(the heart that has no love/pain/generosity is not a heart)14 September - 22 October 2010

I first met Mohammed in Melbourne at the end of summer 2006. He had come down from Sydney by bus to meet his cousin who was visiting from Pakistan. Mohammed was gregarious, generous, full of laughter. Somehow it came up that he had arrived in Australia on a boat from Indonesia. He spoke of the friendship and kindness of the Indonesian people. He talked about the difficulties of settling in Australia.

I met Mohammed again in Sydney a year later. By this time, he was studying at a technical college. He spoke about wanting to return to Pakistan to work with his brothers. Mohammed was tall with striking Hazara features. But he seemed to be a broken man.

There are pictures of men like Mohammed in recent news reports. Five men were killed in an explosion on an illegal shipping vessel carrying 49 asylum seekers off the coast of Australia. There are faces like Mohammed’s amongst the groups of protesters gathered in downtown Toronto on a frozen February day. There are also pictures of men like Mohammed in Jayce Salloum and Khadim Alis’ installation on Afghanistan. These pictures suggest that there are many stories remaining untold.

The grids of portraits in Salloum and Alis’ installation intrigue me, as they represent encounters – however fleeting – that are not unlike my encounter with Mohammed. Encounters with strangers who disarm you. Strangers whose

life stories haunt you. The portraits in Salloum and Alis’ installation strike me as pictures of hope. They exhibit a strength of character, a tenacity, even an optimism, that is quite different from the impression of Afghanistan generated by mainstream media.

Yet these portraits also remind me of the yellowing photographs of the inmates at the Tuol Seleng in Cambodia – a grim catalogue of those who were about to die. We don’t hear much about the death count amongst Afghans. But I’ve recently started looking for it: in the news reports of increasing instability in bordering Baluchistan; in emails from colleagues informing us of murders and disappearances; in the increasing numbers of refugees seeking sanctuary in more stable countries.

Equally as disarming as the portraits are Salloum and Alis’ photographs of the impossibly picturesque central Afghan landscape. The cold air and ripe stillness of the travertine mountains are unlike the dry, brown, dusty landscapes of Kandahar or Kabul. What will always stay with me is a phone call from the artists at 2 o’clock one morning in Toronto. They called from the mountains three hours northwest of Bamiyan. They described a breathtaking view overlooking the glittering lakes of Band-e Amir. I was jolted awake by the sheer joy in their voices, their expression of a wish to return. Stealing beauty can sometimes be a form of resistance.

Haema Sivanesan

First published “Jayce Salloum: The History of the Present” Jen Budney (ed) Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Canada 2009

(the heart that has no love/pain/generosity is not a heart)

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Jayce Salloum has worked in installation, photography, drawing, performance, text and video since 1976, as well as curating exhibitions, conducting workshops, & coordinating a vast array of cultural projects.

His practice exists within and between the personal, quotidian, local, and the trans-national. Currently residing in Vancouver, Canada, Salloum recently held a solo show at Artspace in Sydney.

He has exhibited widely, from the smallest unnamed storefronts to institutions such as the Musée du Louvre, Paris; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada; Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin; Centre Pompidou, Paris; CaixaForum, Barcelona; 8th Havana Biennial; 7th Sharjah Biennial; 15th Biennale Of Sydney, Biennial of Moving Images, Geneva and the Rotterdam International Film Festival.

Khadim Ali is a Hazara artist, currently based in Sydney, Australia. He trained in contemporary miniature painting at the prestigious National College of Art, Lahore, Pakistan, and in mural painting and calligraphy at Tehran University, Iran.

His work has been exhibited in museums and biennales including the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan; The Asia Pacific Triennial, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia; the Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival, Melbourne, Australia; the Venice Biennale, Italy; the British Museum, London, UK.

Ali has work held in numerous private and public collections including the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Above: Khadim Ali, Untitled, Rustum series, 2010, gouache, pencil and watercolour on paper. Courtesy of the artist.

14 September - 22 October 2010

Jayce SalloumKhadim AliCurated by Haema Sivanesen

Panel discussion: Friday 17 September 1-2.30pmWith Paula Abood, Stephen Dupont, Haema Sivanesan & Khadim Ali

Acknowledgements:Haema Sivanesen wishes to thank the artists and panel participants, Mr Tom MacDonald and Sharon Pinney from the Consulate General of Canada, Sydney, SAVAC Board of Directors, staff and volunteers particularly Srimoyee Mitra and Kohila Kurunathan and UTS Gallery curators Tania Creighton and Holly Williams and installation staff Paul Ogier and Kenzee Patterson.

