Kunst & Zwalm Festival
Floating Carpet is a project initiated by Homa Arkani in close collaboration with Manoeuvre organisation. The project was inspired by Pieter Bruegel’s painting The Tower of Babel and poems by Rumi. This collective work of art came into existence through seven workshops at manoeuvre involving drawing with the subconscious mind, and the act of tufting. Where the subconscious can reach a connection beyond language, tufting was chosen for its stress-release capacity, letting go of tensions and anger caused by wars in home countries (as was the case for a lot of participants) or in daily life. “The whole universe and all the people are like a single body,” - Rumi Inspired by Rumi, Homa tries to bring people together and overcome the individual differences between us. Floating Carpet has two sides of which only one is visible for the (human) public. The other side faces towards the non-human world (the former zoo of Zwalm) and thus connects different worlds into one body.
Sorry Not Sorry Festival
Tower of Babel” is inspired by Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting of the same name. 8 large stones from the art-nouveau Volkshuis designed by Victor Horta serve as her canvas. They are part of a dry stone wall at the De Porre park in Ghent, Belgium.
This work breathes new life into the former industrial site while preserving its history.
Homa's work refers to society’s attempts to bring together different peoples and cultures and promote unity and harmony among people.
Homa Arkani was born and raised in Tehran, Iran, and has lived in Belgium for 5 years now.
She mainly produces abstract/surrealist paintings inspired by everyday life in Iran, and has recently begun to experiment with installations.
Her creations have been displayed in dozens of art galleries, art spaces and museums in Belgium, Iran and other countries.
Text from Cultuur Gent : https://cultuur.stad.gent/en/street-art/toren-van-babel