The Prophecy of the Sacred Feather
2001 - Present
Description
A vertical work on paper, the design centered and occupying the middle and lower two-thirds of the sheet against an open, unfilled background.
A tall upward-tapering feathered form, a stylized wing of overlapping pointed plumes, rises from the center toward the top. Below and behind it, a rounded dome-shaped field contains a cluster of architectural elements: a ribbed golden dome topped by a slender finial with a sphere and an open crescent-and-circle shape, blue tiled band-like surfaces with small ornamental marks, a group of small buildings in browns, greys, and teal, arched openings, a block of stacked rectangular masonry in cream and tan, and a flat-roofed structure in brown. A ribbon-like band sweeps horizontally across the middle of the composition, divided into black, white, green, and a red triangular wedge.
Large Arabic calligraphy in gold-brown with black outlining spans the lower third, reading القدس, with a smaller line of black Arabic script below it reading عاصمة الأحرار.
Pale blue and white dominate the background, with graded greys, charcoal, steel blue, and a muted green-teal along one edge of the wing, ochre and mustard in the dome and lettering, and accents of red, dark green, black, teal, brown, and cream in the architectural cluster and ribbon. The background is laid in thin streaky washes with visible brush direction and soft cloud-like blooms, white paper left showing through in places. The wing is built with blended tonal shading and parallel brushstrokes following the feather shapes, and the dome shows strokes radiating from its apex. Lettering and architectural details are painted more opaquely in flat fills with crisp black outlines. Fine black linework defines contours throughout, and the paint lies flat with no noticeable impasto.
Artist Notes
Here the ancient Jerusalem stone shed the gravity of the earth and chose to soar The golden Dome is no longer a roof for prayer, but has become the heart of a wing And the colors of the flag are no longer raised, but have grown... feather by feather Beneath the wing the ancient houses sleep without fear for they know that whoever has learned to fly will never return to captivity
Preservation Notes
PROVISIONAL. All observations below are from visual inspection of a digital image. No physical examination has been carried out. DIMENSIONS Recorded as 42 x 30 with no unit set. The unit field is empty on this record and on all eight works in this collection. Not inferred. Requires confirmation. MEDIUM Recorded as "Thick Cotton Sketch Paper", which names the support rather than the medium. Visual inspection shows thin streaky washes with soft blooms and white paper reserved in places, combined with more opaque flat fills in the lettering and architecture, consistent with watercolour or gouache or a combination of the two. The medium itself is unrecorded. If the work is watercolour, light exposure and humidity control become the governing preservation concerns. INSCRIBED TEXT The work carries Arabic calligraphy as a compositional element. Automated reading gives the large gold-brown lettering across the lower centre as القدس and the smaller black line below it as عاصمة الأحرار. This is recorded as observed, not as a verified transcription. Automated reading of calligraphic script is unreliable and both lines should be confirmed and translated by a reader before being used in any public-facing text or catalogue entry. PHYSICAL LABEL ON THE WORK, ACTION NEEDED A small white rectangular paper slip bearing a handwritten inscription reading "art.bilal-ramadan" sits on the surface at the lower left in the photograph. The same label appears on Life on the Window and The Authenticity of the Land. Paper resting directly on a works-on-paper surface should not be left in place in storage. Whether the label was adhered or laid on for the photograph should be established and recorded. NAME SPELLING The label reads "ramadan" with a single a. The artist record in this archive reads "Bilal Ramadaan". Both spellings are attested within the archive. Not standardised. The correct form should come from the artist. SIGNATURE No signature is visible apart from the label, which is not part of the work. DATE Recorded as 2025. No inscribed date visible on the surface to corroborate it. SOURCE FILE 2904 x 3906 px. Aspect ratio only. Physical dimensions not derivable from the file.
