Artist’s Book of Refugee from Syria – Muhammad Ali

The Annual Contemporary Art Festival Survival Kit 11

Exhibition Time: 4 September – 4 October 2020
Location: former building of the Museum of Literature and Music, Riga, Latvia
Address: Terbatas Str. 75, Riga

Travel time with car: 3-5 September 2020
Journey No. 107

During our autumn trip to Riga to visit the “RIBOCA2” – The 2nd Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art, which was not so good like the first Biennial, we visited also another art project – “Survival Kit 11”. On my opinion, it was more interesting and more conceptual.

Here, in the “Survival Kit 11” we “found” artist’s book project, created by Syrian artist Muhammad Alli. In digital way printed his diary was exhibited like wall book, or book installation. It is “real” artist’s book, or “only” a diary? What makes this diary an artist’s book? A lot of people write diaries, by the way, but they’re not artist books… These are the simplest diaries. So, how to create diary as an artist’s book, or why the diary of Muhammad Alli is an artist’s book? And here my answer would be – the clear idea and an installation.

Artist’s book “Fears Fresh” 2009–2011, illustration printed on cotton paper from the artist’s notebook, 20 x 30 cm

“The work is a series of 69 prints. I cut pieces from magazines and newspapers (photos, sentences, etc.) to produce new work and show it in a different context. My work discusses an unclear feeling of fear I experienced in relation to the change I noticed in society around me and how the images start to change.” – Wrote the artist in the catalogue.

“Muhammad Ali is a Syrian artist who lives in Sweden. He has a multi-disciplinary approach in his artistic practice, which spans video, installation, digital art, painting and drawing and explores how meaning is con- structed and understood. He often focuses on life as he blurs the boundaries between consciousness and unconsciousness.” – Text from the catalogue.