Amel Omar

Amel Omar – Wishing u well, 2024

• Emmanuellaan – Nieuwbrugstraat, Machelen

Water sources, essential for supporting all forms of life, have traditionally held a sacred significance. The practice of making wishes by offering tokens, such as coins or cherished items, into wells is a shared tradition across European cultures, with roots dating back to medieval times. The mirrored surface and infinite depth evoke a connection between the underground and the sky, while the act of making a wish at a well embodies both personal and communal dreams and aspirations for the future. Thus, the well can be seen as an object that transcends time and space, symbolically linking the past, present, and future of a particular place.

Located on the grounds of Machelen, between two railway lines, the artwork by Amel Omar mimics a historical stone construction of a water well. Although the Buda area is rich in natural water sources, since the mid-19th century, with the implementation of modern water systems and increased urbanisation, many natural access points to water have disappeared. With the work Wishing u Well, the artist draws attention to the water well as an overlooked, yet still significant, part of our lived environment. In addition to the well, the artist installs traffic mirrors at the site. These mirrors are strategically positioned to enhance drivers’ visibility of blind spots or challenging areas, allowing them to navigate intersections or narrow passages more safely. In this sense, traffic mirrors serve to reveal hidden aspects of the road environment, just as the well draws attention to overlooked water wells in urban landscapes. Both the traffic mirror and the well evoke a sense of reflection, prompting shifts in perspective, revealing hidden aspects of our surroundings, and perhaps even encouraging us to reflect on our relationship with the environment and the passage of time.

Facing a sign that extends a wish for a good day, mounted on the wall of the former Renault factory across the train tracks, the artwork stands at the intersection of two dead-end streets. The location, predominantly used by local workers, truck drivers or driving students, and occasionally mistaken for a dumping ground, is experienced as a functional rather than aesthetic space. By incorporating aesthetic objects into this location, Amel Omar prompts visitors to view it from a fresh perspective – not solely as a passageway, but as a serene environment where the melodies of birds blend with the passing trains and the gentle rustle of wind through swaying bushes, marking the space as a threshold between the mundane and the magical.

About

Amel Omar’s (1995, NL) practice consists of practicing performative interactions with everyday (architectural) objects, the camera and the user. This results mainly in videoworks, in-situ installations, performances and sculptures. It’s the accidental architecture – the architecture of remnants and overlaps that become the in-between space – that intrigues her and which she seeks for with her work. It’s the architecture that expects no visit and can present itself unannounced. No usable form of manners is provided, and from this strange confrontation, the user himself is encouraged to find a way around. She turns to performing the camera or performing the (architectural) object to break through conventional structures of human use. The camera not only provides a form of translation, but it also possesses the power to completely claim an object. This creates a game of appropriation, improvisation and anticipation in which spaces and objects – and their associated uses – are constantly challenged. Her work is strongly driven by the aesthetic and experiential approach. She sees the inbetween state and the associated vacancy of a space or an object as terrain open to exploration. Wandering is the basic principle for rediscovering it, and the camera then functions as a tool to create distance. It is a way to pry space loose from its physical, determined context and place it in a new perspective.