Memories Left Behind by Alia Al Falasi “Private[ly]”, an exhibition in the Gallery of Light at DUCTAC, showcases the photography works of eighteen young Emirati women currently studying Visual Communication at Dubai Women’s College. The title of the show implies the theme, with the last syllable (ly) written in Arabic in red, as the Arabic word (ly) denotes something that belongs to someone. In this project, the students were asked to tackle a “private” issue and define what is private to them, whether at the social or personal levels, utilizing digital photography.
Shammi Samano, the project’s instructor and the co-curator of the show, noticed how in this part of the world “the public and the private are two very different worlds with almost no flow in between”. The challenge was for these women to define what “private” means to them and to study the implications of transcending their private world into a “public” space of a gallery.
The eighteen women responded differently to the theme and explored “private” in various manners. To some, “private” was the personal; the pile of secrets or memories a person carries as a burden all the way through her journey. Whereas to others, “Private” was defined in the form of the taboo, the sensitive political and social issues that are hardly expressed and the implicit desire to change that condition.
Bandaging your pain , by Hessa Al Shuwaihi
Bandaging your pain , by Hessa Al Shuwaihi shows a woman in a black abaya revealing her hair. Her face is covered with white bandage on which the eyes and the mouth are painted. The artist explains how the hair was intentionally left uncovered to symbolize a glimpse of freedom. The face; however, is covered and drawn over to express the reality of conformity and the surrender to society’s rules and expectations. What was once a sad face is now covered with a bandage and a smile attempting to suppress the dark emotions and behave “normally” according the rules governing the social scene. The artist explains that there is a personal dimension in the process of creating the work, as the artist first laid the bandage cover on her own face and traced her own eyes and mouth before masking it on the model’s face. The artist stresses on the mass-pressure carried by society on women to dress, behave and act in a certain manner. There are predetermined roles, and women are expected to comply with the rules and to embody the characters they are presumed to play. Thus, the bandage is not the relief from pain, but rather the disguise.
Reversal of Strength by Marwa Mohamed
One photograph that seemed to capture attention in exposing a “private” social issue is the Reversal of Strength by Marwa Mohamed. The photograph depicts a woman wearing the black abaya smoking cigar with a confident gesture in a dark setting, whereas a man wearing the local Emirati white dishdasha sits near her throne-like chair helplessly expressing disapproval. The artist explains how the use of cigars is almost exclusively associated with men, especially those with wealth and power, and her photograph expresses how the symbolic reverse is also possible. She explains how women of this region have successfully attained major achievements and have reached the point where they are capable of expressing their own ideas and making their own decisions needless of men’s “domination”. Although the artist is exploring a “private” issue in relation to the region’s context, and the ideology of men and women roles and behavior, her sense of “private” seems to fall within a “comfort zone” between the two worlds of private and public. This is evident when she emphasizes that women’s advancement in gaining position and power can still carry out “respect to society and traditions”.
Short Life by Roudha Al Shamsi
Memories Left Behind by Alia Al Falasi demonstrates two girls, a child and an adolescent, with a long braid that extends from the child’s hair to the adolescent’s symbolizing the chain of memories. The long braid also contextualizes the scene and ties it to the traditional Emirati setting. The idea of memories as a private space is also evident in Roudha Al Shamsi’s Short Life where a woman is blindfolded holding a broken tape. The photograph questions the true identity of the contemporary Emirati woman and the broken tapes with the film reels indicate the stolen dreams and the unattained ambitions. “Life is so short” explains the artist, “and the hesitation to pursue our dreams is usually the result of our own fear and imperfection”. In this sense, the unfinished dreams gradually rot and one day become like a broken tape documenting the memories of what we had once hoped to achieve, only in this case it is too broken to actually “play” these memories.
The idea of transforming the “private” world of these artists into “public” is rather new and challenging in a young and unique nation where women are beginning to explore their identities through visual arts. There is tension in displaying one’s “private” thoughts and secret aspirations; however in this case, the artworks seemed to fall within a comfort zone between the “too private” and the “too public”, which is one way to understand the semiotics of the cultural world of Emirati women. According to Shammi Samano, “it is only by exploring the intensely personal that we can even begin to understand larger social dynamics”. In this regard, the show also highlights the rules by which these two worlds of Private and Public act and interact within the Emirati context. Thus, it can be utilized as gateway to understand and potentially transform the rules of the contemporary cultural interplay.
