Aatifi – News from Afghanistan
Three films on the exhibition from 3 July–18 October 2015 at the Museum für Islamische Kunst at the Pergamonmuseum, Berlin, Germany
Film of the exhibition opening on 2 July 2015 Length: 6:26 min.
An epoch-spanning, timelessly current, universally comprehensible visual language that connects two large cultural areas encounters historical exhibits of Islamic culture from past centuries. With the large solo exhibition Aatifi – News from Afghanistan at the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin, museum director Professor Dr. Stefan Weber presented contemporary art integrated into the permanent exhibition of the Museum für Islamische Kunst for the first time in 2015. The film documents the correspondence of the three dozen paintings and graphics by Aatifi with Islamic cultural assets spanning fourteen centuries. The camera takes the viewer to Berlin’s Museumsinsel, to the Pergamon Museum and through the exhibition. It focuses on the artist’s works, some of which are monumental, in the staircase area, the carpet halls, the Buchkunstkabinett and the Mschatta Hall, where two paintings measuring 380 by 600 cm and 300 by 380 cm were juxtaposed on the end walls with the early Islamic palace façade (Jordan, 8th century). In his opening speech, Aatifi talks about his drive as an artist, his abstract-scriptural visual language and his frequent use of the colour blue. The camera angle changes from exhibition views to the opening event in the Mschatta Hall on 2 July 2015 with over 100 invited guests. (maba)
Filming: Lukas Kawa
Length: 6:26 min.
Artist’s portrait for the exhibition Length: 7:47 Min.
The film portrays the artist in an intimate way on the occasion of his large solo exhibition Aatifi – News from Afghanistan at the Museum für Islamische Kunst in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum in 2015. In the interview, Aatifi talks about his artistic path and the development of his independent, abstract-scriptural visual language in Afghanistan and Germany. The camera angles change from portraits to studio scenes and the artistic working process. Museum director Professor Dr Stefan Weber explains his intention to juxtapose around three dozen of Aatifi’s ‘expansive and space-defining’ works in the museum's permanent exhibition with Islamic cultural artefacts spanning fourteen centuries. The film portrait, shot in 2014 and 2015, was on view during the three-and-a-half-month exhibition phase. (maba)
Filmaufnahmen: Medienproduktion der Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe
Length: 7:47 Min.
Documentary on Islamic calligraphy with Aatifi’s explanations of the most important styles of classical calligraphy.
Shown in the exhibition from 3 July–18 October 2015. Length: 8:13 min.
In the film, the artist explains the most important styles of classical Islamic calligraphy, executes them on handmade paper with bamboo nibs and shows examples of his scriptural ink drawings. Through the camera, the viewer looks over Aatifi’s shoulder in the studio and witnesses the creation and development of calligraphy and Aatifi’s abstract-scriptural art. The documentary was realised in 2014/2015 for the large solo exhibition Aatifi – News from Afghanistan at the Museum für Islamische Kunst in the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin, Germany, where it was shown during the three-and-a-half-month exhibition phase. (maba)
Filming: Filmhaus Bielefeld e.V.
Text: Martina Bauer
Length: 8:13 min.