Riaz Mehmood

Title: A Drone Wrapped Up in Flying Carpets
Directed,written and produced by Riaz Mehmood
Duration: 06:06
Format: HD video 16:9
Language: Pashto
Subtitles: English
Production date: 2012
Production country: Canada
www.riazmehmood.com

In A Drone Wrapped Up in Flying Carpets, an Afghan warrior action figurine acquires a much more complex personality as he is transformed from a one-dimensional target of vilification to an ‘everyday’ human in search of meaning.  As an action figurine, he is cast in a permanent state of anger and rage. However, through storytelling, he becomes an ordinary being who has humour, faults, secrets, and fantasies that begin to trouble our knowledge of constructed external identities. He has fears; he has an emotional crisis; he has moments of doubt; and like any other human being, he seeks to make sense of the world that he lives in.

Riaz Mehmood is a multidisciplinary artist originally from Pakistan. After obtaining a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology in Peshawar, Riaz went on to complete the Integrated Media program at Ontario College of Art and Design (2005) and an MFA from the University of Windsor (2012). His artistic oeuvre encompasses a range of practices including performance, video, photography and new media. These works have explored a number of issues related to identity, history and media. Riaz has also been involved with a number of artist-run centres and served on the boards of SAVAC and Articule. His works have been shown internationally, including the US, Canada, Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia.

[Back]