Habeeb Mohammed Abu-Futtaim
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The Star of Jaffar (2015)
140 cm (diameter)Mixed media sculpture, wood draped with fabricCollection: Barjeel Art Foundation
The Star of Jaffar emerges as a contemplative amalgamation of two emblematic signifiers of contemporary Arab identity: the sacred geometry of the Arabesque and the flag, the ultimate emblem of nationhood. This convergence manifests as a shield—a metaphorical and literal construct—where the intricate, infinite patterns of the Arabesque, long celebrated as the aesthetic heartbeat of the region, intertwine with the rigid, bordered symbolism of the flag, a modern artifact of territorial demarcation and political sovereignty.
Yet, looming within this synthesis is an inherent paradox: these very symbols, revered as the cultural and national essence of a people, are entangled with the histories of colonial imposition and orientalist construction. The Arabesque, often romanticized through the Western gaze, and the flag, a byproduct of colonial cartography and the nation-state paradigm, both bear the spectral traces of external authorship. The Star of Jaffar thus becomes not merely an aesthetic object but a philosophical inquiry—an exploration of identity forged in the tension between authenticity and artifice, heritage and hegemony.