Conference of the Birds: Self-Transformation
A major question that has been consistently asked in this class is “Who’s Islam?”. One perspective of Islam that we learned about was that of Sufism. Our reading, analysis, and viewing of the epic poem Conference of the Birds was a great tool to understanding the beliefs associated with sufism. The epic poem uses different birds to illustrate the vices and mechanism by which humans stray away from the path to God, enlightenment, and growth. One concept of Sufism that is incredibly important is the idea of self-transformation and annihilation of the ego. The Conference of the Birds does an amazing job of illustrating this concept by showing the transformation that each bird goes through as they make their way to the find/meet their mystical ruler, the Simorgh. At the end of the book, the birds reach the palace of the Simorgh only to find a reflecting pool in which they see themselves, which is a demonstration that God/Enlightenment is not external but intrinsic to all life as we are our own Simorgh. I was very fascinated by this book and the concept of self-transformation so I created this piece with sketches of the different birds that are represented in the poem to show their spiritual transformation. The piece shows the transformation of the birds in three ways. Firstly, each bird has a duplicate that is looking back at the original. This duplication shows the self-reflection that the enlightened birds must do while also, on a more positive note, showing the potential that each bird has in annihilation of the ego. Another way I illustrate the transformation is by giving the enlightened/transformed version of each bird color while keeping the original in black and white. The color is meant to show he fulfilled potential and beauty that comes from the spiritual journey that the birds struggle through. Lastly, I show the transformation that each bird goes through in regards to detachment by getting rid of the vices that weigh down the original version of the birds.