Introducing ... Iman Meghraoua

Si : Hi Iman, and welcome to the exhibition blog. Can I begin by asking you about the piece that you are making for the show?

Iman : I was inspired by Jesus' last station in the tomb. I chose natural materials that come from the earth to confirms the Muslim understanding of the human nature of prophet jesus(peace be upon him)

The tomb is made from mud (the mud-made bread oven is still used in the region) corresponding to the birth place of Jesus - Bethlehem - in Hebrew and Arabic - meaning House of bread : "I am the bread" say Jesus ....." In John 6:35  

Saying : " I am the word " of Jesus 

I tried representing it by carving it (just like the stone tablets of Moses) and I would be quoting a verse of Holy Quran - talking about the birth and death of the prophet  and confirming his immortality.

I also tried to represent the script of the Arabic text carved into plaster, using the Alhambra technique of carving because this style was used during the golden age of the three religions when all three religions lived in peace. 

Si : It's looking really good! I'm especially keen to see those plaster carvings - you often work with traditional Islamic calligraphy, text and pattern. I wonder if you could tell us a little more about that?

Iman: I have been studying fine arts for many years and I have finished with a distinction in the ÉCOLE DE APPLIQUE DUPPERE in Paris, but all of my inspiration has been linked with the designs and materials from the Earth; natural. I am really concerned about the modern disconnection of the natural world because this is where we come from and where we live. This is why I decided to study traditional arts & techniques because they are a base of thousands of years accumulated in wisdom; especially in sacred art - they have a divine signature of the universal order of nature and purity if the materials (using the materials of water, earth, stone, sand, wood and minerals).  The traditional scared arts ( calligraphy , manuscript , carving, ceramic, weaving....)have three principal forms. 

The most important one is Calligraphy - which is the word of  God- this is the revelation i.e. the holy Bible, Torah & the Quran. 

The second one is The arabesque. This represents the links in the natural world .

And the third one is Geometry ,which represents the universal order of nature. 

"We created all things in order" Quran : sura al Quamar :54:49

From the structure of the DNA to the structure of the orbiting planets; we understand the Divine matrix. And all three of these forms are linked in their perfect harmony.

The Islamic patterns are the symbolic of the central doctrine of Tawhid: the unity of the universe, the oneness of God. Making a union and making One. All of the human cultures use their patterns of this union. By repeating these patterns we are remembering this unity constantly. And for me, the disconnection of modern life reflects in the western expression of art where illness, frustration, stress and emotional discomfort are results of lost understanding of the natural way of living. I find the peace and harmony by studying the world of traditional sacred arts, where wisdom interlinked from all cultural traditions in unity.