This association, chaired by Kawther Al Abood who is of Iraqi origin, first came to Europe in Vienna, Austria, which certainly explains her taste for lyrical art and opera, then to Rome where she studied architecture. Two emblematic cities, one known for music and the other for its eternal reputation due to its architectural treasures.
For 35 years, this woman has been living in Monaco, in a city of Persian style whose decoration is warm, bright, and intimate.
Light and colors are precisely one of the causes of her fight, which is to promote the artist Neil Harbisson, who suffers from a condition, achromatopsia, that prevents him from distinguishing colors. Neil loves Monaco; he sees the Principality in orange and blue, bright and radiant with light. He transmits colors into sounds.
Our host welcomes us to Villa Ispahan, whose living room, adorned with poufs and sofas, could serve as a setting for One Thousand and One Nights, Semiramis, Aida, or an oriental tale. Neil Harbisson, a Spanish artist of British origin, implanted a cybernetic eye in 2004 to overcome his disability. Colors become sounds, and he is endowed with a sixth sense.
Futurum has associated with this artist and recently awarded him a prize under the presidency of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II.
Futurum continues its quest and research, with its president Kawther Al Abood confessing multiple projects for the future. The search for new talents, promoting art, and culture. Art and beauty are means to make the world more harmonious and less violent, less possessive.
This exceptional woman loves works of art but is not a collector. Neil Harbisson is an artist; he paints with sounds, not seeing colors, and has created a sound portrait of Prince Albert. He is blind to colors; the world is black and white and without nuances to him.
Futurum is celebrating its five-year existence, and besides this cyber-artist, it resembles a space odyssey, fully aligned with the American composer Tod Machover and his visionary opera: Death and the Powers.
A futuristic and prophetic vision of the world, to which Futurum wants to offer a more reassuring image and ward off the perils and dangers that threaten us from sorcerer’s apprentices and world leaders.
We leave our host and her oriental palace-like house. With a smile and a glance, Kawther concluded the interview, a smile and glance that could have been enough to understand her work, her approach, and Futurum.
Thierry Jan
Photo Credit: Gaetan LUCI / Prince’s Palace
