Amma Baad continues the artist’s expansive approach to the practice of Arabic calligraphy, both in terms of form and through his conceptual approach to the phrases with which he works. In this new series, Al Salem contemplates the Arabic phrase ‘amma baad’, an expression that proves difficult to translate into English. 

Often found in formal Arabic correspondence, the expression follows initial salutations and greetings, while preceding – and perhaps anticipating – the main subject or story to follow. It is a moment dense with expectations.

We live in times of exponential change, both in terms of our technological capabilities and the socio-political orders in which we are embedded. This has brought about a heightened sense of the simultaneity of events and altered our perception and understanding of place. The past and future are merging while the present is almost disappearing.

Through sculptural, print and hand-drawn renderings of ‘amma baad’, Al Salem takes a philosophical approach to this phrase, considering how it occupies a liminal space in the present, with its existence predicted on both that which precedes and follows it. Playing with scale and materials, the artist’s manipulations of the text seek to challenge and expand our perceptions of time and space. Al Salem invites reflection on our current moment, as well as what might follow ‘amma baad’, and the agency we have in bringing potential futures into existence.