Living in the Middle: Making Art after Life

The ambiguities of life after death have been at the centre of artistic practice for centuries and lie at the heart of many theological concepts. Today, however, life and death are themselves increasingly ambiguous concepts, while the nameless space in between seems to have narrowed to the point of disappearance.

“The reason words are not adequate” to describe our troubled present, writes the philosopher Nadia Bou Ali, “is because concepts are in a general state of crisis: To begin with, what are life and death?”

What are the implications of this state of crisis for artists, writers, and thinkers today? And what does it mean to make art from and about “the middle”?

Join artist Aman Aheer, writer RZ Baschir, and King’s academic Taushif Kara for a conversation on the theological and aesthetic dimensions of making art after life.

This conversation will be followed by a drinks reception.

This event forms part of Lost and Found: Stories of sanctuary and belonging.

Lost & Found foregrounds stories of sanctuary - exploring themes of refuge, resilience, and the search for safety in a world facing significant social, political, and environmental challenges.

This eclectic programme of art, film, ideas and discussions reflects King’s status as a University of Sanctuary. It has been inspired and informed by King’s life-changing research and co-created with artists and communities from across London and beyond.

About the panelists

Aman Aheer is an artist working through several different media. Though primarily working through painting, his practice also incorporates both found objects and organic materials, including iron and waste. He is a graduate of Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver and has exhibited globally, including most recently at the Dystopia Biennale in Berlin. Aheer’s solo exhibitions include Twin (Chapter 6, Shanghai), body double (indigo+madder, London), and Man is Not a Bird (St Peter’s Church, Cambridge).

Dr Taushif Kara is Lecturer in Islamic Studies in the Department of Theology & Religious Studies. He is an historian of Muslim political thought and has ongoing research on the concept of barzakh, including its intellectual history and contemporary uses.

R.Z Baschir is the 2021 winner of the White Review Short Story Prize, and 2022 winner of the PEN America/Robert J Dau Prize for Emerging Writers. Her writing has appeared in The White Review, The London Magazine, Port Magazine and The Best British Short Stories 2022. Her short story 'The Chicken' has recently been translated into Italian and will be published in L'Inquieto magazine in September. RECURRING DREAMS is her first short story collection.

About The Middle

Drawing on different theologies and practices relating to death and mourning, The Middle asks the viewer to consider the precarious and often ambiguous space in between. What does it mean to live on the threshold, or exist on the border? And what does it feel like to seek sanctuary?

The Middle represents Aheer's reflection on the ambiguous concept of barzakh: an Arabic term used to describe the intermediate state between death and the afterlife. While the concept tends to be understood mainly in spiritual terms, barzakh can also be translated as a physical “barrier” or “obstacle,” and is used twice in the Qur’an to describe the impenetrable border between fresh and salt water – where the river meets the ocean. Some Muslim philosophers even likened it to a dreamworld or a state somewhere between the material and spiritual realms.

The Middle is free to view on the Activity Lawn next to St Mary le Strand church, in the Strand pedestrianised space.

This sculpture was made possible by an Arts Abroad grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.