Event |
Bayu Exhibition |
Date |
9 – 31 October 2015
|
Time |
Mon to Fri: 10am – 5pm Sat: 12 – 5pm *Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays
|
Venue |
ADM Gallery 2 School of Art, Design and Media Nanyang Technological University 81 Nanyang Drive Singapore 637458
|
Free Admission
|
The School of
Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is proud to
present Bayu, an exhibition of
Islamic contemporary art that is held in conjunction with the international
forum on Contemporary Islamic Art, Design and Architecture (CIADA) 2015.
The exhibition
which runs from 9 – 31 October 2015, showcases contemporary artworks from 11
student alumni artists from the NTU School of Art, Design and Media. Bayu explores how these artists’
practices in installation, photography, video and design draw inspiration from
the art and culture of the Islamic world.
In
recent years, representations of Islamic art have extended to include modes of
enquiry into the politics and poetics of identity in Islamic aesthetic,
cultural and historical traditions.
Emerging generations of artists whose practices are embedded in, or
respond to this context, seek ways of discovering new dimensions in art-making,
and that of self-actualisation.
Bayu,
which means “wind” in Malay, engages with the metaphor of this undulating force
of nature, both gentle and powerful. The wind transits through spaces, and breathes between pauses. The wind is both
steadfast and surrendering, sometimes as a whisper of suggestion, and other
times in a hurricane of gestures.
Like the wind,
the exhibition is an attempt to weave artistic journeys through the discourse
and established conventions in Islamic art and design. While some of them may be intimate and
personal expressions, they reveal critical nuances that expand into larger
schemes of inquiry, and investigation, as artists seeks to translate their
attitudes and agencies through art.
Co-curated by Javad Khajavi and Noor Iskandar, Bayu shows how artists deal with the
complexities and dilemmas of cultural historical identity, as they negotiate
between subjectivity as well as
universality. Rather than to
resolve them, the exhibition offers a diverse range of the artists’ positions, presenting open-ended dialogues that broaden
our understanding of their worlds.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
ENGKU NUR HAFISZAH BINTE ENGKU ISMAIL
Nur
Hafiszah is a freelance props-master whose works have been featured in the
television channels Suria, Okto and Channel U. She was also the wardrobe
stylist for the 2014 feature film, Banting
which was produced by Papahan Films. When Nur Hafiszah is not busy with
filming projects, she enjoys exploring other mediums such as video and
painting.
SYAIRAH
MALEK
Syairah
is known for her intricate works of patterns, engaging with paint, ink, pencil
and printmaking. All her original works
are hand-drawn or hand-painted as she believes that the intimate connection
between the artwork and the artist is the most essential ingredient in creating
a meaningful piece.
JAVAD
KHAJAVI
Artist-researcher
Javad Khajavi’s practice extends traditional Islamic aesthetics into the
discourse of new media art. Trained in animation and engineering, he is
particularly interested in ways motion may transform the aesthetics and the
language of Islamic art. His works draw upon varied sources such as Islamic
calligraphy, tiling, Persian carpets and Persian poetry.
IZZIYANA SUHAMI
Izziyana
Suhaimi’s work explores the evidence of the hand and time.
For the artist, embroidery is a meditative gesture, where each stitch
represents a moment passed, or the artist’s thoughts, culminating in the final
work standing as a manifestation of time. The notion of duality is central in
her embroidered works, which are acts of creation, as well as ones that cut and
unravel.
MALA HAYATI
Mala
Hayati is a fine art photographer who engages with photography as a medium to
explore new opportunities of expression. When she is not making images, Mala
enjoys the simple things in life. She feels that enjoying a tub of ice-cream
and reading a Haruki Murakami book will definitely make the world a better
place.
NOOR
ISKANDAR
For
Noor Iskandar, art is a spiritual investigation that traverses the domains of
poetry, emotions and even crises, as he explores the subjectivities of beauty
and truth in contemporary society.
The
award-winning, multidisciplinary artist has exhibited
at the Ion Art Gallery (2014), Affordable Art Fair (2013), and beyond
Singapore. In 2014, he was awarded the Kwek Leng Joo Prize of Excellence in
Still Photography.
YAZID
SAFURUAN
The
works of Yazid Sufuruan stem from Islamic cultural influences and principles.
To the artist, just as grid systems create order in a graphic layout, religion
is a tool that creates order in life, and it is through the existence of order
that he finds beauty. Safuruan is a web specialist by profession who enjoys
spending his free time with his family.
NUR
FAIZAH BTE OMAR
Social
awareness is central in Nur Faizah’s practice, which seeks to raise critical
issues, as well as possible solutions. Her works tend to present alternative
views, such that opposing or differing perspectives can be received neutrally,
and art becomes a platform for dialogue.
AISYAH MARIAH
Aisyah Mariah
works in film, photography and writing. Home and nostalgia are recurring themes
in her practice which is also an exploration of her culture and faith. The NTU undergraduate majoring in Digital
Filmmaking lives by the following quote from her favourite filmmaker Yasmin
Ahmad. “If your intentions are pure, if you apply your craft to observe
humanity, and ultimately God himself, most often something powerful will
suffice.”
INKTEN SUFINA
Inkten Sufina is a Singapore-based visual artist who
works in graphic design. Also a graffiti
artist, her drawings respond to the surrounding environment, using everyday
experiences as a starting point. Inkten’s works deal with both the complexity
of the digital medium, as well as conceptual modes of painting. She has been
commissioned by Mercedes-Benz, MightyJaxx and Converse, and has exhibited at
the urban art event Meeting of Styles.
AFIQ OMAR
Afiq Omar is an analog motion graphics artist. Using the
digital camera as a tool, he creates landscapes and topographical textures
within the macro world, and works with live mediums to create extraordinary
visuals that are beyond conventional perceptions of the world.
ABOUT CIADA 2015
The
international forum on Contemporary Islamic Art, Design and Architecture
(CIADA) 2015 is a joint conference by the School of Art, Design and Media,
Nanyang Technological University, the Association for Modern and Contemporary
Art of the Arab World, Iran and Turkey (AMCA) and Virginia Commonwealth
University in Qatar (VCU, Qatar).
To
be held from 7 – 9 October 2015, the School of Art, Design, and Media at
Nanyang Technological University in Singapore will bring together designers,
artists, architects, and academics for a multi-disciplinary conference on
contemporary Islamic art, design, and architecture. While new forms, spaces, images, typographies,
symbols, colors, and materials of contemporary Islamic art, design, and
architecture share distinct cultural narratives from individual geographies, it
remains essential to address how comparative and connective perspectives
reorient the understanding of contemporary Islamic visual communication. This
three-day conference is dedicated to convening
professionals and scholars from throughout Asia, Europe, and America who share
an investment in contemporary Islamic art, design, and architecture. For more
information, visit http://www.ciada2015.com