Mecca Windows
2013
Wooden window frames, glass panes
Wooden window frames, glass panes
Collected from demolished buildings in Mecca, these colourful panes of glass belong to the disappearing fabric of the city. Objects harvested from a perpetually changing place, they provide a literal 'window' onto the past and a former way of life.
The collection of the windows started as a bemused fascination as part of the 100 Found Objects series, and developed into an obsession. The first few were encountered as anachronistic artefacts, sat on the floor decoratively, or piled carelessly with the detritus of demolition.
At first, it felt exceptional to happen across these windows, glinting blue-green and purposeless like some extravagant glass sculpture. Yet, the more I noticed them, the more I saw them; harvesting them from the rubble of the old city became a kind of homage to what I imagine was there before.
Their former existence as windows implies ways of looking, portals to the past. It’s important for me to find and preserve objects which allow us to do this. These windows without purpose become objects that speak about the refusal to look to or acknowledge the past, I’m resisting this. Ahmed Mater2018
