Javid Jah is a visual artist based in Toronto. He began his career in mural painting nearly 20 years ago, interested in the relationship between graffiti and Arabic calligraphy. Working with non-profit organizations, Javid spent considerable time developing youth programs and social enterprise in an effort to create public art that generated income and could spark creative career paths for marginalized communities. He had the opportunity to paint public murals in Tanzania, South Africa, Pakistan, and India in the first decade of his practice - a journey tracing his ancestral roots that ultimately led him into the field of architecture.
As a student of the history of Sufism in Islam, Javid felt that architecture could provide a greater appreciation of how the metaphysical principles of Islam are expressed through our sacred spaces. Javid has a Masters of Architecture from the University of Toronto, with research in the realm of contemporary Islamic design, as well as exploring the social and political factors impacting the design and construction of masjids in post 9/11 North America. Between 2013 and 2016, Javid worked on several Toronto-based masjids, including the design and execution of the largest interior dome in Canada at Madinah Masjid on Danforth Ave, Toronto. Hand-painted in approximately 1,000 hours, the Green Dome features a 66’ long calligraphic painting of Ayat-al-Kursi in classical thuluth, crowned by a 16-pointed star which is a replica of the Al-Masjid an-Nabawī in Medina, Saudi Arabia. In researching how this geometry is constructed and projected onto a spherical surface, the Dome welcomed Javid into a new chapter of his practice: the study of traditional cosmology.
Inspired by the in-depth cosmological inquiry provided by numerous Ismaili and Sufi sages, including the Ikhwan-as-Safa, ibn-Sina and ibn-al’-Arabi, Javid’s current practice is dedicated to re-imagining the principles that once guided our ancestors towards an illumination of the intellect. Each intervention involves testing how various geometric forms can appear (zahir) and disappear (batin) in space - how the viewer must find a state of balance (mizan) in order to witness the unity (tawhid) within an image. Recently, this interdisciplinary practice has led Javid to several public art commissions, including artworks located in the pools of the Aga Khan Museum Park (Majma-al-Bahrain, 2018), Kennedy TTC Subway Station (Nuit Blanche, 2019), and most recently, outside of Union Station (The Universe Within, 2020).
Alongside his public art practice, Javid continues to be engaged in the design of contemporary architecture. Since 2017, Javid has worked closely with Wonder Inc. - an architecture studio focussing on the design of modular buildings which often involve the re-purposing of shipping containers. In collaboration with Wonder Inc., Javid has designed and administered the construction of a dozen residences in Southern Ontario, including the first multi-storey shipping container home along Graffiti Alley, Queen St. W, Toronto (completed in 2018). Compelled by the modular application of shipping container buildings, Javid also designed the world’s first rotating shipping container structure, which was exhibited outside of Metro Hall in Toronto - an observatory designed to rotate in order to follow planetary movement. Known as XSITE, this project is intended to provoke conversations about “cosmic architecture”, questioning why various ancestral civilizations once oriented their buildings towards celestial bodies.
Below are some of his incredible works:
To see more of Javid's work, follow him on Instagram: @javid_jah (for his art projects) or @javid.jah for his architecture projects), or view his website: Javidjah.xyz
