Mohammed Kazem
The Window. 2003 - 2005
Digital prints in lightboxes and acrylic engraved
120 x 84 cm each
About this work
In this work, Mohammed Kazem reinforces his feeling of "belonging". By means of this window, he was able to define his identity and express his affiliation. Kazem says one belongs, not to a tribe, a region, a nation, or a religion, but to humanity; and in this work he gives expression to the formation of such a belonging to humanity as a whole in each of us.
The most important aspect of this work is how it uncouples from an original individual constellation and takes on validity for a broad public and a whole society. Mohammed Kazem worked to put the viewer and the events surrounding him in a state of emotional and intellectual uncertainty. He shocks the viewer by confronting him with contradictions: the tremendous possibilities that modern technology has opened up in contrast to the misery it has also entailed. The idea came to the artist as he looked out of his window at home, as he does so often. Nothing blocked his view of the blue sky except for occasional clouds, but one day the outlines of a building towered up – and inspired the first step of this work: the photo series of the skyline, which tells the story. He took pictures at various moments to show the gradual change in the scenery. But the viewer cannot see the whole picture: Mohammed covers up part of the scene, and the pictures are taken from a perspective other than his own. The story does not coalesce until the end of the photo series.
The second part of the work is a video film of the building. With it, Mohammed Kazem introduces a human element. At the time he photographed the building, the owner did not permit him to take pictures of the interior of the room across from his window. He therefore had to restrict himself to pictures of the exterior, and his attention thereby went to something else, something that angered him. There was a hierarchy, a chain of command that began with the owner, continued through the managers, and finally ended with the workers who were erecting the building. These workers were subjected to harsh treatment and discrimination and are regarded as second-class citizens. They have to deal with the unavoidable gap between rich and poor. Another problem is that, on the day construction was over and the hotel was opened, the very workers who know every detail of the building were not invited to the opening and will probably never get the chance to spend a night there or even have a meal. It is the victory of one class over the other, a caste system that is both disturbing and depressing.
Another part of the work is an article published in Al Khaleej newspaper about a worker in China who was fired because of a love letter he wrote to his girlfriend. The relevance of this article from China, which was published in a newspaper that is a part of our environment, is that the situation for the workers here is the same as that of the poor Chinese worker who was fired. The media have come to have an effect similar to that of the building, and reality has become inextricably intertwined. The condition of the worker in the article is the same as that of the laborers who missed the opening ceremony, and that is the general condition of humanity. Mohammed Kazem presented the work with a dash of irony, playing on the contradiction between modern things and real life. He is against all who selfishly humiliate human beings and exploit them. In his work, from his unique perspective and in his very individual way, Kazem is concerned with themes of the struggle against oppression, the necessity to tear down the barriers between the peoples of the world, class conflicts, and environmental problems.
From an article by Ebtisam AbdulAziz, in: Nafas Art Magazine, 2007
© Photos: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe
3ª parte del foto tour por la Bienal de Sharjah 7, 6 abril - 6 junio 2005. Presidente & Directora: Hoor Al Qasimi. Curador: Jack Persekian; Co-curadores: Ken Lum y Tirdad Zolghadr. 70 participantes.