A full colour catalogue accompanies the exhibition, contact the gallery for details.

UTS Gallery supported by Oyster Bay Wines and Coopers Brewery. Media partner: 2ser

Co-commissioned by SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre), Toronto & Alternator Gallery for Contemporary Art, Kelowna, With support from the Consulate General of Canada, Sydney and Apple

Cover: Jayce Salloum remnants, past in the present, standing buddhas, shrouded caves, bookshop storefront on the main street in Bamiyan, Hazarajat, Afghanistan, 4/15/08 [DSCF2741] (detail), 2008, digital print. Courtesy of the artist.

(the heart that has no love/pain/generosity is not a heart)

Printed 100% recycled paper

The

sile

nt lo

oped

foot

age

pans

acr

oss

a va

st

and

enig

mat

ic a

rray

of

sand

ston

e ro

cks

– th

e re

scue

d fr

agm

ents

of t

he

colo

ssal

Bud

dhas

– s

orte

d in

to p

iles,

cat

alog

ued

and

hous

ed in

she

ds n

ear

the

orig

inal

cav

e si

te. A

rel

ated

cl

uste

r of

pho

togr

aphs

de

pict

s la

rger

rui

ns o

nsite

, w

rapp

ed in

hig

h te

ch p

last

ic.

This

mat

eria

l doc

umen

ts

the

ruin

s of

the

Bud

dhas

at

a s

peci

fic m

omen

t in

hist

ory,

a ti

me

of tr

ansi

tion

betw

een

dest

ruct

ion

and

cons

erva

tion,

or

poss

ible

re

stor

atio

n.

Insi

de th

e la

byri

nthi

ne

cave

s, o

ne c

an s

ee th

e je

wel

-lik

e fr

agm

ents

of

fres

co p

aint

ings

, now

ba

rely

rec

ogni

sabl

e. T

he

soot

-sta

ined

dom

es o

f the

in

teri

or o

f the

cav

es a

re

dese

crat

ed b

y sc

ores

of b

oot

prin

ts o

f Tal

iban

sol

dier

s.

Arra

nged

in th

emat

ic c

onst

ella

tions

, the

clu

ster

s of

pho

togr

aphy

pla

y w

ith s

cale

and

com

posi

tion,

oft

en d

evel

opin

g pa

tter

ns o

f rep

etiti

on a

nd

reite

ratio

n, w

hich

pro

duce

s a

mod

e of

vis

ual a

naly

sis.

The

y re

cord

in

som

e de

tail,

the

bare

ly d

isgu

ised

rel

ics

of th

e So

viet

-Afg

han

war

, and

at

tem

pt to

cap

ture

and

com

preh

end,

if n

ot r

econ

cile

, bot

h be

auty

and

tr

aum

a –

the

dram

atic

maj

esty

of t

he s

heer

mou

ntai

ns a

nd fl

at p

lain

s,

the

dere

lict h

ulks

of l

ong

aban

done

d w

ar m

achi

nery

. Th

e ca

refu

lly

com

pose

d ph

otog

raph

s ar

e at

tent

ive

to d

etai

ls, a

nd a

re e

voca

tive

of th

e m

ood

in A

fgha

nist

an b

eyon

d th

e fr

ontl

ine

of w

ar.

This

pro

ject

take

s th

e fo

rm

of a

per

sona

l arc

hive

whi

ch

docu

men

ts S

allo

um a

nd

Ali’s

jour

ney

to B

amiy

an. T

he

artis

ts tr

avel

led

from

Kar

achi

to

Isla

mab

ad in

Pak

ista

n,

onto

Kab

ul, t

he c

apita

l of

Afg

hani

stan

, and

then

ov

erla

nd in

to B

amiy

an V

alle

y in

the

cent

ral A

fgha

n re

gion

of

Haz

araj

at. T

heir

obj

ectiv

e w

as

to s

urve

y th

e la

ndsc

ape

and

its

cont

exts

, obs

erve

the

situ

atio

n on

the

grou

nd, a

nd e

ngag

e in

en

coun

ters

that

wou

ld p

rovi

de

insi

ght i

nto

the

lived

con

ditio

ns

of th

e H

azar

a pe

ople

- a

pe

rsec

uted

Shi

’a M

uslim

m

inor

ity in

a c

ount

ry th

at is

pr

edom

inan

tly S

unni

.

The

Shah

nam

eh, a

n ep

ic e

leve

nth

cent

ury

poem

by

the

Per

sian

poe

t Fer

dow

si, w

hich

ex

amin

es th

e m

oral

cod

es in

form

ing

a vi

rtuo

us

mod

e of

sov

erei

gnty

. Of p

artic

ular

inte

rest

is

the

stor

y of

Rus

tam

and

Soh

rab.

