The moon follows us

On a summers day traveling from Baghdad to Kufa on a visit to relatives the view shifted along our course seducing us. I remember sleeping deeply during this two hour trip, a long time for a child of six. In between sleep I caught sight of the view through the car window; the moon centered in an ecstatic sky. The speeding car followed it through the dark and desolate desert. I was amazed that whenever the car stopped or slowed down so did the moon. It entered my mind freely stirring my astonishment and curiosity, this phenomena, and I asked my father "Oh father…the moon follows us, why is this?" I wished to impress my father with the depth of this phenomenological thought! He smiled but didn't offer any words in reply. It was as if he had known the answer at a time past, but no longer. The question remained silently with me through out the long night spent with my relatives till we went onto the roof of the house to sleep. There was the moon again reclining above and seeming to own the sky here as it did in Baghdad. With a new sense of clarity I said to my father "this proves my theory, look just as I told you…the moon follows us! Content I fell asleep with a smile… unfortunately the heads of the households seemed only to speak about lifes problems…not paying attention to the moon. And here I am, unexpectedly passing through the fortieth year of my life, still in a state of surprise. When I try and unravel the darkness and find order in the Dutch sky Baghdad's moon does not provide sense though it follows me yet softening my estranged and desolate path.

Nedim/ July 2004

Fusion of prosaic and poetic metaphors

Caught in the intermission between the past and the present ; Nedim Kufi tells bazaar of his fragile dreams, joyful memories and the pain of being an artist in exile.

By Deepa Pant

The Sultan Gallery recently celebrated the artworks of Nedim Kufi, an Iraqi-Dutch visual artist, who is best known for his works that address notions of displacement. His multi-layered statement in his artwork is a rendition of a utopian world. From Kalashnikov to serene canvases, Kufi has come a long way.Yes, he even served as a soldier for six months during the Iran-Iraq war. Kufi was born in Baghdad in 1962. He graduated in printmaking in Iraq, and then continued to study graphic design and multimedia in the Netherlands and since then, wedged between the East and the West, has traversed a long and arduous journey. Kufi in his "The Moon Follows Us" series uses the images of moon to evoke a flashback of his childhood. "I am a minimalist," he says. "I want to make simple statements and tell my story to people. I am lucky that I have the visual language to express my angst." "The word painting," he emphasizes, "comes from pain." His offbeat narrative is intricately layered that oscillates between his musings of childhood and adulthood, and of his dreams and the harsh reality. Kufi's art is the product of the land where he was born and his works are akin a constant search to unearth something he lost years ago. As he speaks in his soft voice, I become aware of this acclaimed artist as an ordinary man, grappling with a fragmented identity. A man who misses the familiar sky-line dotted with domes and spires of minarets and the cry of the muezzin in his native Baghdad. He misses the soft lilt of his mother's voice and a house bustling with sibling's laughter. "Caught between childhood, and the adult wisdom," the integrity and authenticity of Kufi's style opens up a hybrid world of dreams, and tender poetry. He expresses his longing for the stillness of the Tigris, tinged a vivid orange with the evening sun, or the evocative maze of cobbled lanes teeming with intimate faces. Kufi is against the elements of canvas, and says, "I like to interweave my paintings with design skills," he adds that it was after studying design that he became more aware of interpreting images differently. He has experimented with a variety of media and techniques to create visually interesting and thought provoking pieces. Brushes are creative tools, but Kufi doesn't care for them. He happily applies paints in a rather unconventional manner, using his hands, feet, stick, sponge or even a broom. His paintings reflect his deep love for nature and that is why he uses all things natural in his work whether base or pigments. He is quite a rebel, who rejects the traditional techniques and resorts to using different materials from his immediate surroundings. The artist incorporates twigs, leaves, seeds, henna and mud, using them as metaphors for his messages. "We can use the nature for beauty and also recycle the nature for beauty," he reiterates. It cannot be denied that the early separation from his homeland has left this artist with a deep nostalgia for the land, the people and his work aptly defines his nostalgia. However, Kufi's works are not overly sentimental or raw, but somewhat nostalgic and echo his quest for identity. "When I try and unravel the darkness and find order in the Dutch sky, Baghdad's moon does not provide sense though it follows me yet softening my estranged and desolate path." He strives for elements of abstraction in mixed-media that defines Kufi's style, which is rather simple, minimal and brusque. "I give people an opportunity to see and discover and puts forth his artistic philosophy as 'a quest for truth and humanity'." While referring to his six-months stint as a soldier, during the Iran-Iraq war, he says, "I learnt discipline, and how to live with others. Art, otherwise makes you selfish and introvert." "My paintings are inspired by personal experiences or issues that intrigue me," he says. The artist mourns at the pitiful conditions prevailing in Iraq. "We need a Gandhi to control the chaos in Iraq...actually even half a Gandhi would do," he says ruefully. One wish? Rebuilding and education of Iraq, pat comes the answer. "Oh yes! I'd also like to remove the misconceptions about the Iraqis in the world," he adds. Speaking of his next project, he sighs," redesigning Baghdad from ground zero...a utopia, where all are unified in one community." But for the moment, Kufi would love to pick up his bags and head off to Iraq. "I hope my visa comes through... and I am reunited with my family," he sighs. "I haven't seen them for over two decades. My heart bleeds for them." This was Kufi's first time in Kuwait and he was excited that to be a part of Kuwait's burgeoning art scene. The artist currently lives in Amersfoort, in the Netherlands. One can easily say that the Kuwaiti art scene was almost certainly the richer for this award winning artist's presence. For more on Nedim Kufi , you can check out his website: www.2nedim.com