The Message echoes the editing language of Mustafa Al-Akkad’s 1976 film The Message, which dramatizes the Prophet Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Madina (completed on September 24, 622 CE).
While the original film reconstructs a moment of collective anticipation and spiritual hope, this work introduces a contemporary rupture.
In its multi-channel installation, the video is physically edited across separate screens, each corresponding to specific camera angles and cuts drawn directly from Al-Akkad’s original film. The spatial arrangement of the channels follows the logic of the film’s editing, translating cinematic montage into a sculptural experience within the exhibition space.
Western children appear inside digitally rendered environments replicating Madina as portrayed in Al-Akkad’s film, holding handmade welcoming signs before a chroma screen. The scene is suddenly pierced by the arrival of a drone—an emblem of contemporary surveillance and warfare—shifting the atmosphere from hope to threat and ultimately forcing the children out of frame.
Multi-channel installation views
Video stills
Details:
- One or four synchronized channels
- Dur.: 02:51 min
- 4K digital | stereo | 16:9
- Prod. co.: Woodpecker
- Dop, chroma & edit: Martin Jäger
- Sound: Sami Rahola
- Funded by: AVEK, Helsinki