Constantin Boym: Learning from the East

Opening Reception: Saturday, February 1, 6 - 8pm

Mabkahara is a traditional Arab incense burner, an authentic object in daily domestic use in the Arab world. In the larger sense, incense burners serve as representations of sensorial culture of the East, much celebrated in the world literature and the arts of the last two centuries.

Every middle eastern country has a preferred material, special techniques, and a particular formal expression for it's own versions of mabkahara. The incense burners have been made of clay, metal, wood, stone, but never glass. In this instance, conventional glass appears to be a wrong material, incapable of withstanding the heat of the burning charcoal.

Constantin Boym proposes a collection of incense burners made of borosilicate (Pyrex) - a special glass that is clear and heat-resistant. The idea of crystal-clear objects for producing and experiencing an aroma is both poetic and practical. The prototypes, hand-made by the glass master Massimo Lunardon in Veneto, Italy, promote a new vision for the time-honored objects of Arab culture.

In the exhibition, the new objects are presented alongside their traditional prototypes from the region, to better illustrate the process of "learning" and to highlight the dialectic between continuity and innovation.

Event Images