The exhibition “Magistically Mogul” by Syrian artist ADIB FATTAL

His new series „Magistically Mogul” consists of 35 felt-pen drawings. „I have always been fascinated by the Mogul Empire because of its vastness and diversity. Spanning across modern day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the Mogul Empire left behind a large number of stunning and unique architectural jewels. From the best known Taj Mahal in Agra, India to the lesser known Shahi Eidgah Mosque in the Panjab, every structure is gorgeously designed with the intent and desire to please which you can see with the smallest attention to detail. The Moguls combined Islamic, Persian, Turkic and Indian architecture in intricate and delicate ways to construct stunning palaces, mosques, forts, mausoleums, gardens and bridges. Ornately decorated heritage has a way of capturing my imagination and allows me to go back centuries to reinterpret what I see in colorful and vivid ways. I enjoy reconstructing and applying my own interpretation of the Mogul Empire and I like to imagine how people engaged with the both the built space and the nature that surrounded them. In this presentation, but also in all my other work, I imagine people receiving great satisfaction and joy from beautiful structures”, he says.

Adib Fattal was born in 1962 in Washington D.C. He spent most of his life in Europe, the United States and the Middle East. He graduated with a B.B.A in International Marketing from the City University of New York. He began his career in business but soon abandoned it to dedicate his life to graphic art. Since 2001, Adib has exhibited his work in many places around the world. Adib’s work has been cited by the International Exhibition of Self-Taught Art (INISTA) in 2010, produced by theSlovak National Gallery and chosen by an international jury. His work was shown in 2012 at the Museum of Everything, curated by James Brett, at the Mardin Biennial.

Adib Fattal is an eternal optimist. He is a dreamer who guides us back to the age of innocence. In his search for beauty, he evokes only joyful images of the world. Many of the places he draws are imaginary, others are real places transformed into richer and more intricate locales. His paintings are ablaze with color and movement: cities and villages are inhabited by happy people engaged in their daily lives and living in harmony with each other and their surroundings. There are fishermen, farmers and women, men and children picking oranges, planting trees, praying and playing soccer against a historical building of elaborate design. All these scenes are depicted with an absolute conviction that all is well under the sun. Adib believes in a better and more harmonious world and is confident that this better place can exist if only people were given a chance.

At present, Adib lives in a town outside Damascus, where he paints and looks after his family, which includes his baby son, Dia, a dog, cat, and a large collection of birds, including a clever parrot. While the situation in Syria continues to pose difficult living conditions for Adib and his family, his incessant optimism has not stopped him from pursuing his passion for art and for believing in a better and sunnier future.

The exhibition is supported by Estonian Cultural Endowment.