In addition to the 14 artists born in this region, many of whom now live in Europe and the US, there is work by three artists born in the US: Emily Jacir, who considers herself Palestinian but was born in Memphis; Bill Viola; and Mike Kelley. The inclusion of Viola and Kelley in 'Without Boundary'provides examples of how geographically specific art forms and spiritual perspectives have migrated into contemporary artistic language. The 34 works on view in two galleries on the second and third floors of the museum, from paintings and sculpture to photography and video installations, were created between 1993 and 2005. Some are appearing in the US for the first time.

Those familiar with traditional art forms from the region will recognise several pieces that incorporate these forms: inscription and calligraphy, miniature painting and textile design. Quite likely, such viewers will marvel at the ways in which the artists have layered new meaning on old forms. Two arresting images, photographs by Iranian artist, Shirin Neshat, who now resides in New York, incorporate inscriptions of poetry by two Iranian women poets. In 'Speechless' (1996), RC print and ink, text bearing a eulogy written by Tahereh Saffarzadeh covers a woman's veiled face. The woman's ear bears a traditional adornment - an earring - but here the earring consists of a gun barrel. Neshet's other photograph, 'Untitled' (1996), bears a poem, I Pity the Garden, by Forough Farrokhzad, inscribed on a woman's fingers. Only the lower portion of the woman's face is shown in the photo and the fingers of the hand brush the woman's lips as if to quiet a gasp or to indicate that speech cannot convey the unspeakable desecration of life forms described in Farrokhzad's poem.

Taking traditional textile and carpet arts for inspiration, Lebanese artist, Mona Hatoum, who now lives in Lebanon and Berlin, created 'Keffieh' (1993-99). A keffieh is a head covering traditionally worn by men, but Hatoum embroidered her piece with a woman's hair. In an interview, Hatoum said that, initially, anger provided the impetus for the piece. According to the artist, 'The work is a kind of covert protest. At the same time, however, it is also an uncanny object: you hardly believe your eyes when you realise that this scarf is embroidered with human hair. In addition, there is also an animistic aspect, which can be menacing as well: the hair makes this thing alive; hair continues to grow for a while after the body is dead.'¹ The contradictions in Hatoum's piece reveal one way in which an artist has simultaneously embraced and subverted a traditional art form, using it to interpret contemporary experience.

American artist Mike Kelley's 'Untitled' (1996-97), hand-woven silk made in Iran, incorporates textile art as the foundation for an exploration of ethnicity. Here, a central circular medallion shows two birds hovering above a three-leaf clover. An intricate floral design in green, red and yellow provides a frame for the medallion. The carpet is based on an Ottoman example that Kelley saw in a Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin from 1970. The original piece had a red background; Kelly chose to superimpose his own Irish heritage onto the form by using green, rather than red. The central motif comes from Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs - also known as 'barn art' because the designs decorate old Pennsylvania German barns. Many of the motifs on such signs are centuries old. Although some commentators interpret the signs as protection against evil spirits, others have seen in them declarations of ethnic identity.

Another startling juxtaposition of cultural symbols occurs in Iranian artist Shirana Shahbazi's series of carpets. The still-lifes that appear on the carpets in this series are based on photographs Shahbazi took on travels throughout the world. For example, 'Farsh-08-2004', dated 2004, is a hand-knotted, fringed wool and silk carpet that provides a 'canvas' for a still life of fresh fruit. Here, against a centuries-old art form the artist has placed a symbol of life - fresh fruit - and a contemporary medium - photography.

Questions regarding the role played by religion and spirituality will, inevitably, be raised in connection with art by artists from Islamic regions. Pieces by Raqib Shaw and American artist, Bill Viola, provide proof that such questions and their answers are multifaceted and offer, for those seeking broad interpretations that more accurately reflect contemporary life, provocative views. Shaw's personal history mirrors the spiritual melange to be found in this part of the world. His parents are Muslim; his teachers were Hindu scholars; and he attended a Christian school. He also grew up in Kashmir, which historically, he points out, was Buddhist.

Shaw's 'The Garden of Earthly Delights III' (2003), mixed media on board, is an enormous tumult of colour and activity. Emotive shades of pink, yellow, sea blue, orange, green, light brown, black and white - accented by gold and silver glitter - lure viewers into the underwater scene. Here, creatures who are half-man, half-beast are captured in the act of intercourse with lobsters, craps, octopi and other sea creatures. According to the artist, 'Kashmir was named paradise by the Mughal emperor Jehangir, who said, "If there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here".'² This philosophy is most clearly embraced by the esoteric Tantric schools of Hinduism and Buddhism.

A central question of many spiritual philosophies is the veracity of earthly experience and the interplay of dualities: what can be perceived by the physical senses, and what can be divined by an unlimited essence not bound by time and space. Shirazeh Houshiary and British architect, Pip Horne, view the question through the lens of their sculpture, 'White Shadow' (2005). Houshiary, who was born in Iran and moved to England at the age of 18, describes the 'incompleteness' of the work as an 'absence of form, absence of mass and presence of shadow'2 and finds inspiration from the Sufi tradition, the esoteric branch of Islam in which the reality of being is debated, and the underlying unity of all things is seen as the fulfillment of the spiritual quest.

Although not immersed in Sufi culture from a young age, Bill Viola includes Sufi poet, Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, among his sources of inspiration. In 'Surrender' (2001), a video diptych, two vertical screens portray a man and a woman bowing to each other, coming closer to each other's essence, and exploring their relation individually and in connection. Discussing the work, Viola quotes Rumi: 'He who sees only his own reflection in the water is not a lover'.³

Certainly, the vision, artistry and level of accomplishment of the artists represented in 'Without Boundary'will encourage viewers to seek out more work by these and other artists originally from the region. When viewed without boundaries, each new artistic encounter - regardless of geographic origin - will open up a new way of looking.

'Without Boundary' is accompanied by a 112-page, full-colour hardcover catalogue written by Fereshteh Daftari, Assistant Curator in the museum's Department of Painting and Sculpture. The catalogue includes an essay by Homi Bhabha, the Anne F Rothenberg Professor of English and American Literature at Harvard University, and a prose piece by Turkish author, Orhan Pamuk.

Cindi di Marzo

References
1 Interview with Mona Hatoum. Montreal Serai. www.montrealserai.com (last accessed 23 March 2006)
2. Daftari F, Bhabha H, Pamuk O, Lowry GD. Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking. New York: Musuem of Modern Art, 2006.
3. Walsh J (ed). Bill Viola: The Passions. Los Angeles: The J Paul Getty Museum, 2003: 207.