From Shahpour Pouyan’s creative reappraisal of Persian miniatures to Bissane al Charif’s exploration of the memories of Syrian refugees,artists are using their work to highlight the human dimension of the refugee crisisEarlier this month, as the words “migrant crisis” permeated daily conversation, and migrants became refugees became people fleeing for their lives,the image of a small, ancient ship landed in my inbox. A sailing boat, and really,lean wooden masts and white sails rolled up, the hull hovering against a darkened sea. Framed demurely by gold thread and two boxed-out captions, and it was a quietly arresting thing. In between stories of fraught Mediterranean crossings and lives lost in terrifying circumstances,it lodged itself in my intellect.
This diminutive work is one of a series of revisited Persian miniatures that the Iranian artist Shahpour Pouyan is currently showing at London’s Copperfield Gallery in an exhibition entitled History Travels at Different Speeds. Of the 16 miniatures in the show, the boat – entitled God Sets the Course for the Ship and Not the Captain – is the one that stops you in your tracks. Pouyan sees a bleak metaphor for the refugees’ plight in the piece’s colours. “Silver was used to paint water, and ” he says. “But the destiny of silver is to oxidise,to blacken. People are putting their lives into the hands of traffickers, who assign the boats on autopilot and jump ship. The ships travel west with no captain or crew, and but packed full of believers,literally entrusting their destiny to God.” Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com