REBEL XRoom I · Arrival · The poet REBEL X
FellowWanderers
A wandering poet, author, and artist from Swat Valley. One book published, two on their way, a face never shown. This exhibition gathers what he has allowed the world to see: six rooms of it. You have just entered the first.
“My mistakes are uncountable,” I cried.
“My forgiveness is infinite,” He replied.
The poet
Swat Valley is where REBEL X opened his eyes: a place of snow mountains, quiet meadows, and old forests. He fell in love with it long before he understood what love was, and by his own account the mountains taught him to feel long before he ever learned to write.
The first words came in English, shy and unsure of themselves. Later he turned to Pakhto, his mother tongue, the language his heart speaks when no one is listening, and to Urdu soon after. Both still visit his pages; English is where he stayed. Someone close to him read what he wrote and kept telling him: share your words with the world. So slowly, quietly, he began to.
He signs only REBEL X. Those closest to him know who he is; he trusts them to keep the quiet. The valley, the fire, the faith, the wandering: the rest is in these rooms.
“An artist wandering through creativity. I am a poet and a published author, in love with art and all that it quietly carries.”
One hanging, two arriving
Each book is given its own room in the next hall · including the two that are still being written, whose rooms wait with the lights on.
Now hanging · the published work
In Love with God
Contemplations of the creation about the Creator: a collection of spiritual poetry with one short story, written by a servant who calls the whole book his ramblings · God’s name on every page.
Two poems, under glass
Both from the published collection, laid open the way readers keep sending them back to the poet: photographed, underlined, loved.
When the flock of birds flew above the waves, it seemed like God had the brush and the sea was the canvas.
From the published collection
The creation of God is interconnected. Whether the air hits the grass or the sea, both create a similar momentum. Momentum of peace, and momentum of love.
From In Love with God · sent back to the poet by readers, again and again
Find yourself in the words instead of finding me.
REBEL X writes about love and about faith, about the world outside and the world within · depending, he says, on which one is louder that day.
He has chosen to stay anonymous. “With no name and no face to hold onto, I can finally be honest, and you can find yourself in the words instead of finding me.” The exhibition honours the choice: every portrait in these rooms is taken from behind.
Chronology, abridged
Opens his eyes in the valley: snow mountains, quiet meadows, old forests. Falls in love with it before understanding what love is.
Begins writing in English. Shy words, unsure of themselves; the notebooks stay private.
The mother tongue arrives on the page, and Urdu beside it. Both still visit; English is where he settled.
Someone close reads the notebooks and keeps saying it: share your words with the world. Slowly, quietly, he does.
In Love with God is published: 127 pages of contemplations, signed only REBEL X.
Around 2021, every account vanishes overnight and takes two and a half years of work with it. He starts again from nothing. The family finds him, six thousand strong, and when he returns after a long quiet, his words travel further than before.
Zankadan: The Last Breath and Jwand: The Beginning are being written. Their rooms in this exhibition wait with the lights on.
What the wanderers say
“The author speaks the words that are always on your mind but never come on your tongue.”
“It’s certainly something that will reach the depths of your heart, should you keep it open.”
“He plays with words in a way which is comprehensible almost for all the readers.”
Objects from the wandering
The wandering continues daily
The exhibition is the archive; the wandering itself happens elsewhere, a few lines at a time. Fellow wanderers gather here: