Manar Moursi: The Loudspeaker and the Tower

Artspace Peterborough is excited to present Manar Moursi: The Loudspeaker and the Tower, organized and circulated by Trinity Square Video and SAVAC.

Through an immersive environment constructed of coloured lights, megaphones, masks, videos and sculptures, Toronto-and Boston-based artist, designer, and architect Manar Moursi presents a multitude of considerations to the viewer: What if singular patriarchal voices of religious sermons were interpreted through mime and dance? How would neon lights adorning mosque minarets look as sculptural objects? How do residents of Cairo challenge authoritative architectures and urban master plans, whilst creating new meanings for public space and land use? By that token, what shapes can we abstract from these biographical networks of the megalopolis?

Using the mosque as its starting point, The Loudspeaker and the Tower examines the apparatus of the minaret as a vertical symbol of power and as a horizontal multiplier of official and unsanctioned narratives. Moursi’s installation revolves around a set of associated characters — residents of once agricultural lands, mosque custodians, imams, architects, artists, and a parrot — to further understand the radical complexities of these structures.

The exhibit is organized and circulated by Trinity Square Video and SAVAC with support from Ontario Arts Council.