Tradition Interrupted
October 18 – December 10, 2022
“Tradition Interrupted explores how artists weave contemporary ideas with traditional art and craft to create thought-provoking hybrid images and objects that have caught the world’s attention. The 11 artists in this exhibition—and their traditions—hail from every corner of the globe. From rugs and mosaic to metalwork and ceramics, they are merging age-old art and craft customs with innovative techniques that interrupt tradition while still collaborating with the past.
The artists featured in Tradition Interrupted have lived their lives steeped in the traditions of their ancestors and their connections to cultural customs, imagery, and materials are complex. Some have shared the trepidation they felt when they conceptualized and created their art, but in the process of unraveling tradition, these artists are embracing it and bringing it forward. Ancestral memories and political history—at risk of being forgotten in our fast-paced, digital world—take center stage here. It’s harder to lose sight of something that is staring right at you.”
Faig Ahmed makes contemporary carpets that both embrace and distort the traditional architecture of a rug. The carpet begins on the loom as a perfectly woven object, traditionally structured in palette and pattern. Then the piece radically jumps ship, shape-shifting before our eyes as it melts into an abstract image that literally drips in long stretches onto the floor. Steeped in tradition and presenting a bold new vision, Ahmed’s surreal carpets are a commanding statement about identity, loss, and change.