Water Vessel: Objects of Memory and Ritual with Iqbal Barkat

This interactive workshop explores how objects serve as vessels for memory, ritual, and the liminal space between life and death.

Through the screening of Water Vessel, we contemplate the carafe's sacred function in Islamic washing rituals (ghusl al-mayyit), where rose water and perfumes transform ablution into an act of spiritual purification and dignity. These aromatic substances—alongside their ornate vessels—carry deep theological significance across Shia and Sunni traditions, whilst also resonating with Jewish tahara practices where similar acts of honour are bestowed upon the deceased.

The workshop investigates how such objects embody the tension between physical decay and spiritual transcendence, and invites participants to share their own talismans of loss, from perfume bottles that once belonged to loved ones to seemingly mundane items imbued with extraordinary grief. Together, we'll examine how these material witnesses help us navigate the ineffable experience of mourning across cultural boundaries.

Iqbal Barkat wrote his PhD on novelty in cinema, tracing the history through from the work of Dziga Vertov, a pioneering film-maker in the early Soviet Union.

As part of his research he has produced the independent feature film Mortars, which seeks to explore what Robert Koehler calls the 'cinema of in-between-ness' - refusing categories of fiction or non-fiction. It follows the life of a woman whose house was destroyed by demolition exercises carried out by the Australian Defence Force. She has lived in a broken house for over fifty years and is still seeking reparations.

His research interests include Independent Cinema; Early Soviet Cinema; Dance; Community Filmmaking; The Cinematic Practice of Dziga Vertov; The Philosophy of Alain Badiou.

Iqbal is also Co President of the Muslim Collective, an Australian faith-based community for progressive thought and social action.