During my travels in lusophone and arabic-speaking Africa, I have often been enchanted by the stories, myths and misteries of lands where man has been walking for a long time. My fascination with Arican languages, how well they mix and thrive with other complex cultures, how African religions and myths have survived for generations even in the face of abduction, slavery, cultural intolerance and rape.
During my time in Angola, Seychelles, Egypt I was priviledged to meet the living heirs of such linguistic treasures, their heritage sipping trough, transpiring in few creole words, some posture, displays of nobilty in simple daily acts. The curious sights of a small girl on a boat on the Nile, the street vendor bargaining in creole, the old office clerk speaking words I had to go search in a dictionaly back at the hotel. The exciting puzzle of piecing together the history of language through the slow, generational clues you can still find today in remote villages.
Unfortunately this trove of richness, cultural brightness and fertility, is fast disappearing under our very eyes. I for one, being able to travel so much and yet often caught in other things, let many of these treasures slip away with indifference.
This is why when I had the priviledge to add "EYES", from the African Diva Collection by Amir Shayesteh Tabar to my collection, I was very grateful to have found an artist and an artwork which could capture in an image, what often came to me in small experiences, déjà vu, or slipped past me bearly noticed so many times during my travels. Amir's artwork shows a traditional use of calligraphy that overlays, and yet reveals, what is beneath. The figurative element is elusive and mysterious; it is real and yet ephemeral. It's a subtle challenge to the prescriptive use of nature based and calligraphic elements.
The artwork expresses so well what slipped past me dozens of times, bearly noticed, and infinite times, totally unnoticed. I am the lucky owner of one of the non fungible tokens representing the artwork, which Amir made available on Rarible, and I really hope other art lovers will be able to enjoy the artwork before the unsold NFTs are burned. If you decide to buy one, I value your comments and experience below!
