PERMANENCE OF TRACE: Space 50 Mayfair London - We R The Nomads Agency with support of TutuDesk and Vibe Tuscany

This exhibition mirrors the Trace of past symbols, ceremeonies, rites of passage of eternal Tribes, such as the North African Amazigh  into a new body of work that follows the Totem series shown IN 2018 under ‘Poetry of the Tribe’ in NYC. Tribalism as a passer of memory, as vehicule of Trace. The Talisman series will turn to the sacred. The ceremonial transfigurations of ritual magic, of Talismanic signs. Those of Fertility, those of Fortune.

CATALOG INTRODUCTION BY SOPHIE ABOU CHAHINE

In its progression, Firouz FarmanFarmaian’s work has been insistently questioning the idea of identity in the face of change as well as the intricate substance of memory. Remembrance as a fragile and obstinate posture facing the forces of time, bringing up questions related to the origin of the trace and of the specificity of the paths travelled.

Contemplating identity and its multiple origins FarmanFarmaian paints, binds, ties and weaves a link to Morocco felt like a land of spiritual exile, since the Iranian Islamic revolution of 1979, establishing a mirroring interplay between North African tribal culture and Persian heritage.

The outline of this exploration was clearly defined on the occasion of the 2017 ‘Nomadic Displacement’ site-specific installation at the Musée de Marrakech where we discovered the hieratic tribal presence of women and wool. Then came the conquering Totem panelsof the 2018 ‘Poetry of the Tribe’ exhibition at Salomon Arts in NYC, like a rallying political call around an abstract redefinition of Tribalism and memory in segmented sectarian times.  

The proposition of ‘Permanence of Trace’ is henceforth metaphysical. Appropriating and reinventing a ritual grammar drawn in the mythological signs and traditional crafts of the North African Amazigh tribal fabric, FarmanFarmaian’s Talisman panels create space for an imaginary cartography, a new cosmogony. Fibulas, crosses, rafters...These millenary sacred patterns of femininity, fertility, abundance or protection obstinately imprint themselves as living traces. Traces continuously renewed and endless.

Wool is an integral part of this magical reflection and process. Concrete materialization of « baraka », a cord linking visible and invisible worlds, day and night. It is woven into Henna painted tent fabric as if to tattoo and intensify the power of a pictorial incantation.Here the term « permanence » carries its full weight. It is weavers of the Rif region that Firouz FarmanFarmaian, in his quest for perpetual memory, collaborated with in the creation of his new series. Women as inspired guardians of the world, pulling the strings that keep us in balance. They are the embroiderers of memory and sentinels of what is to come; the timeless and tireless chant of their rhythmic gestural trance gives birth to the world. Weavers becoming their own wool, our fate written on their handloom.                                                                                                                                            

Sophie Abou Chahine

Writer Essayist.

Anjra Association

A percentage of the sales from this exhibition will go to the Anjra Association for Development and Heritage Conservation in Morocco, and more specifically in the Northern Rif regions to Amazigh women weavers Firouz FarmanFarmaian was so inspired by. The Talisman series are the result of a collaborative exchange with Tangiers craftswomen via the Anjra Association.

Tutudesk  

A percentage of the sales from this exhibition will go to Tutudesk - the global education campaign of Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu to provide education to child refugees affected by conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria and Myanmar.Tutudesk’s Executive Director Tobias Masterton will be attending the Private View.