Jamelie Hassan

Jamelie Hassan Artist Statement

Installation works are dependent on many factors but the site and its context are fundamental - what one might call the hospitality of the site to embrace the idea.

Previous installation works of mine have addressed histories, both personal and public, and the architectural aspect of the installation’s space and context is a major determining factor.

The site of the Great Mosque of Xi’an and its founding in 742 during the Tang Dynasty offers a compelling history and is the inspiration for my work, Nur.

The Great Mosque has a quiet beauty with its Chinese architecture and gardens. Islamic inscriptions and motifs are combined throughout the site. These dual cultural elements create an extraordinary presence within the city’s vibrant Muslim quarter.

In my installation work Nur, (Light) Arabic script is painted onto panels which are in proportion to the ceiling of the library of the Great Mosque of Xi’an. This Arabic calligraphy is a repeat motif that moves across the space. The calligraphy is based on the text on the ceiling of the dome of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul which is from the verse Nur (Light) in the Qur’an. 24:35. Artefacts are evidence of the significant cultural exchanges along the Silk Route which took place between countries from West Asia and sites in China. These artefacts are found in museum collections internationally, including in Canada, West Asia and China.

Language and the politics of language are often a part of my work including the use of Arabic calligraphy and text. In Even Onto China, from 1995, the Arabic saying (hadith) was one that my father would repeat to us, his Canadian-born children, growing up in a Muslim household in a small city in southern Ontario.

“ Seek Knowledge Even Onto China" creates a geographical trajectory of philosophical orientation. This work was created during my solo exhibition at Art Speak Gallery in Vancouver  (1995). I invited two people from the Vancouver community, each with calligraphic skills, one in Arabic (Hanna Kawas), the other in Chinese (Jin Li) to participate in the installation by commenting on the meaning of this Arabic expression and then writing this saying in their respective scripts on the wall of the gallery. Subsequent installations involved working from this original writing of the text in Vancouver. This installation Seek Knowledge Even Onto China has been presented in numerous exhibitions and was included in the survey exhibition Jamelie Hassan: At the Far Edge of Words curated by Melanie Townsend and Scott Watson for Museum London, London, ON (April 2009) and the Morris and Helen Belkin Gallery, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. (June 2010). A publication Jamelie Hassan: At the Far Edge of Words accompanied this exhibition and includes documentation and text on this work. The University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta acquired this work for the university's collection in 2010.

Other exhibitions which included Seek Knowledge Even Onto China are Jamelie Hassan: Recent Works, curated by Bashir Makhoul, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, UK, (1996);The Ends of the Museum/Els Limits del Museu, curated by John G. Hanhardt and Thomas Keenan, Fondacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, Spain (1995); Temporarily Possessed, New  Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY. USA, (1995); Al Din's Gift, Art Gallery of York University, Toronto, ON (1997) and Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor, ON (1997).

These two works express the inner and outer of being, the private and the public, the solitary and the collective, and as texted-based works each reflects an imperative to pursue knowledge across great distances and landscapes.