Migration, displacement, the spiritual and political are central to the work of Khaled Sabsabi and these themes are all present in Unseen. The individual elements are drawn together in one artwork, comprising 236 parts that encircle the viewer as they move through the space.
Coffee is a material used in each part of this artwork. For Khaled, it is evocative of memories – each leaving its residue; a trace, situated in this place and time. In Unseen we are invited to walk over layers of coffee-stained canvas, telling the story of displacement and waves of migration that have followed since European invasion.
As a young child, Khaled and his family were forced to flee Tripoli, Lebanon. Whilst hiding in the foundations of a building, having run out of food and water, Khaled strongly remembers the stained walls, symbolic of the drips and markings of coffee. Coffee also veils 235 multi-layered artworks that line the walls and embrace you as you move through the exhibition, signifying a shared story of this artist and this country.
Each of the objects that line the walls starts as a photograph drawn from the artist’s archive, possibly taken during his travels, or capturing the domestic and the everyday. Khaled paints over the photograph, then shrouds them in coffee which takes days to dry, covering it in residue. Though we can’t access the full images of the original photographs, there are familiar elements as well as places that may seem foreign or exotic. Though the images may feel removed, there are glimpses of familiar scenes such as cars or buildings. These moments of recognition are akin to snatches of memories, just slightly out of reach. Here, Khaled draws our attention to what is unseen, and unknowable and contrasts our knowledge of ourselves with the ‘other’.
The disruption of walking over a covered floor allows interaction with its audiences; re-forming the work as the exhibition progresses. This process is determined by paths that will be walked over and over again over time, merging together as one, reminiscent of migrations, histories and shared paths that we take.