Myself, Rana Begum and our little son Jibril, were sent to Beirut for two months my the Delfina Foundation in London.



From their website:

“The Delfina Foundation envisions a global family of creative people, living as citizens, working as artists, and acting as cultural ambassadors for their communities promoting cultural exchange, debate and collaboration as a way to combat intolerance, isolation and conflict across the world.
Founded in 2007, we develop innovative models of cross-cultural dialogue via an inter-related programme of artistic residencies and public events, from talks to exhibitions.  We support artists, curators and writers in expanding their practice via professional development. We provide platforms for public engagement that investigates the role of art in society. 

The Delfina Foundation is an independent, non-political arts organisation with charitable status. It is not a grant-making foundation. “

It was an amazing experience, and has inspired a new body of work, starting with drawings, and developing into more sculptural works.

The starting point were many photographs of Beiruts party constructed, abaondoned or incompleat buildings, captured at night.



The drawings are made by painting bright yellow gloss paint into paper, and then after it dries applying a layer of tar or bitumen. This top black surface is then scraped and dissolved using scribes, screwdrivers and chisels, to reveal the bight colour underneath.



For more images of the photos, sculpture and others works I made while in Beirut go to Recent Exhibitions.