When you walk into Meem Gallery for the current exhibition, the first thing you see is a statement on the wall explaining the circumstances that led up to the show.
“In 2003, a storage container was discovered in an unknown location in the Middle East,” it reads. “Stored inside were numerous boxes that held the political campaign material of a now unknown man.”
It goes on to explain that an art collector in North America bought the boxes under the proviso that he would not show their contents in public for a decade.
Now that this time is up, the collector collaborated with his friend, the artist Mahmoud Obaidi, to produce the exhibition The Replacement, which contains the found material as well as several large pieces inspired by the originals.
Propaganda posters cover the walls depicting the “unknown” man with a strong, bearded jaw and deep-set eyes. His face, placed in the centre of a sun-like disc with the rays emitting from all sides, gives this so-called future leader some kind of authority. In another image, his hand is raised in the typical pose of a political figure, ushering his following towards his principles.
There also are stamps bearing his face and playing on the back wall is a video made for his supposed inauguration day, with the sound emanating through the entire gallery space. Memorabilia such as T-shirts and caps based on these images are hanging on racks.
It is a very bizarre set-up, making one wonder whether it is an art exhibition or a history lesson. And as you wander around the gallery, the language of power is expressed through these objects.
“It reflects us all, this is my life, this propaganda is all around us,” says Obaidi. “This shows that anyone can take any guy and make a leader out of him.”
Obaidi is an Iraqi-Canadian artist who is based in Doha and Vancouver and whose work is usually political and conceptual. He has a sharp sense of humour and often relies on wit to explore serious issues of displacement, identity and conflict.
So is this “unknown man” real or imagined?
As you look at his face, he is somehow familiar but at the same time completely anonymous, a fact that Obaidi says is because “he has the face of a leader”.
Items from the original campaign such as watches, medals and even newspaper clippings with the name of this man scratched out are cased in cabinets. It is almost believable but there is something amiss.
“Part of the campaign is the story. When you create a leader you give him a history and so the idea of the story is part of the show,” Obaidi says mysteriously.
Pushed further he finally admits that the story is indeed stranger than truth.
“The whole concept is based on fiction. There is no box and this guy is a Syrian artist who I know. I asked him to take part in this because he looks like a leader.”
As the reality sinks in that you have just been deceived, you immediately begin to question why you believed the story in the first place and the manipulating power of political propaganda.
“The material used in the 60s and 70s seems obvious to us now so we can use it to make a point but today we have other forms of propaganda – like Facebook, for example,” explains Obaidi.
And that is what he is trying to highlight. At a time when some of the region has experienced some kind of political revolution and when leaders are rising and falling, the show is particularly relevant.
“You need to mislead the audience fully in order for them to appreciate it,” he says. “We need to think about the way our leaders are prepared and then, when their favour runs out, they are replaced.”
• The Replacement runs until May 1 at Meem Gallery, Dubai. www.meemartgallery.com
