Johnny Alam is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

researcher, visual artist, and

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. His art and research revolve around questions of memory, technology and representation with a special interest in photography, history and war.L'Hebdo Magazine
/ref>The Ottawa Citizen
/ref>Carleton University
/ref> Alam curated the research-exhibition ' Art on a Green Line' at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

Art Gallery between January 19 – April 14, 2015.Herd Magazine
/ref>The Charlatan
/ref>STUDY28
/ref>Art&Education
/ref>

Artwork Series

Inspired by one of his professor's collage techniques, Alam developed a theoretical framework to create a series of documentary paintings titled "Timeline Series" in which he transfers

photo emulsion Photographic emulsion is a light-sensitive colloid used in film-based photography. Most commonly, in silver-gelatin photography, it consists of silver halide crystals dispersed in gelatin. The emulsion is usually coated onto a substrate of glas ...

and print pigments onto his painted canvases. The series borrows from historical and video editing timeline forms to create mixed media artworks. In another series titled "Ephemeral Commemorations", Alam photographs several roadside commemorative installations by the friends and families of the victims of car accidents. Beyond painting and photography, Alam has experimented with video and film through the

Independent Filmmakers Cooperative of Ottawa Independent Filmmakers Co-operative of Ottawa (IFCO) is a Co-operative that supports independent filmmakers in Ottawa by providing low-cost equipment rentals, workshops, grants, and promotions. Membership fees are $80 ($25 for students) and full m ...

(IFCO).

Exhibition reviews

Peter Simpson from the

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

wrote: "The Green Line separated two armies, each fighting the other while jockeying for position on their own sides. Nowhere is the line more viscerally rendered than in Alam’s map of

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

in the 1920s, shortly after the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

’ contentious creation of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

from the vestiges of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. On Alam's map the Green Line runs through the city like a surgical scar, the two sides held together by thick thread. Next to the map hangs a blanket given to Alam's family during the war by a

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

program that was, he writes, co-sponsored by an unidentified king who was "supporting enemy factions on the other side of the Green Line."" In her article for Herd Magazine, Lital Khaiken states: "By assembling objects that relate to alternately personal and public significance, Alam considers the memory of war and the communication of its narrative within diasporic communities. The Green Line is more vaguely referenced in the work of artists from diasporic communities, who are further removed from the specific site of conflict. Alam explains that "the sectarian language that expresses the memory of the Lebanese wars is neither tolerable nor comprehensible within nations such as Canada"." Writing for the L'Hebdo Magazine Beirut, Pauline Mouhanna concludes: "En fait, Alam explique qu’il a essayé de montrer comment «ces œuvres variées nous aident à nous souvenir et, peut-être, commémorer les guerres au Liban». Mais il est tout autant important, selon lui, «d’examiner les façons dont ces œuvres font oublier certains aspects des guerres et des conflits plus récents»."

References

Apartment613
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alam, Johnny Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian painters Canadian mixed media artists