Syrian poet Adonis introduces his artworks - gallery
About 10 years ago the Syrian poet Adonis started making images using calligraphy, colour and figurative gestures which he calls 'rakaim'. Here he talks about the inspiration behind some of his latest work, currently on show at the Mosaic Rooms in London
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2005 'The text here is from a pre-Islamic poet, Abu Zu'aib Al-Huzali which speaks of his life and loves. The cardboard comes from a torn-up box of books'Photograph: Adonis
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2009 'This text is part of a love poem. It’s one of a series of rakaim using my own poems for a book which I’m putting together at the moment'Photograph: Adonis
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2008 'This is the only collage in the exhibition where I've used black ink. It's a text from the 8th century – another beautiful love poem – this time by Bashar ibn Burd, one of the founders of Arab modernity at that time. He was killed by the Caliph after he was accused of being irreligious'Photograph: Adonis
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2011 'This is the only rakima where I've used a photograph. It's a young woman protesting against the wall in Palestine. The text is an assemblage of pre-Islamic writings which speak of peace and against oppression'Photograph: Adonis
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1993'Here the marks are an imitation of calligraphy. It's not a real text, just a game with letters – the skin of words, but not the words themselves'Photograph: Adonis
