Autumn
2020
Acrylic and chalk on paper
30 x 23 cm (closed); 137 x 23 cm (open); leporello
Artist’s Statement
[Text transcribed and translated from an audio note]
This book is something of a counterargument to the Arab Spring. The region is going through four seasons of political, economic, and cultural metamorphosis. The “spring” was a political idea for the region, where whole regimes were questioned, challenged, and removed; chaos ensued. I, on the other hand, was inspired by the “fall.” I looked at the pandemic as if it were a new season, the people falling ill a metaphor for the falling leaves. Falling leaves became intertwined with Covid, and the pandemic became in direct correlation with political ideologies that were being created in that new world.
Fall also became linked to how the disease propagated, how it took over the map. It was a culture of propagation that was aimed at stopping life, just like fall prepared for winter.
بشكل عام، يعتبر مفهوم كتاب الفنان هذا امتداداً تقريبياً للربيع العربي. إذ مرت المنطقة بأربعة فصول من التحول السياسي والاقتصادي والثقافي الشامل. ابتدأ الربيع العربي كفكرة سياسية، وسرعان ما عصفت التغييرات بالمنطقة، حيث تم استجواب أنظمة بأكملها وتحديها وإزالتها؛ مما نجم عنه حلول فوضى عارمة ما زالت تداعياتها قائمة حتى اليوم.
على المقلب الآخر، استلهمت مفهوم كتابي من فصل الخريف. لقد اعتبرت الكورونا بمثابة نقطة تحول نحو موسم جديد، فتساقط أوراق الشجر أصبح كناية عن ضحايا الوباء. في الوقت ذاته، لم يغب عن ذهني ارتباط حصاد الوباء من الأرواح بشكل مباشر بالأيديولوجيات السياسية التي تم خلقها في العالم الجديد ما بعد الربيع العربي. وَبالعودة إلى تأثير الوباء، أصبح الخريف مرتبطًا بكيفية انتشار المرض، وكيف سيطر براً وبحراً وجواً على خارطة العالم الجغرافية والبشرية في آن. لقد أدى تفشي الوباء إلى تجميد سير الحياة الماضية والاستعداد لدورة حياة جديدة بأحداثها ومفاجآتها، تماماً كما يمهد الخريف لحلول الشتاء العاصف.
لقد أصبحنا كبشر أهدافاً مباشرة لهذا الوباء. بدأنا في السقوط واحداً تلو الآخر. أصبح الوجود الإنساني الأكثر تضرراً وتهديداً. وَما بين الربيع العربي وخريف كورونا بقيت أرواحنا وأجسادنا ووجودنا برمته عالقاً في انتظار الخلاص.
Biography
Serwan Baran (b. 1968, Baghdad) lives and works in Beirut. His paintings center on the turbulent history of his native Iraq. While studying fine art at the University of Babylon, Baran became fascinated by the ancient city’s legendary ruins, mythology, and visual culture, which stood in stark contrast to modern day Iraq’s political instability and decades of warfare. Baran, who served as a soldier for his country, often comments on his experiences in the military and Iraq’s present day political conflicts in his work. He depicts harrowing scenes of fellow soldiers facing their final moments using a gestural, expressionistic style and an earthy color palette drawn from the landscape of his homeland. Baran has widely exhibited in the Middle East and North Africa, and in 2019 he was the first solo artist to represent Iraq at the Venice Biennale. He has had solo exhibitions at Nabad Art Gallery, Amman, Matisse Art Gallery, Marrakech, among other galleries in Amman, Damascus, Tokyo, and various Iraqi cities. He has participated in the Cairo Biennale in 1999, Al-Kharafi Biennial in Kuwait in 2011, and the fourth Marrakech Biennale in 2012. He has also participated in group exhibitions in Aleppo, Amman, Baghdad, and Doha.
Serwan Baran – Autumn
Quarantined in Beirut; For Cities Under Quarantine – The Mailbox project