Kevork Mourad: the making of Seeing Through Babel

We visited Mourad at the Ismaili Centre in London to witness the creation of his latest work, a six-metre hanging sculpture. He explains the ideas behind it and the techniques he uses.

In his latest work, the Syrian-Armenian artist Kevork Mourad explores the Old Testament story of Babel, in which God created multiple languages as a punishment to prevent people from communicating with one another. Seeing Through Babel, which employs Mourad’s trademark techniques – monotypes and drawing on to the surface of the work – is a six-metre hanging sculpture, designed to allow visitors to walk around it, allowing closer consideration of its themes.

The finished work, though, is only part of the story. Making art in public is an integral part of Mourad’s practice, so Studio International visited him at the centre, while the sculpture was in progress and visitors could come to watch him in action. He talked us through his idea for the work and the process of making it.

Kevork Mourad: Seeing Through Babel
Zamana Space, The Ismaili Centre, London
1 July – 15 August 2019

Filmed by MARTIN KENNEDY