beyond boundaries: sandow birk’s american qur’an
It is maybe the time for a blog post that I was meaning to write for sometime, since we have mentioned about the attacks on art galleries last night by conservatives in Istanbul. Sandow Birk is preparing an art project that is ongoing for the last 6 years, it is called American Qur’an.
Holland Cotter of The New York Times introduces the project in his review by saying:
Mr. Birk began his long-term Koran project in 2004. In a format roughly based on Persian miniatures, he has been transcribing the Muslim holy book, chapter by chapter, into rectangular compartments on sheets of paper, then filling the blank space around the boxes with paintings inspired by the words.
Birk’s version of Qur’an is aiming to create an intercultural and interreligious understanding between the two civilizations. He hopes to (and many who are familiar with the content of all three religions–Judaism, Christianity, Islam–would agree with that) reflect how consistent the similarities are in the teachings of Islam, Judaism and Christianity” and to “enable more understanding and compassion, versus fear of the unknown.”
The project, to agree with Cotter’s statement, is quite unorthodox. Since in Islamic tradition, it is strictly forbidden to create images in the Holy Book or any character in relation to it (i.e. the God, the Prophet, etc.) to prevent the probability of creating false gods (the image of the being vs. the being itself). Yet, Birk’s approach is not creating a visual depiction of the Book itself but more like putting the written word into current context. That is to say, Sandow Birk unconventionally points out to the conditions in current daily life issues, which overlap with the writings in Qur’an.
Therefore, we can take this art project as religious, political, cultural and sociological in a broader understanding. You can see his recent accomplished 17 surahs from Qur’an at P.P.O.W gallery in New York–and I hope you do not go there and attack the people at the gallery–until October 9.
This blog post also fits into the context of current situation of today’s art scene in Turkey: a conservative group fo 20-40 men attacked two art galleries in Istanbul. Art, controversy, intercultural understanding…
