Artist Spotlight: Ola Idris Ali

Ola Idris Ali is a multi-national interdisciplinary artist and political scientist. As a practitioner of written and visual art, she centers care and imagination in her work, intending to reignite curiosity in the possibilities of a better, more interesting world.

The Architecture of Freedom: Ola Idris's Use of Written and Visual Art as a Canvas to Tell the Story of Collaboration Rooted in Principle and Liberation.

Ola Idris sees imagination repair and research as necessary political art practices in her life's work.

She is currently co-launching an art collective called Fikra House, a space for play, imagination, and collaboration rooted in principle and liberation.

What does “MY VIEW, YOUR?” mean to you?

This exhibit reminds me that we are all in a relationship with each other, from the trees to the birds to the waters, and that relationship is one that I want to be intentionally cultivating for a long time. It reminds me of the first time I read the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address and all that the creator has bestowed upon us. My work for this exhibition, as most of the rest of my work, is heavily influenced by the convergence of the natural world, the divine realms, and my walking, living existence. It is asking the question, what does it mean to experience this dunya, and how does the natural world mirror my experience?

Can you walk us through the artwork "Death and Possibilities"?

In ‘Death and Possibilities’, I wanted to explore how a society obsessed with death evolves and what can come out of decentering the misery media that plagues us. In Language of the Birds, inspired by the famous Sufi story Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar, I wanted to reflect the duality of how we interact with each other and with nature, going between the highs of love and care for each other, and the dysfunction that we allow to permeate the most sacred of relationships.

Much of this exhibition explores the relationship between humans and the environment. How does your work engage with nature, space, or the world around you?

My relationship with the world around me was greatly impacted when I moved to Canada from Uganda and started to notice the depravity of unplanned nature here. The process of colonisation is clear when you listen a bit closer to the trees and pay attention to the state of flowers and the birds. 90% of the images used in the collages are personal photos that I took in moments I was trying to notice and tune myself to the windows of uninterrupted nature in cities and spaces that try so hard to overpower the environment.

What kind of questions or conversations do you want your work to spark, especially in a group exhibition like this, where so many perspectives collide and coexist?

I want people to leave asking What does it take for us to create new visions? What is our relationship with the pedastalling of death over life? How do we both love and hate the closest people in our lives? My work deals with interconnectedness - to each other, to nature, to the afterlife, to ourselves, both present and evolutionary. In that sense, I am curious to see how the different perspectives of the showcased artists will speak to each other. I hope they will reveal new truths and maybe new conflicts we need to work through together.

If you had to describe your exhibited work in just three words, what would they be and why?

Love, Life, and Death. It was always instilled in me that the two absolute truths of this world are that there is but one God and that if we are alive, we will die, and this collection specifically feels like it is reminiscent of that.

How does it feel to be part of a group exhibition like this one, sharing space, theme, and energy with other artists?

It feels like an honour. For me, the greatest part of art is having it in conversation with other people, and with the time we are in. In a time where we should be critiquing our relationship with the environment, amongst many other things, I am so excited to see how other artists are taking on the theme and to share

time and energy with the art they are bringing into the world.

What’s next for you as an artist? Are there themes you’re beginning to explore, or directions you’re excited to grow into?

I am generally very curious and a tad bit spiritual, so I believe I will be led in the direction I am meant to grow into. I am currently thinking quite a bit about imagination as a creative and political practice and want to explore connections between cultural ritual, mystical time travel and natural energy systems. I am also co-launching an art collective with Ayat Salih, which centers on the importance of principle and ethics in art-making, called Fikra House.

MY VIEW, YOUR? is backed by RADRCanada as our media partner.