sculpture
- Museum number
- 2018,6003.3
- Title
- Series: Dark Water, Burning World
- Description
-
One of 12 miniature boats made from recycled bicycle mudguards, extinguished matches and clear resin.
- Production date
- 2017
- Curator's comments
- The group of boats was chosen as Object 101 in the BBC series A History of the World in 100 Objects broadcast on 25 December 2020.
The recent work of Issam Kourbaj has focussed on the uprisings and revolution in Syria that began in 2011. The boats, developed for an installation in collaboration with poet Ruth Padel, evoke the many tragic experiences that Syrians endure in seeking a better, safer life away from the war that has devastated their country.
These lines from Ruth Padel's poem Dark Water, Burning World accompany the work.
‘… and their stories our stories,
steered by the small
star-light of cell phones
waves like rings of a tree
rings of the centuries
rocking and spilling
on the windy sea.'
Padel, Ruth. We Are All from Somewhere Else. (London: Vintage 2020)
Credit: photo Issam Kourbaj.
- Location
- On display (G43/dc23)
- Acquisition date
- 2018
- Department
- Middle East
- Registration number
- 2018,6003.3
