Hemsat – A Collection by Fathi Hassan

For the majority of my life, my art consumption originated mainly from the Western world. Whilst the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo have taken the art world by storm, a personal turning point in my consumption of art occurred when I came across Fathi Hassan’s work. Born in Egypt to a Nubian family, Fathi Hassan is an Egyptian contemporary artist, widely known for using deliberately illegible Arabic scripture and calligraphy in his creations. With calligraphy being one of my absolute favorite artforms, it would be my honor to give you a sneak peek into the world of art in the Middle East.  

Hemsat – the Arabic word for whispers – was Hassan’s first solo exhibition in Dubai. Having lived in Dubai for my whole life, this was extremely exciting for me. Composed of more than one hundred pieces of art, it is a comprehensive selection of illustrated and text-based works. In his artwork, Fathi Hassan explores issues of cultural belonging, migration, political climates, and memories of his childhood. The interaction between the oral and handwritten language is a focal point of his work, where he often uses Kufic inspired scripts – the oldest form of Arabic calligraphy.   

My personal favorite in this collection would be “Head - 2011”. In this piece, what seems to be a depiction of a man’s head is illustrated on a large sheet. The interior of the head is divided into subsections, akin to the human brain. Staying true to his style, Hassan uses a variety of indecipherable character strings, colors, and fonts. The repetition of a single letter, word, or entire phrase is a common theme in his work that returns in this piece.  After carefully examining the drawing, the only cohesive word I could make out was “malal” which is the Arabic word for “boredom”. The ever-changing colors, fonts, and letters signal a constant flux in mood, and gives rise to multiple interpretations of the used language and graphic signs. My personal interpretation of this piece would be challenging the construct of language as Hassan is known to explore themes of ancient languages lost due to colonization – as is the case with his homeland, Nubia.

I think Head truly highlights the essence of Fathi Hassan’s work – calligraphy, indecipherable text, and experimentation with graphic symbolism and literal meaning. I have a special appreciation for the manner in which he draws upon his cultural heritage in a very abstract way, and thus I feel oddly connected to it.