Saturday 13 December 2008

Borderlands


Philip George's Islamic Surfboards

Just spotted an article which sparked my interest on the BBC website. Philip George is an Australian artist who creates beautifully patterned surfboards with artwork and motifs from the Islamic world.

He has recently produced an exhibition, on display at Casula Powerhouse in Sydney until 18 January, which looks stunning. The exhibition, entitled Borderlands, is the culmination of 7 years of work carried out by Phillip George within Australia and throughout the Middle East.

In the words of the artist: "The emblematic ‘Inshalla’ (God Willing) surfboards symbolically provide buoyancy in the spaces between borders: the Australian beach and the edges of Western culture, and the Islamic world. Borderlands celebrates the metaphysical art of Arabic, Ottoman and Persian worlds and the transcendental nature of surfing, of which both traditions speak to the wonder and complexity of the universe."

2 comments:

flying said...

your blog is great
i added you to our links, i hope you don't mind.
aloha from spain
flyinglngboarder.com

Beach Bum said...

Great looking boards and there is indeed much to be enamoured of "Arabian" ( I use that in the broadest sense) art.I bet though, that someone, somewhere will be upset by this. Oh yeah, and Happy New Year!