Truth/Fake by Kaz Shirane

As part of the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival the exhibition 'Truth/Fake' is on view at the Sharjah Art Museum.

Kaz Shirane / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Dr. Sultan Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member, Ruler of Sharjah, the Cultural Affairs Department at the Sharjah Department of Culture has organized the 21st edition of the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival (SIAF).

The exhibition officially opened at the Sharjah Art Museum in the presence of Sheikh Abdullah bin Salem Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah; Mohammed Al Qaseer, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Farah Qassim Mohammed, Islamic Arts Festival Executive and the respected guests.

Kaz Shirane presenting his work at the opening / Photo Â© Islamic Arts Magazine

Japanise artist Kaz Shirane is presenting his work for the second year at the SIAF. At the 19th edition of SIAF (2016-17) we had an opportunity to see his installation 'Light Origami' and this time the visitors can see his installation 'Truth/Fake'. The installation is inspired by an old Japanese proverb about a blind man appraising an elephant; a king asks a group of blind men to explain what an elephant is by touching it. None could fully comprehend it as each of them was touching a different part of an elephant's body.

Next to the large-scale installation, the artist is exhibiting also the prism-shaped mirrors in the artwork 'The Mirror of Truth', comprised of stainless steel panels. The artist tries to enable a visitor to view his/her "true self" on the multifaceted mirror. "This teaches us the moral lesson that we cannot understand the whole truth from a partial understanding of something, as well as meaning that the same object will generate a different impression or evaluation in each person," says Shirane.

The work poses a strong criticism of our current information age, in which people tend to pass judgement when they only have one side of the whole story.

Kaz Shirane (1981) is recognized for his work in architecture, interior design, and spatial art. He was honoured to design the Tokyo Tower Top Deck. In 2018, he was the winner of the Golden prize A'Design Award in interior design category in Milan, Italy. He was also a Merit winner of CODA Award in the USA.