“One Rug Any Color” is a continuation of Abbas’ previous series “Kaaba Pictures”, looking at the way the colour of the Kaaba can vary in depictions, yet certain recurrent pictorial conventions ensure it is always recognizable. Abbas recalls how on woven prayer carpets available in Pakistan there was often an image of the Kaaba. The colour of the Kaaba itself would take the colour of the ground - red, green etc. When Abbas tried to find such carpets in markets in Lahore, she was told that those with Kaaba images were no longer favoured much in the community “the folks don’t like it” was the reply. When back in Boston she searched for them online and on Amazon found the disposable variety with images of Kabaa. This reminded her of an episode in Medina, years ago when an unknown woman gave her a prayer rug outside Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. The small package was pressed into her hand, it was only when she opened her hands that she could see what it was- itself a little Barakah Gift.

The rugs in this piece come from a pack of twelve, from an Amazon vendor with the username “One Rug Any Color”. They were made in Egypt, bought in Boston, shipped to London, then brought to Dubai to complete the work.