PROJECT AND EXHIBITION INTRODUCTION
“Birds of Longing: Exile and Memory” interweaves Christian, Jewish, and Muslim poetry and spiritual texts from the
medieval period of the Convivencia in Spain and from contemporary Middle Eastern poets, particularly Palestinian, Syrian and Israeli,
in the context of my Unweavings fiber art works. Through research into the medieval period and into the wealth of contemporary
Middle Eastern poetry, I found the themes that constitute the project – the poetry of spiritual love, often couched in the
language of secular love, the poetry of exile, poetry of nostalgia for Andalusia, poetry referencing Old and New Testament texts,
and the Qu’ran, and poetry speaking of mistrust of enemies, yearning for reconciliation.
The catalyst for “Birds of Longing” was the shocking events of September 11, 2001. In the years after September 11th,
as many Muslims were demonized, I felt the urgent necessity, as an artist, to contribute to a better understanding among
Christians, Jews, and Muslims. As the situation in the Middle East spirals downward, and xenophobia is encouraged in our own country,
I believe it is all the more important to encourage continuing interfaith/multicultural conversation.
When exhibited in a physical space, an audio component is integral to the project, consisting of readings in English, Arabic,
and Hebrew of portions of the texts contained in the Unweavings. Arabic and Hebrew are then interwoven in a specially-arranged
soundscape by contemporary composer Daniel Wohl. Visitors, using prepared iPods, viewers are able to activate tracks
relating to specific pieces as they move around the exhibit.
My hope for the project is that its visual and auditory impact will make vivid for viewers the connections among the Abrahamic religions and stimulate thought about their shared emotional, aesthetic, spiritual and thematic content. I hope to suggest a different way of seeing, and to offer healing. “Birds of Longing” travels from 2013- 2021 to various interfaith venues in California, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Texas, Virginia, Washington D.C., Minnesota, North Carolina, and Arizona.
Laurie Wohl
The creation of this project was made possible by the generous support of
the Center for the Arts, Religion & Education, and the Surface Design Association.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My Unweavings fiber art pieces convey spiritual narratives through form, color, texture and calligraphy. The words within each piece and the unwoven form that suggests these words serve as a visual commentary, evoking the poetry of various Biblical, spiritual and poetic texts. The unwoven spaces form symbolic shapes – wings, ladders, prayer shawls, veils, trees, falling waters, rivers, and the sacred architecture of windows, domes, and gates. The narrative is enhanced by my own distinctive iconography, indicating guardians, messengers, journeying and praying figures, processional figures and more.
By unweaving the fabric, I make manifest what is hidden within the material – liberating the threads to create shape, then “reweaving” through color, texture, and text. The narrative emerges from the juxtaposition of images within the surface, from the texts I choose, and from the combination of color, texture and pattern which convey a sense of time and place. My work alludes to the oldest traditions of narrative textiles, but in a completely contemporary idiom. And the pieces become carriers of my individual and our collective memories, through the spiritual narratives they transmit.
My current interfaith project – “Birds of Longing: Exile and Memory” - emerged from the many years I’ve spent contemplating and working with the relationship of texts and textiles - and it is my response to the shocking events of September 11, 2001, events that continue to resonate with us.
The project, consisting of 18 pieces, addresses themes occurring in the spiritual texts and poetry of the three Abrahamic religions. It interweaves Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts from the medieval period of the Convivencia in Spain with those of contemporary Middle Eastern poets, particularly Palestinian, Syrian and Israeli, in the context of my Unweavings fiber art. I explore the poetry of spiritual love, often couched in the language of secular love, the poetry of exile, a poetry of nostalgia for Andalusia, poetry referencing Old and New Testament texts and the Qu’ran, and poetry speaking of memory, justice, mistrust of enemies, and yearning for reconciliation.
When exhibited in a physical space, an audio component is integral to the project and consists of readings in English, Arabic, and Hebrew of the portions of the poems and spiritual texts embedded in the Unweavings. The Arabic and Hebrew are then interwoven in a specially-composed soundscape, illustrating the commonality of the Middle Eastern languages. Using prepared iPods, viewers are able to activate tracks relating to specific pieces as they move around the exhibit.
As the situation in the Middle East spirals downward, and xenophobia is encouraged in Europe and in our own country, I believe it is urgent to engage one another in continuing multifaith/multicultural conversations. I hope that “Birds of Longing” will make vivid – visually and through its accompanying soundscape - the connections among the Abrahamic religions, and stimulate thought about their shared emotional, aesthetic, thematic and spiritual content. I hope to suggest a different way of seeing, and to offer healing.
EACH IMAGE IN THIS EXHIBIT HAS POEtry related to it. CLICK ON "SHOW MORE" TO REVEAL ENTIRE Poetry TEXTs
Ezekiel was the beginning of “Birds of Longing” project, which interweaves Christian, Jewish and Muslim poetry and spiritual texts from the medieval period of the Convivencia in Spain with those of contemporary Middle Eastern poets, particularly Palestinian, Syrian and Israeli. Text in the poetry that is in boldface italic are incorporated into the Unweavings and primarily in Hebrew, Arabic and G
“Watchwords”
The Sh’ma “Hear O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is One.”
The Shahada “There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his messenger.”
The Nicene Creed “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty . . . creator of all things visible and invisible.”
“Babylon”
Psalm 137:1-2 “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion,”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“We came with the wind from Babylon and we march to Babylon”
“What will we do without exile?”
“Jerusalem”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“I look out over the procession of ancient prophets
climbing barefoot to Jerusalem. . . I ask: is there a new prophet
for this new time?”
Yehudah Amichai - Israel (1924-2000)
“Jerusalem stone is the only stone that can feel pain.”