Shammi Samano, the project’s instructor and the co-curator of the show, noticed how in this part of the world “the public and the private are two very different worlds with almost no flow in between”. The challenge was for these women to define what “private” means to them and to study the implications of transcending their private world into a “public” space of a gallery.
The eighteen women responded differently to the theme and explored “private” in various manners. To some, “private” was the personal; the pile of secrets or memories a person carries as a burden all the way through her journey. Whereas to others, “Private” was defined in the form of the taboo, the sensitive political and social issues that are hardly expressed and the implicit desire to change that condition.
Bandaging your pain , by Hessa Al ShuwaihiBandaging your pain , by Hessa Al Shuwaihi shows a woman in a black abaya revealing her hair. Her face is covered with white bandage on which the eyes and the mouth are painted. The artist explains how the hair was intentionally left uncovered to symbolize a glimpse of freedom. The face; however, is covered and drawn over to express the reality of conformity and the surrender to society’s rules and expectations. What was once a sad face is now covered with a bandage and a smile attempting to suppress the dark emotions and behave “normally” according the rules governing the social scene. The artist explains that there is a personal dimension in the process of creating the work, as the artist first laid the bandage cover on her own face and traced her own eyes and mouth before masking it on the model’s face. The artist stresses on the mass-pressure carried by society on women to dress, behave and act in a certain manner. There are predetermined roles, and women are expected to comply with the rules and to embody the characters they are presumed to play. Thus, the bandage is not the relief from pain, but rather the disguise.
Reversal of Strength by Marwa MohamedOne photograph that seemed to capture attention in exposing a “private” social issue is the Reversal of Strength by Marwa Mohamed. The photograph depicts a woman wearing the black abaya smoking cigar with a confident gesture in a dark setting, whereas a man wearing the local Emirati white dishdasha sits near her throne-like chair helplessly expressing disapproval. The artist explains how the use of cigars is almost exclusively associated with men, especially those with wealth and power, and her photograph expresses how the symbolic reverse is also possible. She explains how women of this region have successfully attained major achievements and have reached the point where they are capable of expressing their own ideas and making their own decisions needless of men’s “domination”. Although the artist is exploring a “private” issue in relation to the region’s context, and the ideology of men and women roles and behavior, her sense of “private” seems to fall within a “comfort zone” between the two worlds of private and public. This is evident when she emphasizes that women’s advancement in gaining position and power can still carry out “respect to society and traditions”.
Short Life by Roudha Al Shamsi Memories Left Behind by Alia Al Falasi demonstrates two girls, a child and an adolescent, with a long braid that extends from the child’s hair to the adolescent’s symbolizing the chain of memories. The long braid also contextualizes the scene and ties it to the traditional Emirati setting. The idea of memories as a private space is also evident in Roudha Al Shamsi’s Short Life where a woman is blindfolded holding a broken tape. The photograph questions the true identity of the contemporary Emirati woman and the broken tapes with the film reels indicate the stolen dreams and the unattained ambitions. “Life is so short” explains the artist, “and the hesitation to pursue our dreams is usually the result of our own fear and imperfection”. In this sense, the unfinished dreams gradually rot and one day become like a broken tape documenting the memories of what we had once hoped to achieve, only in this case it is too broken to actually “play” these memories.
The idea of transforming the “private” world of these artists into “public” is rather new and challenging in a young and unique nation where women are beginning to explore their identities through visual arts. There is tension in displaying one’s “private” thoughts and secret aspirations; however in this case, the artworks seemed to fall within a comfort zone between the “too private” and the “too public”, which is one way to understand the semiotics of the cultural world of Emirati women. According to Shammi Samano, “it is only by exploring the intensely personal that we can even begin to understand larger social dynamics”. In this regard, the show also highlights the rules by which these two worlds of Private and Public act and interact within the Emirati context. Thus, it can be utilized as gateway to understand and potentially transform the rules of the contemporary cultural interplay.
May Barber is an architect and writer from Syria, born and raised in the UAE. She graduated from the American University in Sharjah in May 2008 with a Bachelor Degree in Architecture and a Minor in English Literature. She was the recipient of the Cityscape Young Architect of the Year Award in October 2008. She is an active member of the contemporary art scene of the UAE.
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