A Heap of Random Sweepings

Sameer Farooq’s major solo exhibition tackles the fraught and violent histories of anthropological and encyclopaedic museum collections, their colonial origins, structures and impulses.

Raising questions about provenance and repatriation, the sculptures, photographs and prints assembled in this installation articulate new visions for repurposing the emptied spaces of museums devoid of their spoils. Mining the possibilities offered by sustained engagement, Farooq invites us to envision what the museum might become through the mechanics of restitution, what it may shift to collect and document, and what kind of experiences it could nurture.

The installation elicits prolonged attention, asking us to look intently and to spend time with the objects’ presence as well as the absences they evoke. Benches placed throughout the space encourage moments of extended contemplation. The audio environment composed by Farooq’s collaborator Gabie Strong (Los Angeles, CA) creates a walking meditation, designed to guide the visitor to spend six minutes at each vantage point. A bell sound marks the intervals. The artworks offer themselves as tools for contemplation and openings to ponder an intrinsic potential that transcends their aesthetic value. Lyrical captions contributed by poet Jared Stanley (Reno, NV) unsettle the rigid format of institutional labels and imagine the objects’ own voices. (Mona Filip)