Night in the Garden of Love, Inspired by & featuring Yusef Lateef

Night in the Garden of Love is an exhibition developed by Shezad Dawood and inspired by the creative output of African-American musician, composer, allamah/polymath Yusef Lateef. Titled after Lateef’s 1988 novella, the exhibition features music and a selection of drawings by Lateef together with five new, interconnected works by Dawood: a VR experience, a suite of painted textiles, a garden of algorithmic plants growing digitally in response to a series of live improvisational music sessions, costume-sculptures and live choreography.

Shezad Dawood (b.1974) is a British artist known for his exploration of non-Western traditions that inform and intersect with established canons, whether in the field of architecture or, as in this case, music. His playful, research-driven work encompasses many forms and media, breaking down the boundaries between the analogue and digital. Since 2013, he has explored the conceptual possibilities of VR as an integral part of his practice. This is his largest presentation of new work since 2019 and his first solo exhibition in Belgium. It is commissioned by WIELS together with the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto.

Yusef Lateef (1920-2013) pioneered the integration of world instruments to expand the boundaries of jazz traditions. Over time, he developed a methodology he called Autophysiopsychic music. “It is about heightened consciousness and aims to activate the physical, mental and spiritual senses simultaneously,” states Dawood. Aware of Lateef’s music since his own youth, Dawood became fascinated with Lateef’s ideas after seeing his drawings, which function as abstract musical notation, and present organic, plant-like forms.

A new 2-player VR environment launched as part of Shezad Dawood's exhibition titled Night in the Garden of Love after Lateef’s 1988 novella. The exhibition features music and a selection of drawings by Lateef together with five new, interconnected works by Dawood.

Two visitors at a time can wear VR head-sets to enter a virtual reality experience, riffing on scenes from Lateef’s novella. A key figure is the Mutant, who moves through the script like a dancer, guiding visitors through Lateef’s vision, as re-imagined by Dawood. The soundtrack features original recordings by Lateef released on his own label, YAL Records. This is the first time Dawood has created a dual-player VR experience, to underscore the idea of a garden as a space for intimacy and dialogue.

Dawood sees this exhibition as a dialogue between his practice and Lateef’s, like the call-and-response exchanges in musical improvisation. Dawood considers Lateef’s novella to be a forerunner of much recent cli-fi: sci-fi exploring climate issues. “There are all sorts of portals within Lateef’s novella, which moves from a dystopian future Detroit, into radical ideas of ecology and recycling,” he states. Dawood is interested in technology for its transformative potential to help us imagine new forms of togetherness. “It is meant to be an almost metaphysical space, but I read Lateef’s garden as a virtual space.”

Click here to view a trailer.

Written and directed by: Shezad Dawood

Produced by: Miranda Sharp

Coders & 3D design: Monochrome

Mutant dancer: Wan-Lun Yu

Tracks: Daydream, Phase Transition, Instrumental Ritornello #1, Monadic Adventure, Instrumental Gospel, Saturday Morning, all tracks composed by Yusef Lateef for YAL Records and published by Spirit One Music Crescendo obo Alnur Music (BMI)

Musical trio: Mia Theodoratus (harp), Adam Rudolph (slit drum), Ralph Miles Jones (bamboo flute)

Voices: Ilham Tamet (Arabic & French), Huan Mus (Portuguese), Batya Sobel, Gwen Laster and Ralph Miles Jones (English)

Film footage: Robbrecht Desmet, Ruben Desiere, Lennert De Taeye