NASO interviews: Rami Farook
On navigating Collecting, Curating & Creating
Rami Farook’s interest in the arts stemmed from a fascination and curiosity that grew and took root within his teenage years. “The first art form I fell in love with was cinema when I was around fifteen”, he says. His curiosity led him further, delving into music when he was around eighteen, and design in his mid-twenties. It was this trajectory and curiosity which eventually guided him to his current place within the world of visual arts. Along the way, he took on the roles of collector and curator, engaging with multiple facets of the art world on his path to becoming an artist.
Reflecting on these early years, Rami recounts the experience of opening a design gallery - a space which hosted regular programming and featured an attached library. It was this space which came to house the beginnings of his collection - the gallery walls gradually becoming a display space for the works he began to acquire. At the same time, the gallery started to introduce him to a growing circle of artists. One pivotal encounter came about a year after opening, when an artist approached him in search of a residency space. “That artist kind of moved into the space,” he says. “And I ended up getting a first-hand experience of what art creation and execution is.” Eventually, the artist asked Rami to represent him — a turning point that led him to embrace a central role in his career: that of the curator.
On Representing & Curating:
Representing one artist slowly snowballed into representing many more. In 2011, Rami found himself representing a host of now well-established names in the Khaleeji art scene.
“So I found myself in 2010 representing Ahmed Mater, Abdulnasser Gharem, Ayman Yossri, Faisal Samra, among other artists. And around the same time, I think what led to that is I got invited to curate an exhibition in Berlin for Edge of Arabia, which I called Grey Borders/Grey Frontiers. And it was my first curatorial… major curatorial experience.”
In addition to curating Grey Borders/Grey Frontiers—one of the first exhibitions of contemporary Saudi Arabian art abroad—Rami began to pivot his practice toward creating art himself. In 2011, he held his very first solo exhibition as an artist.
At the same time though, he continued to run his space, which had evolved into a cultural centre for music, food, art, and more. However, when a bridge was planned to cut through the space in 2013, he was forced to close. Perhaps in response to this, Rami turned to painting - a shift that would significantly shape his creative trajectory.
On Becoming an Artist & Learning to Paint:
Although nowadays most would recognize him for his paintings, Rami clarified that his early work as an artist was primarily rooted in conceptual and intervention-based approaches, rather than painting.
“I love interventions, and so I was working on things like Smiling to Strangers in Dubai Mall, where I would walk around Dubai Mall and smiling to strangers. There’s been a lot of community engagement in my work.”
Nevertheless, the artist eventually gravitated toward painting. And contrary to what might be assumed, Rami learned to paint fairly spontaneously - by simply asking a mutual friend to teach him.
“Basically [a mutual friend] used to paint these little postcards, and I had never really held a brush or knew anything so I asked her, I told her I wanted to learn the basics and so we went and bought paper and gesso and turpentine and brushes, and we sat down and - literally one session - she taught me the basics of what to do.”
Sitting within Satellite - a multi-use space founded by Rami & James Clar in 2011 - and surrounded by Rami’s exhibition Now is Not the Time for Pretty Pictures, we see a culmination of what once seemingly began on a whim. A nuanced array of paintings meditating on the condition of our time.
On Themes & Processes:
In the same way that his career unfolded - led by curiosity and openness - Rami’s practice has taken much the same form. “With time, I realized my work is about information, education and entertainment”, he says. Elaborating further, he says, “these are kind of the building blocks of where the inspiration comes from. It comes mostly from within, from society, from global issues, from humanitarian crises… but also from art as an institution.”
On top of this, it’s important to highlight the strong sense of purpose that runs through Rami’s work and practice. When asked about this, the artist reflects on his guiding principles: “to be useful, honorable and compassionate.”
This sense of purpose, combined with the observations that inform his work, gives rise to pieces that are, in the artist’s words, largely “socio-historical” as well as “docu-fictional.” When discussing how his works take shape, Rami explains, “the final result is always pretty much a surprise. Yeah, it’s never 100% planned.” He adds, “I work in a way that’s emotional and impulsive.”
We speak about his latest solo show with ATHR, A Muslim Man - “so that project started in 2015 as a 16 scene film. And every scene had a title.” He continues, “Now, 9… 10 years later I felt like doing another film, and I started writing down the scenes, planning this film. But then I found myself painting it instead. If you end up seeing the exhibition, the idea of the way you interact with it is as if you’re walking through a film.”
What becomes evident is that, even in the role of the artist, Rami continues to play the role of a curator. His work unfolds through a balance of observation and intuition, with exhibitions that offer a thoughtful passage through the ideas and sensibilities that shape his practice.
On Looking to the Future:
While observation and intuition will always be at the core of Rami’s practice, the artist elaborated on his current focus: “Recently I’m looking at connection and vulnerability. That’s what’s currently in mind.”
With regards to the materials and mediums he may use to explore these themes, he shares: “The future is a bit of a question mark, and I’m going through a phase right now where I’ve been painting for the last couple of years quite a bit, and I feel like now I wanna stop painting. So I think I’m gonna do that.”
While painting might take a back seat, Rami’s multi-faceted practice - as both curator and artist - is sure to keep evolving in ways that are altogether intuitive, honest & thought-provoking. We look forward to seeing where Rami’s practice may lead us next.