Soh

rab,

es

tran

ged

from

his

fath

er s

ince

bir

th, m

eets

hi

s fa

ther

Rus

tam

, on

the

batt

lefie

ld. T

hey

fight

on

opp

osin

g si

des

of th

e ba

ttle

. Una

war

e th

at

he is

his

son

, Rus

tam

kill

s So

hrab

. Th

e st

ory

deal

s w

ith th

e fu

tility

of w

ar, a

nd

the

trag

edy

of m

ispl

aced

her

oism

, with

in th

e la

rger

con

text

of a

n ep

ic p

oem

con

cern

ed

with

the

idea

ls th

at c

onst

itute

a m

odel

of

natio

nhoo

d. In

Afg

hani

stan

, the

Tal

iban

ap

prop

riat

ed th

e fig

ure

of R

usta

m a

s a

hero

ic

icon

in th

eir

prop

agan

da.

Jayc

e Sa

lloum

and

Kha

dim

Ali’

s pr

ojec

t tak

es

its ti

tle fr

om th

e sc

hool

son

g in

Mar

efat

Hig

h Sc

hool

in D

asht

-i-B

arch

i. A

vide

o lo

op d

epic

ts

the

girl

s at

mor

ning

ass

embl

y in

the

cour

tyar

d of

the

scho

ol u

nder

a b

rilli

ant b

lue

sky

– an

im

age

of fu

ture

pro

mis

e.

The

stor

y of

Per

sian

poe

t She

ik S

a’ad

i’s v

isit

to a

sou

p ki

tche

n is

use

d as

a r

efer

ence

by

Ali.

Sa’a

di w

as a

ttac

ked

by a

pac

k of

str

ay d

ogs.

As

he p

icke

d up

a s

tone

to d

efen

d hi

mse

lf he

foun

d th

e st

ones

all

froz

en

toge

ther

and

won

dere

d w

hat k

ind

of p

lace

it w

as w

here

all

the

ston

es

wer

e fix

ed in

pla

ce a

nd a

ll th

e be

asts

wer

e fr

ee?

Ali u

ses

the

stor

y in

an

alle

gori

cal w

ay to

exp

lore

the

curr

ent s

ituat

ion

in A

fgha

nist

an

The

grid

s of

por

trai

ts h

ave

the

utili

tari

an a

nd u

nifo

rm a

esth

etic

s of

bu

reau

crat

ic p

ract

ices

of p

hoto

grap

hy –

pas

spor

t pho

togr

aphs

, ide

ntity

ca

rds,

lice

nces

, sch

ool p

hoto

grap

hs. A

rray

ed to

geth

er in

gri

ds th

ey

sugg

est a

com

mun

ity o

r po

pula

tion,

a la

rger

cul

tura

l ide

ntity

, whi

ch

desc

ribe

s th

e la

ndsc

ape

of B

amiy

an a

s a

site

of h

uman

str

uggl

e.Th

e ph

otog

raph

s w

ere

take

n at

the

Mar

efat

Hig

h Sc

hool

in D

asht

-i-

Bar

chi.

For

the

Haz

ara,

edu

catio

n is

per

ceiv

ed a

s a

mea

ns to

a b

ette

r lif

e –

mea

ns to

ach

ieve

just

ice,

soc

ial e

qual

ity, a

nd h

uman

rig

hts.

Sinc

e 20

03 K

hadi

m A

li ha

s be

en p

aint

ing

the

dest

ruct

ion

of th

e B

amiy

an B

uddh

as. T

hese

pa

intin

gs c

onfla

te m

yth,

poe

try

and

alle

gory

w

ith h

uman

exp

erie

nces

and

rea

l wor

ld e

vent

s.

Usi

ng a

uste

re c

olou

rs a

nd a

wat

erco

lour

ist’s

st

yle,

thes

e pa

intin

gs m

ourn

the

anni

hila

tion

of

the

Bud

dha

figur

es, b

low

n to

rub

ble

from

the

mon

umen

tal c

liffs

in w

hich

they

wer

e ho

used

.

(the

hea

rt th

at h

as n

o lo

ve/p

ain/

gene

rosi

ty is

not

a h

eart

)

Inst

alla

tion

view

at U

TS G

alle

ryP

hoto

grap

hy b

y Je

nnife

r Le

ahy,

Silv

ersa

lt P

hoto

grap

hy(t

he h

eart

that

has

no

love

/pai

n/ge

nero

sity

is n

ot a

hea

rt)