Songs of the Winds (1995)
An installation created for the exhibition Communication at The Changing Room Gallery, Waltham Forest, London. Combining wooden frames, pigments, painting, silk drapery, and glass, the work uses wind as a metaphor for communication, connection, and the movement of ideas across space. This was Abu Jafar's first public exhibition in the United Kingdom and marked an important early stage in the development of his installation practice.
Songs of the Winds
Installation from the exhibition Communication
The Changing Room Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest, UK, 1995
Songs of the Winds was presented as part of the exhibition Communication at The Changing Room Gallery in Waltham Forest, London, in 1995. This exhibition marked Abu Jafar's first public exhibition in the United Kingdom and represented an important early milestone in the development of his installation practice.
The installation combined wooden frames, pigments, painting, silk drapery, and glass to explore communication as an invisible force that connects people, places, memories, and experiences. Two large painted panels established a visual field of vertical lines and atmospheric colour, while fragmented wooden frames containing reflective glass extended the work across the floor. A suspended silk drape introduced a sense of movement, transparency, and passage, activating the space through subtle interaction with air and light.
The title Songs of the Winds employed wind as a metaphor for communication: unseen yet deeply present, carrying traces of thought, memory, and human connection across distance. Reflection, transparency, and line were used as visual languages through which communication could be experienced rather than simply observed.
The exhibition held particular significance because it took place within the setting of the William Morris Gallery, internationally recognised for its association with the life and work of William Morris. Jafar's installation was presented in the gallery's contemporary exhibition annex, extending the historic environment into a contemporary dialogue about communication, movement, and connection.
Materials: Wooden frames, pigments, painting, silk drapery, and glass.
Exhibition: Communication
Venue: The Changing Room Gallery, London Borough of Waltham Forest, United Kingdom.
Year: 1995.