Sabsabi’s Wonderland
Parramatta: A Dictionary of Place and Memory - S
Someone asks me if I’m familiar with Khaled Sabsabi’s work.
I say of course I am.
Twice I have stood before his video installation titled Wonderland. Two screens face each other with footage of the Wanderers supporters, the RBB.
The video has a hypnotic quality.
When I say I stood before Wonderland, what I mean is that I was transfixed. Out of pure delight I was unable to move.
At the time of writing, he is working on Moments in Waiting, a series documenting heirlooms in the community, from manuscripts that date back 1300 years to a miniature Quran that is illustrated.
When we speak of treasures, we can mean something other than gold and minerals.
When I finally meet Khaled, I tell him it would be incredible to have Wonderland for the two facing walls of a living room.
I have stumbled upon this work each time. I first came across Wonderland at Carriageworks in 2015 and then again at the Art Gallery of NSW at the start of 2021. Then there’s Naqshbandi Greenacre Engagement at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
The prayer mat placed before the TV turns it immediately into a place that centres ritual and the sacred.
Now that I know Sabsabi’s name, I keep my eye out for any exhibitions coming up.
