Inside the notorious Abu Salim jail

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14755667

Colonel Gaddafi has called for Libya to be “engulfed in flames” in an audio message carried by a loyalist TV channel.

In Tripoli, human rights workers are trying to salvage records from inside Libya’s most notorious prison, Abu Salim.

Over the course of several decades, thousands of Libyans are said to have been jailed and tortured in the prison by members of the Gaddafi regime.

Jeremy Bowen reports from Tripoli.

In the beginning

In the beginning were the rustling leaves of the forbidden tree, The commencement of the descent and the end of it was Autumn. In the beginning were the creaking doors of the greater universe, where all those who have entered endured the burning features of the existence. In the beginning were the “things” hurting by “Things” Fever was along the lines of puzzlement. In the beginning was a bang on the head, then the initiation, etc… along the way. Mohammad Bin Lamin www.binlaminart.com

A tale of a Libyan artist

A tale of a Libyan artist

View The Video:
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/middleeast/2012/07/201271483939185732.html

Mohammad bin Lamin used art to survive his time in prison before he was set free after the revolution.

Al Jazeera talks to Libyan artist Mohammad bin Lamin who used art to survive his time in prison before the country’s revolution.

From drawing on his prison cell walls with whatever he could find to his post-revolutionary art including sculptures made from used bullets and shells, bin Lamin hopes his art will offer a spiritual answer for the daily oppression around the world.

The Three Eras for a dream

(The Three Eras for a dream)
Poem and Artworks By: Mohammad Bin Lamin.
Translated from Arabic by: Solara Sabah.

1. The Amulet Time

His blue Amulet did not save him from the act of the sea,
neither did the white one.
They did not soothed him from the flares of
the land.

They did not stop the temptation of the waves
and the curse of whiteness or cured him from the sun’s ailments.

He was saved by the worries of the mothers who were
lingering near the oven to steal from it the mercy of the bread.
Or maybe he was saved by the mother’s supplications in the half darkness
behind the spindle of the wool’s mats,
praying to God to safeguard him
from the Beasts of the darkness,
the evil eyes, and the ferocity of the envy.

2. The Solitude Time

And you’re a very obdurate!
You have never been bind by phylactery or by Fakih’s mantra
you saved your steps
for the mint fragrance road and the accompaniment clouds.
Holding back your right hand
to greet the person of your dream,
To embrace the surface of the water,
Promising your heart to meet the spring and the temptation of the daffodils,

Rolling your eyes inside,
Laughing and crying.
Lighting the daytime by the sun,
Dripping the stars in the night,
and dangling from the moon!

Obstinately in love.
Your dream has taken by your pride
Descending into the illusion that one day it will come
with a dark eyes
elegant and tall
with a small bird hovering on the head.
Wandering,
Dancing and asking for the mercy.
The dance of the slaughterous
The mercy of the dust,
A resurgence of desperate love!

3. The Exudes Time

Hold on tight to your luggage!
You have to endorse your travel,
the nudge of the stations,
The noisiness of the railroads crossings;
and the dreariness of the passages and the tunnels.

Flying and sailing.
Mingling with foreign seaports,
The dead dreams and the glasses of wanderers wine.

Dancers floating in the drum of the water.
The first lament for the homeland
lurking from under the feet.

Where ever you go the land looks the same.
Strange as it should be,
You will never be familiar with this existing world.

you will be welcomed by the uncertainty of the empty rooms,
the shared houses,
the dispirited parks
And the ugly elderly women
The owners of the homes who will prohibited you from being late at night.

Just be as you are
lost between the distractions of the eyes and the lust of the dreams.

poor fellow as in the prayer.
Knight at the wedding extravaganza.
Taken by different visions,
and the fluctuated news.

Slaughtered by friends knifes
and deceived by the wooden rifles
How will you enjoy the night
As they do each day?
And how the moon complains of its nostalgia for the beautiful face?

You are doomed!
consumed by the time
as a coffee drunk in a hurry .
Blown by the wind as a nuisance Southern dust,
that will never whisk off by the country broom

Wake up and go on!

Your cold hands and these doors cannot endure the knocking,
neither the ceiling and the walls,

Forsake this dream of yours
and leave as those who left before you,
No need for the blame
Just wait with patience and eternal gaze.

