Making Ground Artist Statements

Elyas Alavi, Doesn’t it taste of blood?, 2020
Neon, acrylic board 

Earlier last year, I found one of my short poems painted on streets in Iran, picked up by the community as a kind of rallying cry. The short poem speaks to the toll of war on the individual. Hearing about it from friends, then seeing images that appear online, I felt a sense of giving ownership over my words to the people - especially as my books have recently been banned by the government in Iran.

        Poem translated from Farsi to English:

        As you draw water from a well and make tea with that water,

        doesn’t it taste of blood?

Although these words were erased off the streets by the authorities, some marks remain. The fragility and the process of making neon with human breath and gas is important and I see the object as alive. Neon acts as the spirit of that erased graffiti.

CONSTANCE acknowledges and respects the Palawa people as the traditional and ongoing owners and custodians of lutruwita. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future, and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded.

     

Making Ground is presented by CONSTANCE ARI in partnership with Mona Foma, and assisted through Arts Tasmania by the Minister for the Arts.

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