When a scientific mind is moved to create beauty, inspiration is from the heart
▶ Syrian Heba Barazi taps into two rich sources when making jewellery, writes Caline Malek
Aromantic voice from the past and her love of her Syrian heritage gave Heba Barazi the direction in which she should take her art.
The science professor and jewellery maker found what she really wanted to create in the words of the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani.
“My art became really elevated after I started to bring in emotion and what was interesting to me, instead of just doing stuff because it’s pretty,” says Ms Barazi, 49. “That’s where it started – when I wanted to include a concept that was dear to me in my work.
“I sat down and asked, ‘what’s so important to me that I would want to express in my art?’ The whole concept of rings came from a verse from the Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, stating, ‘I am a ring jewelled by Damascus’.
“So, I created nine rings that people can wear and take this message with them about Syria.”
Each ring she made outside of her work at Zayed University was inspired by one of Qabbani’s verses.
“They all represent parts of nature in Syria, which is very significant,” Ms Barazi says. “It’s almost like an artist bringing out the art of somebody else.”
She hopes her pieces will also teach the world something about her home country – something other than the horrors of war.
“I lived in the US for 30 years and people really didn’t know where or what Syria was, even though it’s the oldest civilisation on Earth,” Ms Barazi says.
“They only know her now because of the war but they don’t understand what civilisation, culture, intellect, art, poetry and history there is there, as well as beautiful nature.
“So these rings really bring about both concepts – that it’s not just war – and by reminding people of all these messages, you bring back humanity.”
Her next collection, Sheikh Zayed Jewels, which was launched last year, is based on the UAE’s message of tolerance.
“When I think of Sheikh Zayed’s prime jewel, I think of the Grand Mosque because it’s not only an incredible piece of architecture, but the concept of the mosque is about tolerance,” Ms Barazi says.
“If you read the mission of the mosque, it’s not just a building where people pray, it’s an organisation that seeks to share information and bridge the gap between religions.
“They opened their door like no other mosque did in the region. It promotes mutual understanding of what Islam is between other religions and that’s the epitome of tolerance.”
Each ornament in the collection represents the three lotus flowers adorning the mosque’s 1,048 pillars.
“I wanted to capture them so I created it in 3-D and they can be placed as a display or as a brooch, so it’s like people are taking that significant symbol of the mosque with them, which is in turn a symbol of tolerance,” she says.
“Jewellery is the kind of object of art that you can form a lot of intimacy with because you carry it with you. It’s not like a painting on a wall. You’re carrying your passion with you and the objects give you an opportunity to talk about them because people notice them.”
The UAE’s openness struck her when she moved to Abu Dhabi six years ago.
“The only place in the Gulf where I’d lived was Saudi Arabia and because I didn’t live in the Middle East much, that’s what really hit me in the face here,” she says. “I had no idea a Gulf country could be so open and welcoming and I loved living here. It sets an example to all Arab countries, so I felt a very emotional connection and compelled to do a collection on the UAE.”
Ms Barazi also tries to incorporate her passion in the classroom. “My students love it,” she says. “I teach microbiology and one of the projects the students have to work through is creating a work of art using agar plants.”
Her collections can be seen at hebabarazi.com and at an art gallery in Nations Tower in Abu Dhabi.