ayman kaake

Ar, print on fabric, Arabic Calligraphy on 600 stones, Incinerator Gallery, 2024

“Your belief is a belief; my existence is a reality” – Divina Di Campo, Drag queen.

Homosexuality is still a crime in at least 74 countries, 13 of which impose death by public stoning as a penalty. “Ar-Rahim”, (the merciful), is a non-apologetic work for the double standard of society that we live in. An instalment which does not seek approval to accept homosexuality. This artwork is a testament on how we have been manipulated for years by hypocritical acts of atrocity whilst believers loudly quote from their holy books in the name of religion. They connect religion with politics to have control upon us. To fit their shiny image of love whilst criminalising the act of love. You are the criminal, the bigot, the preyer. We find 99 names of your hypocrisy that is opposite to the value of 99 Names of God, starting with Ar-Rahman (the beneficent), Ar-Rahim (the merciful). I respect your belief; and you have to respect our existence and our reality.

Curated by Jake Tracey