Navid Nuur: When Doubt Turns into Destiny

Navid Nuur

Navid Nuur (1976, Tehran) is an artist who searches for meaning in a work process that is somewhere between art and alchemy. He uses the natural change processes of materials under the influence of light, dark or cold to make intangible phenomena visible - such as the flow of energy or the experience of time. Nuur's work explores light, time and space, visible and invisible phenomena, physical and chemical principles in the Oude Kerk.

Series of a hundred vases

As part of the exhibition When Doubt Turns into Destiny, Nuur creates a series of a hundred vases in the Oude Kerk. He goes out every week in search of soil, minerals and grit from all parts of Amsterdam, the city that will celebrate its 750th anniversary in 2025. He mixes this material with the clay. Before the vases are fired, Nuur takes them into the city again to create 'impressions' of city bridges, walls and streets. During the last weekend of the exhibition, all vases are stored in the Iron Chapel, which functioned as a city vault for centuries. Every year, a vase is released and offered for sale. It was not until 2125, after a hundred years, that all the vases left the church, and When Doubt Turns into Destiny was completed.