Demonology

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The artist introduces his concept of demonology as a collection of policies and manipulations of “othering” through various folkloric, religious and epic tales in Central and South Asia across many centuries. In Afghanistan, as in many countries, demonizing particular groups of minorities is used as a way of legitimizing their persecution. For instance, the Hazara, one of the minorities most discriminated against in Afghanistan, were labeled as ‘rat-eaters’ and killing them would earn one a place in heaven. Ali incorporates two prominent characters in his works: the demon and the hero. Drawing from the epic Persian poem the Shahnameh and other folk tales, these invoked imageries symbolize the constant renewal of the region’s programmatic collective memory of “otherness”.