Tughra

2013 - Installation (Installation)

Dimensions variable

Sharif Waked

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Tughra is a protocol by Sharif Waked that reproduces the sixteenth century calligraphic monogram for tughra ; also known as the signature of Suleiman the Magnificent. Under Suleiman’s reign, at the beginning of the 16th century, the Ottoman empire achieved its apex both in terms of territorial extension and cultural creation. Suleiman personally instituted major judicial changes relating to society, education, taxation, and criminal law, as such he is often referred to as ‘The Lawgiver’. For this richly colored mural, Waked appropriates the monogram, which also symbolizes the peak of Islamic art. He then refigures it by inserting, in the lower part of it the monogram, the common directive rukh min hun , which translates to get out of here . This phrase is the only words in Arabic most Israeli soldiers know, and is typically hurled antagonistically towards Palestinian, Muslim, and Arab people living in the Israeli-occupied territories. Waked chose to paint the mural around a doorway, at an expansive scale, to underscore how the phrase has permeated Muslim and Arab culture. With this in mind, Waked’s work addresses the current political situation in the Middle East and Africa, wherein many populations are being forced into exile and commonly unwelcomed wherever they go.

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Sharif Waked is a Palestinian artist who’s work enages with with Islamic culture and history, and its interaction with the Israeli occupation and hegemonic Jewish culture in Palestine. Waked is also interested in derivatives of classical Islamic culture, such as calligraphy, and the way form and content, or images and text interact in this practice. Without really holding a cynical approach, in his dive to the depths of the cultural implications of Israeli occupation, he illuminates anecdotic events that illuminate its cruelty.

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Colors:

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• language.n.01
• culture.n.01
• history.n.01
• geopolitics.n.01
• oppression.n.01