“فن الشارع: من جدران الثورة إلى ركام الحرب”
موضوع حديثي في ندوة أقامها “مهرجان شباك” في المتحف البريطاني، بلندن 5 يوليو 2019.
تصوير العزيز الجميل:Osamah Abdullah Al-Rawhani
“Street Art: From the walls of the Revolution to the Ruins of War”
During my talk on the symposium held by “Shubbak Festival” in the British Museum. London, July 7th, 2019.
“بزنس جيد”
هذا الجدارية رسمتها يوم 5 يوليو 2019, في العاصمة البريطانية “لندن”, ضمن حملة جديدة تحت عنوان “شهية طيبة”.
النص في الجدارية:
“عالم مليء بالحروب والدماء، هو عالم جيد للبزنس”
-شركات الأسلحة
“Good Business”
This mural, I painted it on July 5th, 2019, on Southbank, in London, as part of a new campaign called “Bon Appétit”
The text in the mural, said:
“A world full of wars and bloods, is a good world for business”
-Arms corporations
“الجيل الضائع”
جيل بأكمله تم تضييعه منذ بداية إجتياح المدن عام 2014 وحتى الحرب الحالية التي بدأت عام 2015، لقد تم هدر أحلام الشباب والشابات والشعب اليمني الذي تطلع في يوما ما منذ سنوات للحاق بالعالم، ليعيش كباقي الشعوب في حرية وعدل.
جداريتي “الجيل الضائع”, ضمن مجموعة “وجوه الحرب”, على جدار في العاصمة البريطانية “لندن”, 5 يوليو 2019.
شكر خاص للرائع “روب ماكينس” لكل جهوده بذلها في توفير المكان اللازم لي لعمل الجداريات وللصديقة “سميه بخش”
“Lost Generation”
An entire generation has been lost from the beginning of the invasion of the cities in 2014 until the ongoing war that started in 2015. The dreams of the young people and the Yemenis (it is the same for the people in the region), who someday dreamt to live like the rest of the world in freedom and justice.
“The Lost Generation”, part “The Faces of War” street art collection, on a wall in London, July 5, 2019
A special thanks to the wonderful “Robbie Macinnes” who helped me with finding a place to do my murals and to my friend “Sumaya Baksh”.
لم يعد لدي ما أقوله فيما يحصل في اليمن والمنطقة, من حروب ودمار وموت.
جداريتي, “الأم المكلومة”, على جدار في مدينة “لندن, بريطانيا”, 5 يوليو 2019.
I no longer have anything to say about what happens in Yemen and the region, wars, destruction and death.
My recent mural “Hollowed Mother”, in “London, UK”, July 5th, 2019.
“إلتهام”
“Devoured”
Imperial Museum of War
Manchester 2019
Photos by: IWM
Exhibition view of the “Yemen: Inside a Crisis” exhibition running at IWM North from 17th May 2019 to 20th January, 2020.
Photographed 16th May, 2019.
Ahead of opening the major exhibition Yemen: Inside a Crisis at IWM North on 17 May 2019, Imperial War Museums (IWM) announces its commission of a new artwork by Yemeni street artist Murad Subay. Created especially for IWM, the artist’s latest work, Devoured (2019), will form part of the UK’s first exhibition to address Yemen’s current conflict and humanitarian crisis.
In this commission, Murad Subay responds to the on-going humanitarian crisis in his country, which the UN has described as the “world’s worst”. With the conflict leaving an estimated 80% of the country’s men, women and children in desperate need of assistance, Subay’s artwork explores the realities of living in a war zone.
Examining the inaccessibility of food, water and healthcare, Devoured metaphorically represents the harsh physical and psychological realities faced daily by the Yemeni people, as well as the regional and international experience of the conflict situation. Created using stencils, the artwork depicts a skeletal man, sat cross- legged, devouring what remains of himself. A crow bird perches on the knee of the figure, also devouring the body. The colours used are grey and muted, emphasising a horizontal red line that runs behind the seated figure.
Commenting on Devoured, artist Murad Subay said: “Ordinary people are struggling for survival and are crushed down to the ground. People suffer from hunger and famine, illness and epidemics due to lack of food, water and medicine. They lost everything they had because of war. There is only a red line – a dangerous limit that should never be crossed – which has been surpassed already, exemplifying the lack of hope and uncertain future.”
Louise Skidmore, Head of Contemporary Conflict at IWM and curator of Yemen: Inside a Crisis said: “Responding to themes explored as part of Yemen: Inside a Crisis, Murad Subay’s Devoured is raw and honest. His is a powerful representation of the human suffering in Yemen and it visually reflects how weary the country’s people are after years of living through the on-going crisis. IWM is extremely proud to have commissioned this important work, which provides a unique perspective on the artist’s experience of conflict.”
