Canadian artist Jamelie Hassan is encouraging debate on key issues of the post-9-11 era with the installation of Al Jazeera/Prisoner 345 at Carleton University Art Gallery.
Hassan’s provocative two-part neon sculpture serves as a modern sign post highlighting restrictions on human rights and access to information in the name of security.
One part of the sculpture, on the exterior façade of the St. Patrick’s building, which houses the Carleton University Art Gallery, uses Arabic script that roughly translates as “shame on you.”
The calligraphy closely resembles the logo of the Al Jazeera news network, encouraging viewers to question censorship of the network by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and other organizations.
The other part of the sculpture, which reads “Prisoner 345,” is installed inside the building. “345” was the number assigned to Sami Al-Haj, an Al Jazeera cameraman imprisoned at the American naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from December 2001 to May 2008. He was never charged with a crime and his supporters believe he was jailed simply because of his job. This apparent injustice serves as a powerful point of departure to examine the political realities of our world in the age of terrorism.
Hassan’s work was created for the exhibition ImagiNation: New Cultural Topographies, a group exhibition of contemporary Canadian art that opens at CUAG on September 8 and runs through November 2, 2008. A media preview will be held Monday at 1 p.m., followed by the opening at 5 to 7:30 p.m., which will be attended by the artist and features Carleton President Roseann O’Reilly Runte as guest speaker.
CUAG will host a public dialogue to discuss issues raised by Al Jazeera/Prisoner 345 on Monday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m., featuring Hassan and Dr. Karim H. Karim, director of Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication and author of Islamic Peril: Media and Global Violence (Black Rose Books, 2000).
Jamelie Hassan is based in London, Ontario. She is a recipient of a Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2001) and her work, strongly influenced by extensive travel, is included in numerous public collections in Canada.
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For more information:
Dr. Ming Tiampo, Curator
ming.tiampo@mac.com
Diana Nemiroff, Director
Carleton University Art Gallery
(613) 520-2600, ext. 1357
Dr. Karim Karim
Director, Carleton School of Journalism and Communication
(613) 520-2600, ext. 7408
Carleton University Art Gallery
St. Patrick’s Building, Carleton University
1125 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6
(613) 520-2120
www.carleton.ca/gallery
Steve Blais
Media Relations Officer
Carleton University
(613) 520-2600 x1391
Friday, September 5, 2008 in News Releases
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