Rebellious Belly is Syed’s first major solo presentation in western Sydney, and a major milestone in a career that has spanned three decades and many continents. Born in Karachi, Pakistan and undertaking studies in the United States, Syed now works between Australia and South Asia. In doing so, Syed adopts the role of the diaspora artist, occupying a globalised zone where his interests in transcultural identity, natural and mystical philosophies, material culture, and socio-political histories. Working with the body as a living archive, Syed both ingests and digests these expansive concepts to create works that are grounded through his personal, lived experience.
The exhibition draws into focus Syed’s interest in consumption, both literal and symbolic. What we consume – what fills our bellies – is also what we are consumed by. It is what defines us and what we become.
This ambitious exhibition traces Syed’s interest in notions of consumption, from early works produced during the 1990s and early 2000s, through to major commissions for this project. For Syed, the notion of rebellion is at the core of his practice, which is often described as manzoom muzahamat, translated to English as poetic resistance.
The English term belly is often translated into Urdu (the artist’s mother tongue) as kokh (womb), shakm (chasm), and peeth (stomach). In Rebellious Belly, the term is considered as an emotional and spiritual reservoir, which inextricable links to rebellion within religious and ancient texts. The gesture of artmaking, then, becomes food for the soul. The nourishment that allows us to contend with human existence at its core – of anguish and despair, but also of wonder and optimism.