Revelation 21:1-2 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . .I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down
“Carrying the Sun”
Abdul Wahab al-Bayati - Iraq (1926-1999)
“But the poet on the cross of exile carried the sun and flew”
“But I am crucified at dawn on the walls.”
John 19:17 “Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).”
Luke 24:6 “He is not here; he has risen!”
Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Andalusia (1021-1058)
“For unto us is born a son.” (see a
“Elegy for Cordoba”
Abu Amir Ibn Shuhayd - Andalusia (992-1035)
“Elegy for Cordoba”
“There is no one at the abandoned campsite to tell us about the loved ones”
“And they were scattered in all directions”
Moses Ibn Ezra - Andalusia (c.1060-c.1138)
“The campsites are mute; they do not answer me”
“With their tents they wandered”
Abraham Ibn Ezra - Andalusia (1093-1167)
“Alas, calamity descended on Spain
“Andalusia (Lost)”
Ibrahim Ibn Khafaja - Andalusia (1058-1139)
“Oh, Andalusian folk! Allah bless you”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“If I were to start all over again. . .I’d travel again on the road which may or may not lead to Cordova. . . . I will return if I have to return to my roses, to my steps, But I will never go back to Cordoba.”
Abraham Ibn Ezra - Andalusia (1093-1167)
“alone ove
“East of the Song of Songs”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“Go behind your shadow, east of the Song of Songs. . .”
“If you’re really my lover, compose
a song of songs for me, and etch my name into the trunk of a pomegranate tree in the gardens of Babylon.”
Muhammad Ibn Arabi - Sufi mystic, Andalusia (1165-1240)
“Receptive now my heart is for each form;
For gazelles in pasture, for monks a monas
“Tree of Light”
Quran Sura 24:35 “God is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth”
“lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the East nor of the West”
Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”
Psalm 52:10 “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“An olive tree near another in the holy books lifts the surfaces of language”
“We will
“The Shores of Loss”
Hasan Abdallah al-Qurashi - Saudi Arabia (1926-2004)
“How confused (oh wonder) is the song on the shores of loss.”
Yehudah Amichai - Israel (1924-2000)
“Here at the shore of Ashkelon we arrived at the end of memory.”
“Peace, peace to the near and the far.”
Adonis - Syria (1930- )
“We have become accustomed to the shores of our despair.”
Isaiah 57:19 “I create the fruit (praise) of
“Birds of Longing”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“Where should we go after the last frontiers? Where should the birds fly after the last sky?”
“Here the birds’ journey ends, our journey, the journey of words,
and after us there will be a horizon for the new birds.”
Yehudah Amichai - Israel (1924-2000)
“This windmill never ground flour.
It ground holy air and Bialik’s
Birds of longing. .
“Secret of My Secret: Veil of Light”
Husayn Ibn Mansur al-Hallaj - Sufi mystic, Persia (c.858-922)
“O Secret of my secret, so subtle, Thou art veiled
From all imaginations of all beings that have life”
Rabia al-Adawiyyah - Sufi mystic, Iraq (715-801)
“And my Beloved is ever in my presence. . .
He is my prayer-niche; He mine orient is.”
Solomon Ibn Gabirol - Andalusia (1021-1058)
“Who can approach Thy se
“Window of Prayers”
Adonis - Syria (b.1930)
“Through a window of prayers we reached the sky.”
“I hide myself in a cave and close the door with prayers.”
Yehudah Amichai - Israel (1924-2000)
“Yom Kippur sailors. . .climb among ladders and ropes of well-tested prayers.”
“The air over Jerusalem is saturated with prayers and dreams.”
Rabia al-Adawiyyah - Sufi mystic, Iraq (715-801)
“He is my prayer-niche; H
“Will There Yet Come? The Struggle of Destinies”
Abdul Wahab al-Bayati - Iraq (1926-1999)
“Your cries were my cries
Our rivalry is pointless
I am tired of mortal competition
And the struggle of destinies.”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“Teaching you to see us, to know us, to listen to us, to feel our blood safely, Teaching you our peace.”
Leah Goldberg - Israel (1911-1970)
“Will there yet come
“Will There Yet Come? A Grain of Hope”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“Salaam is two enemies longing, each separately, to yawn on boredom’s sidewalk.”
“We are here, a place between the pebbles and the shadows. . . A place for a voice. A place for freedom.”
Samih al-Qasim - Palestinian Druze, Israeli citizen (1939-2014)
“Jerusalem rose thorn: It’s our fate. . .I die so that you may live
Or you
“Will There Be Enough Justice?”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“and say to him, to Mary’s son: How could you do to us what you did to yourself?
Sir, do we have enough justice so that we’ll be just tomorrow?”
“No spectators at chasm’s door. . .and no one is neutral here. And you must choose your part in the end”
Matthew 23:23
“and you have neglected the weightier (matters) of the law: justice,
“Memory Demands So Much”
Denise Levertov – American (1923-1997)
“Memory demands so much. . . lift me with you, take me
off this ground of memory that clings to my feet like thick clay”
Mahmoud Darwish - Palestine (1941-2008)
“This is forgetfulness: that you remember the past and not remember tomorrow in the story.”
Yehudah Amichai - Israel (1924-2000)
“Let the memorial hill remember instead of me. . .Le
“Chaos at Resurrection’s Gate”
Mahmoud Darwish- Palestine (1941-2008)
“At the gate of the abandoned temple. . .there’s
Neither life nor death.
Chaos at Resurrection’s gate. There’s no tomorrow
Coming. . .
The Qu’ran illuminates you.
Search for our resurrection, and hover, oh raven!”
Qu’ran, Sura 30:56
“and this is the Day of Resurrection; but ye – ye (were) not aware.”
Yehudah Amichai - Israel (1924-2000)