Aerosol Ali has real hunger to spark debates
ON a former industrial estate in Sparkbrook, and just a short walk from rows of terraced houses, grocery shops and cafes, is an inviting, bright green door.
Behind it, an empty warehouse has been transformed into a colourful studio space and artistic haven, filled with ambient lighting, murals and Moroccan screens.
It’s home to Soul City Arts, and the man behind it is Birmingham born and raised artist Mohammed Ali. Referred to at times as ‘Aerosol Ali’ or ‘Birmingham’s Banksy’, he’s made his name by painting stencilled street art not just across the Second City but the world, spraying political messages and spiritual murals in places such as Kuala Lumpur, New York and more. Fusing Arabic script with silhouetted figures and Western graffiti styles, Ali hopes that his artistic interventions will spark important conversations and “bring diverse communities together”.
Although he’s travelled the globe with a suitcase full of aerosol cans, nowhere is this more important to him than his home city.
In recent years, and from his studio space, Ali has begun to develop his practice beyond two-dimensional, painted artworks. Breaking traditional boundaries and via Soul City Arts, he’s devised more multidisciplinary and participatory events, through which he is committed to using the arts and culture “to create platforms for all to speak”, while “sharing narratives across all faiths and none”.
During the Commonwealth Games in 2022, Birmingham Hippodrome hosted the immersive and moving theatrical experience ‘Waswasa’, which explored the act of Islamic prayer and what that means in a modern, secular society. Audiences were invited to walk through a combination of art installation, live performance
and projected film zones that not only disrupted the conventions of theatre, but placed them at the very heart of the story.
Recently installed at the Royal Docks London, meanwhile, ‘Nomad’, offers participants space for refuge and an escape from the daily grind; inside an atmospheric tent, hosts ask audience members a series of thought-provoking questions about what ‘faith’ involves and means today. These visual, all-encompassing spectacles created by Ali and Soul City Arts do what great art should do – provoke, inspire, and move viewers. This is not art to stand back from, but to engage with. In contrast to museum exhibitions, where quiet awe is expected and upheld, these events are characterised by the sharing of conversation, as well as art.
Back in Birmingham, a sharing dinner is also on the menu. On a regular basis, Ali and his team serve up ‘Soul Fire Sundays’ for local audiences. Every three months or so, visual artists paint on bespoke stages against a backdrop of DJ’d soundscapes, while food is provided by guest caterers, bringing together people from different community groups and diverse backgrounds. These events often have a celebratory, festival feel to them. “We try to create alternative spaces that bring people together – art and food is at the heart of what we do,” says Ali.