Yemen: Inside a Crisis is part of IWM’s Conflict Now strand of programming, which features opinions of individuals who have witnessed, experienced and worked in areas of conflict. In addition to Murad Subay’s new commission, the exhibition at IWM North will feature around 50 objects and photographs, many of which have been exclusively sourced from Yemen for this exhibition.
Murad Subay, a Yemeni street artist and the 2016 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards Arts Fellow, was rejected for a visa to study at Aix-Marseille University as part of a one-year grant for threatened artists.
Subay, who creates murals protesting against Yemen’s civil war, was given a grant to study under the Institute of International Education’s Artistic Protection Fund, sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which makes fellowship grants to artists from any field of practice, and places them at host institutions in safe countries where they can continue their work and plan for their futures.
The visa that would have allowed Subay to study was rejected by authorities on Friday, he told Index via email.
“This rejection highlights a spreading hostility to artistic freedom around the world. From Uganda to Indonesia to Cuba, proposed legislation threatens to control artists, while a growing number of supposedly democratic countries such as the UK frequently refuse visas to foreign authors, musicians and activists for events or training. This reinforces notion that constraining artistic freedom is acceptable,” Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship said.
“We ask French authorities to reverse this decision and allow Murad, an Index fellow, to study.”
Subay’s murals grew from the frustration he felt as his homeland descended into chaos and factionalism. Amid the destruction and anger, Subay picked up his brush. He went out into the streets with friends and began painting in broad daylight. After a few days he was joined by people from the community driven by their desire for peace amid Yemen’s civil war.
The Yemeni civil war has been raging since 2015. An estimated 13,600 people have been killed, including more than 5,200 civilians. The strife has contributed to the death of an estimated 50,000 people from an ongoing famine. In 2018, the United Nations warned that 13 million Yemeni civilians face starvation in what it says could become “the worst famine in the world in 100 years.”
Dears in Washington,
The Yemeni Institute for Culture and Heritage invites you to the street art and musical event that will be held today, Saturday 20 April 2019, with the installing of my mural “War Brand” and musical performance by the Iraqi musician “Karim Wasfi” and the American artist “Marcella Kriebel”.
A one-day interdisciplinary workshop considering the artistic and visual representation of war.
This event features a keynote conversation with the world-famous graphic novelist Joe Sacco (Palestine, Safe Area Goražde, The Fixer, Footnotes in Gaza, Journalism), as well as talks by the Yemeni street artist Murad Subay, Bram Ttwheam, Monica Bohm-Duchen, Steve Dixon, Johnny Magee and Tony Crowley.
The interdisciplinary seminar series ‘Cultures and Commemorations of War’ brings together early career researchers and advanced scholars with practitioners, policy makers, charities, and representatives from the media and culture and heritage industries, to consider the practices and politics of war memory across time.
Funded by the RAI and Corpus Christi College
Free and open to all, including lunch, coffee and a wine reception – please register in advance.
To register for the full day workshop www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cultcommwar-workshop-five-drawing-wars-art-and-cultural-memory-tickets-60116513109
To register ONLY for the talk by Joe Sacco www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/joe-sacco-in-conversation-tickets-60118802958
Optional donations on the door in aid of the White Helmets and the British Red Cross Yemen Crisis Appeal (£5 suggested, but anything welcome)
Organised by Dr. Alice Kelly (alice.kelly@rai.ox.ac.uk)
Schedule:
10.30: Registration (Coffee and Pastries)
11.00-13.00: Brief Introduction – Dr. Alice Kelly
Remembering through Art (Chair: Dr. Chris Kempshall)
Bram Ttwheam (Aardman Animations) – The Art of 11-11: Memories Retold
Monica Bohm-Duchen (Birkbeck) – ‘After Auschwitz’: Art and the Holocaust
Prof. Steve Dixon and Dr. Johnny Magee (Manchester School of Art) – Refugee Tales: Viewing the Belgian refugee crisis of WW1 through the lens of contemporary experience
Includes a short film showing: Unbreakable (2019)
13.00 – 14.00: Lunch
14.00 – 15.30: War Street Art (Chair: Hanna Smyth)
Murad Subay – The role of street art in advocating community issues in times of crisis and conflict
Prof. Tony Crowley (Leeds) – Photographing Murals of the Irish Troubles [Title TBC]
15.30 – 16.00: Coffee
16.00-17.30: Keynote: Joe Sacco, in conversation with Alice Kelly and the audience
17.30-18.30: Wine Reception
Murad Subay 