Shadia Alem

The artist was born in what is now called the ‘first belt’ around the Holy Mosque, which is the most precious and the most subjected to drastic change.

The artist is a witness of the change taking place in the city of Mecca during the past decade and to the disfiguration of her home town where she was born and raised. The artist’s camera managed to document those changes and provided her with enough material to rebuild, in an artwork, the new Mecca.

The concept lies in the title ‘Kabat Allah Al-ulya’ (Supreme Ka’ba of God) – the caption of the old engraving by the Austrian orientalist Andreus Magnus Hunglinger 1803. The title thus juxtaposes the content of the images which show towering steel formations reaching higher and higher into the sky with the Ka’ba sinking down beneath the giant skyscrapers, cranes and scaffolds, in a continuous battle between construction and destruction.

The artist is not passing judgment, but seeks answers to the questions – Is modernity in conflict with spirituality? Would materialism displace the supreme values in our life and hearts? The only thing she is sure of is; the sadness she felt whilst working on this project.

The artist was born in what is now called the ‘first belt’ around the Holy Mosque, which is the most precious and the most subjected to drastic change.

The artist is a witness of the change taking place in the city of Mecca during the past decade and to the disfiguration of her home town where she was born and raised. The artist’s camera managed to document those changes and provided her with enough material to rebuild, in an artwork, the new Mecca.

The concept lies in the title ‘Kabat Allah Al-ulya’ (Supreme Ka’ba of God) – the caption of the old engraving by the Austrian orientalist Andreus Magnus Hunglinger 1803. The title thus juxtaposes the content of the images which show towering steel formations reaching higher and higher into the sky with the Ka’ba sinking down beneath the giant skyscrapers, cranes and scaffolds, in a continuous battle between construction and destruction.

The artist is not passing judgment, but seeks answers to the questions – Is modernity in conflict with spirituality? Would materialism displace the supreme values in our life and hearts? The only thing she is sure of is; the sadness she felt whilst working on this project.

The artist was born in what is now called the ‘first belt’ around the Holy Mosque, which is the most precious and the most subjected to drastic change.

The artist is a witness of the change taking place in the city of Mecca during the past decade and to the disfiguration of her home town where she was born and raised. The artist’s camera managed to document those changes and provided her with enough material to rebuild, in an artwork, the new Mecca.

The concept lies in the title ‘Kabat Allah Al-ulya’ (Supreme Ka’ba of God) – the caption of the old engraving by the Austrian orientalist Andreus Magnus Hunglinger 1803. The title thus juxtaposes the content of the images which show towering steel formations reaching higher and higher into the sky with the Ka’ba sinking down beneath the giant skyscrapers, cranes and scaffolds, in a continuous battle between construction and destruction.

The artist is not passing judgment, but seeks answers to the questions – Is modernity in conflict with spirituality? Would materialism displace the supreme values in our life and hearts? The only thing she is sure of is; the sadness she felt whilst working on this project.

The artist was born in what is now called the ‘first belt’ around the Holy Mosque, which is the most precious and the most subjected to drastic change.

The artist is a witness of the change taking place in the city of Mecca during the past decade and to the disfiguration of her home town where she was born and raised. The artist’s camera managed to document those changes and provided her with enough material to rebuild, in an artwork, the new Mecca.

The concept lies in the title ‘Kabat Allah Al-ulya’ (Supreme Ka’ba of God) – the caption of the old engraving by the Austrian orientalist Andreus Magnus Hunglinger 1803. The title thus juxtaposes the content of the images which show towering steel formations reaching higher and higher into the sky with the Ka’ba sinking down beneath the giant skyscrapers, cranes and scaffolds, in a continuous battle between construction and destruction.

The artist is not passing judgment, but seeks answers to the questions – Is modernity in conflict with spirituality? Would materialism displace the supreme values in our life and hearts? The only thing she is sure of is; the sadness she felt whilst working on this project.

The artist was born in what is now called the ‘first belt’ around the Holy Mosque, which is the most precious and the most subjected to drastic change.

The artist is a witness of the change taking place in the city of Mecca during the past decade and to the disfiguration of her home town where she was born and raised. The artist’s camera managed to document those changes and provided her with enough material to rebuild, in an artwork, the new Mecca.

The concept lies in the title ‘Kabat Allah Al-ulya’ (Supreme Ka’ba of God) – the caption of the old engraving by the Austrian orientalist Andreus Magnus Hunglinger 1803. The title thus juxtaposes the content of the images which show towering steel formations reaching higher and higher into the sky with the Ka’ba sinking down beneath the giant skyscrapers, cranes and scaffolds, in a continuous battle between construction and destruction.

The artist is not passing judgment, but seeks answers to the questions – Is modernity in conflict with spirituality? Would materialism displace the supreme values in our life and hearts? The only thing she is sure of is; the sadness she felt whilst working on this project.