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Hassan Meer

Hassan Meer
Oman
Hassan Al Meer was born in Muscat, the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman, in 1972 where he continues to live and work.

Bio

He received his Masters degree in Art in 2000 and his Bachelor degree in Fine Art with Media Art specialisation in 1999 from Savannah College of art and design, Georgia, USA. During his study, he started using video and installation art as a new form to express his ideas, which have been inspired by personal experience and childhood memories with an impressionable sense of spirituality.

In the year 2000 he organized the Circle Show, which, is taking the lead in encouraging this new form of art in Oman and the region. His work has been presented in many local and international exhibitions.

Hassan is very much inspired by the changes in culture and identity, and he studies individual identity in relation to a collective experience through his installation works. His work is also a contemplation and search into the spiritual domain and the magic rituals bequeathed to us from ancient times which, has established itself profoundly in our society. It narrates his pondering and questioning of death, the mortality of man and examines others local prevalent rituals.

Between September-October 2012, Hassan Meer undertook a residency programme at the Delfina Foundation in London. His exhibitions include: 8th Sharjah International Biennale, UAE (2013); Arab Express, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2012); Work Marry Remember, AB Gallery, Zurich (2012); Reflections, Stal Gallery (2013); Fotofest Biennial, Houston, Texas (2014) and All Silent for the buzzing Royal College of Art Galleries, Kensington, London (2014). His work is exhibited in many public and private collections in Oman and abroad.

Portfolio

Reflection from Memories

Reflection from Memories is a photographic series depicting life in Oman in the sixties and seventies. A big transition happened in the region through that decade; the discovery of oil brought new hope and life to the people. Most of the Omani returned back to their home from abroad, some of them brought their memories with them and some of them left them behind. The architecture of the city changed, people moved to new districts and left their old houses behind. The modernity has come, and the transition is happening, but with no control. Most of the cities lost their original soul. In the artist’s work he is trying to send a message to the people to maintain what is left of their past. When the artist entered his grandfather's house a few years ago he found nothing but broken walls and windows. The emptiness of the house inspired him to go back to family memories, and he started creating a series of photographs inspired by the soul of his old house.

Hassan Meer 1