Prison in Paradise

Prison in Paradise
2012 Digital Art
By Mohammad Bin Lamin

la storia siamo noi

(l’arte di Mohammad Bin Lamin, testimone della storia drammatica del suo popolo e capace di trasformare gli strumenti della guerra in immagini di pace. Un artista che ha sempre promosso la pace, la convivenza e il rispetto.) Silvia Casilli.

(the art of Mohammad Bin Lamin, witness the dramatic story of his people and capable of transforming the tools of war in peace images. An artist who has always promoted peace, co-existence and respect.)

From: Rai Educational – ITALY
http://www.lastoriasiamonoi.rai.it/
Mohammad Bin Lamin

I fantasmi della nuova Libia
La Libia festeggia l’anniversario dell’inizio della Rivoluzione che ha sconfitto Gheddafi. Il Paese ha conquistato la libertà, ma non ancora la democrazia. Un viaggio attraverso i fantasmi di questa difficile fase di transizione.

View The Program:
http://www.lastoriasiamonoi.rai.it/pop/schedaVideo640480.aspx?id=880

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The Power of Mohammad Bin Lamin’s Art and The Libyan Revolution

By Hego Goevert

Anyone who says you can’t see a thought simply doesn’t know art (Wynetka Ann Reynolds) 

Can art be subversive? Oh, yes, it can! And there is no better evidence for this statement than the art of Mohammad Bin Lamin.Let me come right to the point:

Mohammad Bin Lamin’s art is unique. It cannot be categorized. And, of course, it eludes the control of any authority. His art clearly contributed to the outbreak of the Libyan revolution. He is one of those artists, writers, intellectuals who prepared the ground.

If you are able to ‘read’ paintings, you simply have to have a look at his 2007 series ‘Figures’ which depicts the pre-revolutionary atmosphere in Libya. Figures – painted on a unique blue background – in yellow, red, white, brown, wildly moving, dancing, and whirling around like some sort of mystical dervishes. The series expresses the irrepressible passion, the individual desire for freedom. Later, in his New Media series, Bin Lamin takes a closer look at the people’s faces and you can see grim, wrath. He also started to paint groups of people as if there would be a secret gathering going on…

When I got the news of his detention I immediately implemented various actions – together with my fellow artists of the internationally acclaimed MIRCA ART GROUP. We implemented actions as we had done before in aid of the release of Burma’s (Myanmar’s) Aung San Suu Kyi and China’s Ai Weiwei. Now one of our fellow members, Mohammad Bin Lamin, had been arrested and for unbearable 6 months we did not know if he was still alive.We felt more than a great relief and joy when we got the news that our friend had been freed from the detention in the infamous Abu- Salim-prison. This was a kind of victory for all of us!

Of course, Mohammad Bin Lamin’s art has changed since the end of the revolution. I think, it’s quite typical for him, that he started doing a captivating series called ‘Sculptures of War’, showing impressive sculptures made of bullet casings, in which he comforts and encourages the amputees of the revolution (“Life can be joyful and rewarding again!”). Only after doing this series he started to overcome his own trauma by doing the amazing ‘Torture of Tintalos’ series.

I do not think that anyone of us can imagine what Mohammad Bin Lamin has gone through during his detention – knowing that his wife was pregnant. I was so touched when she finally gave birth to
two lovely girls, his daughters Takbeer & Tahleel. May they reap in their lives what their father and the other heroes of the revolution sowed!.

I am so proud of being called Mohammad’s FRIEND. It is an honour to be friend with someone who stood up for the freedom of the individual, for the freedom of speech and art, for the dignity of man and for social justice. Though deeply rooted in the great culture of Libya, Mohammad Bin Lamin is a ‘global citizen’. I
cannot think of any better cultural ambassador for Libya!.

————————————————————————————————————————————

* Some of the places where Hego’s Artwork was displayed:

Cologne (Germany, Kalshof, “Cologne meets New York” Group Exhibition) 2011; New York
(USA, Skylight Gallery NYC, “Gestalt- German artists in Conversation” Group Exhibition)
2011; Cape Town (South Africa, Belinda Anvil- The Rainbow Experience Gallery- “Freedom and Art”-
Project/Travelling Exhibition) 2010 and the list goes on…

The Power of Mohammad Bin Lamin’s Art and The Libyan Revolution

The Power of Mohammad Bin Lamin’s Art and The Libyan

Revolution

By Hego Goevert

(Young Chronicle- Issue: 12, Volume: 01,

April 2012)

 

“Anyone who says you can’t see a thought simply doesn’t know art”

(Wynetka Ann Reynolds)

Can art be subversive? Oh, yes, it can! And there is no better

evidence for this statement than the art of Mohammad Bin Lamin.

