Faisal Anwar’s massive video CharBagh uses social media to generate a Persian-style Islamic garden known as char bagh (four gardens). This interactive artwork grows out of Anwar’s workshops with Surrey residents who took photos related to sustainable food production, climate change, and nature. Using algorithms, the artist morphs these photos into ornate geometric designs. This project exemplifies how social media can be a tool for positive social change.

CharBagh illuminates the west façade of Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre with ornate geometric patterns. Modelled on the traditional grid compositions of Persian gardens, each pattern grows and shifts in response to data generated on social media and collected by the artist.

Anwar’s project encourages the public to meaningfully participate in online conversation in order to empower social change. CharBagh’s presence at UrbanScreen is an extension of its simultaneous installation in Surrey Art Gallery's exhibition Garden in the Machine. CharBagh grows out of the artist's workshops with community groups discussing themes related to sustainable food production, climate change, and peoples' changing relationships with nature.

Curator: Jordan Strom
Origin of Exhibition: Surrey Art Gallery

For more info:

https://www.surrey.ca/arts-culture/surrey-art-gallery/exhibitions/garden-machine

https://www.surrey.ca/arts-culture/surrey-art-gallery/exhibitions/faisal-anwar-charbagh