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Lot Essay
'I was born in what is now called 'the first belt' around the Holy Mosque, which is the most precious and so subjected to the most drastic change. I am a witness of the change taking place in the city of Mecca all through the last decade and for the disfiguration of the place where I was born and raised. I witnessed Mecca while it was expanding and changing, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Finally, my camera managed to document those changes and provided me with enough materials to rebuild, in an artwork, the new recent Mecca.
The concept lies in the title Kaabat Allah Al Ulya (...) to put in focus those towering glass and steel formations, reacher higher to the sky, in contrast with the Kaaba, which is now sinking deep down beneath a mass of skyscrapers, cranes and scaffolds, in a continuous battle between construction and destruction.
I am not stating a judgement by building this artwork. Rather, I am in search for answers to the ongoing questions; can modernity absorb the increasing numbers of Muslims? Is modernity in conflict with spirituality? And would materialism dispace the supreme values in our life and hearts? All I am sure of is: the sadness I felt whilst working on this project.'
(Shadia Alem, 2012)
The concept lies in the title Kaabat Allah Al Ulya (...) to put in focus those towering glass and steel formations, reacher higher to the sky, in contrast with the Kaaba, which is now sinking deep down beneath a mass of skyscrapers, cranes and scaffolds, in a continuous battle between construction and destruction.
I am not stating a judgement by building this artwork. Rather, I am in search for answers to the ongoing questions; can modernity absorb the increasing numbers of Muslims? Is modernity in conflict with spirituality? And would materialism dispace the supreme values in our life and hearts? All I am sure of is: the sadness I felt whilst working on this project.'
(Shadia Alem, 2012)