Middle Things

Mahmoud Bakhshi

This project was conceived and exhibited during the artist’s residency at Rijksakademie and amidst the crises that the Middle East was going through at the time. The original project had stencils of the words: the Middle East, the Middle Class, mediocre, midcareer, and middle age. Here, the stencils are presented as roller printers, reminiscent of the Cyrus Cylinder. The surviving content of the Cylinder reprimands the character of the deposed Babylonian king Nabonidus. Midway through the text, the writer switches to a first-person narrative in the voice of Cyrus, who describes the pious deeds he had performed after his conquest, restoring peace to all his territory. Printed material produced by the rollers are shown together with this series of works.

Mahmoud Bakhshi, from “Middle Things” project, printmaking roller (iron, vinyl carbonate, teflon, silicone and plastic), various sizes, 2015 – 2020
Mahmoud Bakhshi, from “Middle Things” project (detail), printmaking roller (iron, vinyl carbonate, teflon, silicone and plastic), various sizes, 2015 – 2020
Mahmoud Bakhshi, from “Middle Things” project (detail), printmaking roller (iron, vinyl carbonate, teflon, silicone and plastic), various sizes, 2015 – 2020
Mahmoud Bakhshi, from “Middle Things” project, printmaking roller (iron, vinyl carbonate, teflon, silicone and plastic), various sizes, 2015 – 2020
Mahmoud Bakhshi, from “Middle Things” project, printmaking roller (iron, vinyl carbonate, teflon, silicone and plastic), various sizes, 2015 – 2020
Mahmoud Bakhshi, from “Middle Things” project, cylinder printing on paper, edition of 50, 52 x 35 cm, 2015 – 2020