Hadi Jamali

Imagine an old city in miniature, built on a large round table that becomes unstable in response to your presence. Darkness engulfs entire streets and neighbourhoods, flowing from district to district like an ominous tide. Can you feel your body sway with the current? Can you envision the inhabitants caught up in the confusion? During his EKWC residency, artist Hadi Jamali printed 197 segments of the city in ceramics, that all needed careful treatment. The repetitive task of smoothing surfaces and fixing the roofs kept some of the tensions at bay that underlie this powerful installation. The work evokes the volatile political situation in a region considered to be the cradle of civilisation, but it can serve equally well as a model for global destabilisation happening right in front of our eyes.