Structures II
With Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings and British-Syrian composer Waseem Kotoub
“…music CAN be understood, read, felt, and interpreted into another art form...”
Brighton-based textile Deaf artist, Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings, was chosen to represent Ruth’s vision of ‘structure’. In this second part of the project Ruth asked Omeima to produce a piece which represents the work of composer Waseem Kotoub.
STRUCTURE II is strongly based on Omeima’s Sudanese and Arabic heritage, which she talks passionately about. The music from this area of the world was something Ruth wanted to explore and so she approached Omeima’s friend, Waseem Kotoub, for advice and guidance. Waseem is a professional musician, composer and pianist working in the Gulf and composed, ‘The Magic of the East’, for the project. The piece is written for flute, violin, viola, and cello, and it reflects many of the elements of Arabic culture and music, also taking inspiration from Islamic architecture.
The inspiration for this piece is derived from a traditional Syrian love song, الأسمر اللون , which tells the story of a woman singing for the man who she loves – a dark-skinned Arabic man with large, dark eyes – to come home from work in the fields. Throughout the piece, the main theme can be heard in several capacities, highlighting the incessant routine and tiredness of the field worker.
Omeima used her knowledge of the story to create an initial plan of her artwork. The structure of the story gave Omeima the form of her artwork, whilst the different elements of the story helped her to pick out the motifs and colours for the final piece – a hanging wall rug. For instance, the red and blue colours represent two different concepts – the physicality of the red sun rising in the blue side, and the femininity and masculinity within the story.
Omeima created her masterpiece on fabric by using a mixture of techniques, including screen printing, traditional dying, and devoré transparencies. Each section of the story is represented by a pattern or design.
In the first, ‘The Rising Sun’, the shapes match the relaxed scale of the flute.
In the second round, bold shapes represent the unity of the musical instruments as they move homophonically.
In the third an open door depicts the woman waiting for her lover to return home. Arabic calligraphy is present. In the music this section features tango-like rhythms.
In the fourth melodic motifs represent the flute, violin and viola. The cello continues its bass line throughout this section.
And in the final fifth section, the ‘Rising Snakes’ design reflects the almost hypnotic music. Round bold shapes depict the instruments finishing together in unity.
Omeima added her trademark cochlea motif right in the middle which completed the whole the work. People who see her textile art recognise and associate the ‘cochlear symbol’ with her Deaf identity. As coincidental as it may seem, it looks like a sun in the middle of the day.
‘The Magic of the East’ has been a delightful insight to Arabic music culture and its style and form. Linking Waseem’s music with Omeima’s textile art has shown that music can be understood, read, felt, and interpreted into another art form.
