oneness in which details matter less than acting from love and dancing your own steps. The towers are are set above a circle inscribed on the floor. Within the circle is an octagonal star generated from two overlapping squares referring to ‘us’ and ‘them’, but fused together — humankind is an interdependent, complete whole. Flowers were left near the piece and were added by visitors to this communal remembrance.
SAHMAT was formed in 1989 by contemporary Indian artists and cultural producers in response to the politically motivated killing of Safdar Hashimi, a street-theatre performer. SAHMAT (the Safdar Hashimi Memorial Trust) is also the Hindi word for agreement.The artists of SAHMAT take their art, literally, to the streets, fusing art, action, and intent, and addressing issues of freedom of expression, growing fundamentalism, sexuality, women’s rights and the inequities of the Hindu caste system. Dust On The Road was an exhibition of their work alongside Canadian work addressing political issues germane to this country — aboriginal rights, race politics, environmental concerns, women’s issues and the growing threat of war.
Sherazad Jamal (TUNS 1990) is a designer, home school teacher, gardener, artist. She left architecture to co-design, edit and publish Rungh Magazine, a South Asian quarterly.
Mon article,Twin Spirits, offre une vue d’ensemble des images de la dévastation et de la peur qui régnaient à Ground Zero, et permet de nous placer de façon à permettre le début d’une transformation qui vien- dra nous guérir. Dans le cas des esprits qui quittent la Terre, la mort est libératrice. Il s’agit
d’un retour chez-soi.Toutefois, pour ceux d’entre nous qui restent, la mort démarque le besoin de faire son deuil, de lâcher prise. Les tours ont 12 pieds de hau- teur et sont faites de coton blanc, faisait ainsi allusion à la tradition de sépulture musul- mane dans du coton blanc et à
la tradition hindou de signaler son veuvage par le port de saris de coton blanc. Inscrits à l’aide de peinture blanche sur les tours, on trouve des motifs répétitifs et abstraits tirés de l’art musulman, mêlés de nœuds celtes. De chaque côté on peut lire des citations religieuses, tirées de sources
religieuses, activistes, scienti- fiques et poétiques.Toutes ces voix vibrent au son du même message : la vie et la mort ne forment qu’un seul cycle au sein duquel les détails sont moins importants que les actes posés par amour.
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