The worldly currency of Abdullah Syed

Zoe Ghani, Garland Magazine, March 5, 2019
Abdullah Syed, Mapping Investment: Syria, 2017, Hand-cut U.S. $2 banknote sheet and banknote collage with acrylic on wasli, 51.5 x 128 cm (diptych), Image courtesy the artist, Photograph by Diego Flora.
 
I am filled with nervous energy about the prospect of meeting western Sydney-based artist, designer and scholar Dr Abdullah M. I. Syed in person.
 
There is a sense of familiarity in knowing he is from Pakistan, given I was born in Afghanistan. I am expecting shared cultural norms to come up, common words in Urdu and Dari to be exchanged between us, I want to tell him that I have a brother named Abdullah too. But there is also a sense of anxiety. Will I do a good job of telling his story, given his four-page resume is witness to a life of learning, creation and creativity in every waking moment? The sentences sit side by side, broken into two columns, made up of words in tightly packed rows like perfect teeth with not an inch of page to spare. He has been called a polymath, an apt description of a life lived between cities, wearing the cloak of both master and student, combining multiple disciplines to make meaning through art and design. He is a modern renaissance man. “I am constantly learning different techniques and crafts to push my art practice from video editing, ceramics and weaving to learning and practising archery, to bodybuilding physical exercise and nutrition. This is why I call my art practice interdisciplinary as I truly seek to bring diverse knowledge from various fields.” When I meet Syed in his studio in the Western Sydney suburb of Parramatta, I am surprised by his youthful face, full head of dark hair and boyish smile. It sharply contradicts the volume of accomplishments in his resume. He welcomes me with a warm handshake into a tidy light-filled room on the second floor of a block on Church Street. There is a quilted rug spread on the floor, in hues of reds and oranges (his personal meditation spot and one of his hand-sewn works made in assistance with his sister Umme from a previous exhibition), a cupboard against a wall where he keeps supplies neatly stacked, his desk and chair in the corner opposite a small fridge and tea area. The wide windows by his desk look down upon the bustling Centenary Square and up into a clear blue sky.
 
He has prepared for my arrival by having tea and coffee on hand which he offers in multiple combinations and he places nuts in a small decorated bowl inviting me to help myself. The way he plays host is different from my usual business meetings and reminds me of the Afghan custom of tea and nibbles being offered to visitors in our home when I was growing up.
 
Within a few minutes, I realise that entry into Syed’s world, to go beyond the resume, to the heart of his art making, begins in his childhood. It requires a meandering journey through the corridors of his memories. What makes the journey so captivating is not just the story itself but the vivid detail it carries, as if he is reliving the moments he is describing.
 
His eyes take on a distant gaze as he talks in a smooth ribbon of words, describing places, then moving backwards and forwards in time, interlinking ideas and concepts with a slight hint of an English accent. He talks of himself being a boy of about five in Pakistan, watching his mother count the salary that her husband has sent from Saudi Arabia. Later, Syed watches his mother write their household expenses in her meticulously kept expense ledger, a monthly ritual she has followed throughout his childhood, notes changing from one hand to the other as she concentrates on her counting.
 
Abdullah Syed, Mother & Son I, 2016, Mixed media, 24k hand gilded pure pigment print on Cotton Rag paper, 91.5 x 76.55cm, Image courtesy the artist, Photograph by Mim Stirling.
 

His mother’s ledger and her diaries appear in his body of work titled Substitute: The Untold Narrative of a Mother and Son.  His mother is an important inspiration in Substitute, a mixed media work with the image of a money plant (Golden Pothos) at its centre.

“The money plant is a substitute for her offspring, who have left home. She nurtures the plants as if they are her children,” Syed says.  

 

In his studio, we talk about banknotes which are a prominent device appearing in many of his works. SubstituteCurrency of Love, Capital Couture (Sherwani) and his Divine Economy series, which Flying Rugs included a miniature rug made from whole banknotes stitched and fringed with shredded banknotes, all make use of currency in different ways. His work engages with the central role that money plays in economies of consumption and how money often navigates cultural and political identities, historical milestones and power structures.

 

“The one US dollar played an important role in my exploration of the concept Divine Economy. Almost 28 years after the release of the current iteration of the one dollar bill, American lawmakers added the phrase “In God We Trust” to the banknote in an attempt to demonize and claim moral superiority over the communist Soviet Union during the Cold War…the primary purpose of money is to project religious identities, bolster preconceived notions of moral superiority, and to measure ownership, economic power, and ultimately false prosperity.”

 

Syed stands excitedly from behind his desk and walks to the cupboard to show me the notes he has collected. Some of them are in envelopes held in bunches, donated by friends and given by collectors who no longer want them. He also avidly collects banknotes still in uncut sheet form, and others meticulously shredded and ready to be used for his projects.  His interest in currency brings us back to the topic of his parents and the connection between currency as a device and a deep link to the memories he has, of his father who collected coins, stamps, and paper currency from across the world and of his mother counting the wages each month.

 
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