Let me come right to the point:

Mohammad Bin Lamin’s art is unique. It cannot be categorized.

And, of course, it eludes the control of any authority. His art

clearly contributed to the outbreak of the Libyan revolution. He is

one of those artists, writers, intellectuals who prepared the ground.

If you are able to ‘read’ paintings, you simply have to have a look at

his 2007 series ‘Figures’ which depicts the pre-revolutionary

atmosphere in Libya. Figures – painted on a unique blue

background – in yellow, red, white, brown, wildly moving, dancing,

and whirling around like some sort of mystical dervishes. The

series expresses the irrepressible passion, the individual desire for

freedom. Later, in his New Media series, Bin Lamin takes a closer

look at the people’s faces and you can see grim, wrath. He also

started to paint groups of people as if there would be a secret

gathering going on…

 

 

When I got the news of his detention I immediately implemented

various actions – together with my fellow artists of the

internationally acclaimed MIRCA ART GROUP. We implemented

actions as we had done before in aid of the release of Burma’s

(Myanmar’s) Aung San Suu Kyi and China’s Ai Weiwei. Now one of

our fellow members, Mohammad Bin Lamin, had been arrested

and for unbearable 6 months we did not know if he was still alive.

We felt more than a great relief and joy when we got the news that

our friend had been freed from the detention in the infamous Abu-

Salim-prison. This was a kind of victory for all of us!

Of course, Mohammad Bin Lamin’s art has changed since the end

of the revolution. I think, it’s quite typical for him, that he started

doing a captivating series called ‘Sculptures of War’, showing

impressive sculptures made of bullet casings, in which he comforts

and encourages the amputees of the revolution (“Life can be joyful

and rewarding again!”). Only after doing this series he started to

overcome his own trauma by doing the amazing ‘Torture of

Tintalos’ series.

 

 

I do not think that anyone of us can imagine what Mohammad Bin

Lamin has gone through during his detention – knowing that his

wife was pregnant. I was so touched when she finally gave birth to

two lovely girls, his daughters Takbeer & Tahleel. May they reap in

their lives what their father and the other heroes of the revolution

sowed!

I am so proud of being called Mohammad’s FRIEND. It is an

honour to be friend with someone who stood up for the freedom of

the individual, for the freedom of speech and art, for the dignity of

man and for social justice. Though deeply rooted in the great

culture of Libya, Mohammad Bin Lamin is a ‘global citizen’. I

cannot think of any better cultural ambassador for Libya!

Sun of Love

Chinese philosopher Shao Yong once said: “The soul of the sky comes from the sun and the soul of the human being comes from the heart, as the sun is the big universe while the heart is the small universe “.
The Great Sufi Jalal Aldin Rumi said. “Happy is that soul who has found the beauty of the sun and exceeded the nine planets and settled in silent at no place”.

Thus, the sun was and still is a symbol for the truth and the light that shows the beauty of this universe in its final lovely form. The Sun lights the path for us to see clearly through the dark and guides us towards the good deeds.
The heart too is our inner sun that enflame with heat of love and around it centered our everyday dreams.

I came from Libya, the country of The phoenix the bird that symbolizes immortality, resurrection and life after death. And associated with the sun god. Our ancients people worship the sun as the main source for the life and painted it in their caves in the shape of circle with illuminant center.
As Libyan worship the Sun they also worship the Moon, and welcome the new moon every month as a medium that uncovers and reveals the night’s creatures and lights the dark. They even recognize it as source for healing the souls and bodies.
This work “Sun of Love” is inspired by the story of creations as it told by the baluang people of China;
According to the tradition of the Bland-people of southwestern China, the earth was created from chaos by the divine giant (GUMIYA – HO Yee). The ten sun and moon brothers and sisters scorned upon this act and threatened to destroy everything with their blazing light. Upon this, the giant killed them all with the exception of one sun and one moon that had hid in a cave. With the help of the animals Sun and Moon could be won over to protect life on earth.

Mohammad Bin Lamin
Misurata. Libya 2006

Date of origin: August 2006
Place of origin: The 8th Changchun China International Sculpture Symposium
Size of the artwork: 300.0 x 150.0 x 250.0 cm
Category: sculpture
Materials: bronze & marble.

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