Here is Love (again) I & II

Here is Love (again) is the outcome of conversations between Yusuf Hayat and Hossein Valamanesh. Hayat responds to Valamanesh’s original work ‘Here is Love’ to comment on processes of migration and (cultural) translation in which meaning can simultaneously be both lost and gained.

The Farsi word Ishq عشق (Love) carries over to Urdu, which uses the same Perso-Arabic script. Valamanesh has placed the word in a circle which can represent the sun. Its properties of light and heat, both essential for human survival, are conveyed in the materials used by both artists. Valamanesh uses a branding iron to burn the form into paper. Hayat retains the form and translates excess heat into harsh LED light. Light allows us to see but it’s intensity can also prevent us from seeing – from looking directly at it and sometimes beyond it. Meaning is transformed as the script migrates between materials.

Love, like light and heat, is essential for human survival. Maybe love can blind just as it can burn? We can be sure of it’s return (again)!