Including poetry by the late Sudanese poet of the people Mahjoub Sharif, the exhibition @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, features a series of seven site-specific installations by artist Ai Weiwei in four locations on Alcatraz Island, offering a new cultural lens through which to experience the notorious military and federal penitentiary turned national park. Presented by the FOR-SITE Foundation in partnership with the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the exhibition explores urgent questions about human rights and freedom of expression and responds to the potent and layered history of Alcatraz as a place of detainment and protest. Exhibition on View September 27, 2014 Through April 26, 2015 Mahjoub Sharif (1948–2014) A Homesick Sparrow 2 minutes, 31 seconds Recording © Family of Mahjoub Sharif. A homesick sparrow, Perches on the heart’s window; With longing eyes, It cranes out to glance at the houses, At the distant skies, Waiting for a cheerful morning, With promises laden, To land like a turban, On the shoulder of the homeland. With each coup in a dark abyss we plunge, The heavy-footed junta besiege our songs, They agitate our inkpot, confiscate its internal peace. They poison the cheerful spring, And place their muzzles on everything. What a pleasant dream they disfigure, In the eyes of each mother. But they can’t manage to silence us. Never. In their cells we sip, The perseverance syrup, To remain bold and steadfast. O my times in incarceration O my pain of longing and torment, If I lose touch with you, Who, in this time of coercion, would I be? If I lose touch with you I will betray, The little ones yet to come, If I lose touch with you, Conceited and self-centered I will become. So long as I have a voice in my chords, What prison—or even death—can silence me? No. We will never succumb. They have no say, In our destiny. No they don’t. We are the ones who bring life, To the dead pores of dormancy. O my sweetheart, My life partner, In the high regards I will always keep you. O my beloved daughters, Nestled in the shade of the kind people. O the luminous space in the eye range: Warm me up with your peaceful greetings, With your letters. Give my greetings to my peers; Give my greetings to the clouds; Give my greetings to the earth; Give my greetings to the crowds; And to the words of romance, In the notebooks of the youth.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 12:13:42 +0000
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