Rayyane Tabet - Arabeske
RAYYANE TABET
Arabeske
September 9 – October 30, 2021
hamburg
Press text
In his latest show opening at Galerie Sfeir-Semler in Hamburg, Lebanese artist Rayyane Tabet tackles themes of cultural appropriation and original context through the lens of the arabesque, a stylized ornamental pattern found in all genres of art. The word itself originally meant “in the Arabic style” in Italian. Today, it still indicates an ornamental design consisting of intertwined flowing lines but interestingly, does not exist in the Arabic language.
Language is shaped by values, cultures and societies to express subjective points of view. Over centuries languages have changed, and words have been developed to name anything new or foreign: the term Arabesque was therefore a purely European concept, coined to describe designs thought to have been encountered throughout the Arab world. Although these designs were at the core of artistic expression -in a region where figurative representation was prohibited- they were henceforth largely perceived as patterned crafts.
Rayyane Tabet's exhibition Arabeske combines complex thoughts, historical facts, coincidental encounters and emotions. While reframing basic shapes and lines from their individual context, he maps out the migration of ideas across time and space that culminates in questions of heritage, appropriation, subjectivity and perception.
Decoupage, 1891/2020
The exhibition opens with Découpages, a frieze of 114 cut-out sheets from an original 19th century manuscript by Jules Bourgoin (1838-1908). The French scholar traveled through Egypt to study architectural ornaments and produced precise documentation drawings. His elaborate research was compiled in books such as Les Arts Arabes or Les Eléments de l'Art Arabe, two works that set the standards for what was considered « Arab Art » in Europe. Tabet cuts-out and recomposes individual pages from these publications, in an attempt to find different possible geometries hidden within the document.
Rayyane Tabet, Decoupage, 1891/2020, Cutouts of 114 original engravings from Jules Bourgoin "Precis de l'Art Arabe", Paris, 1891, each 40,5 x 31,2 cm, Exhibition view Sfeir-Semler Gallery Hamburg 2021