Hayaty Diaries Showcases the Work of Nine Emerging Female Arab Artists
LONDON — The works of female artists from the Middle East are being exhibited at the gallery space Gallery@oxo, an arm of the Oxo Tower Wharf in London until Monday.
Curated by the female-led collective, Hayaty Diaries, founded by duo Kinzy Diab and Christina Shoucair, the showcase features photographs, paintings, collages, sculptures and an installation from artists emerging from Morocco, Jordan, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
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The exhibition focuses on the Arab female gaze from the viewer’s perspective and the different interpretations that are rooted in Western otherness.
Huda Jamal’s painting “Madonna and the Wh*re” challenges society’s extreme categorization of women by capturing three contrasting female archetypes — the painting holds a hostile stillness with the characters painted looking back at the viewer rather than addressing each other in the work.
In Mays Al Moosawi’s painting, four women are seated around a table naked.
“Mays’ work celebrates the naked female form and creates a safe space for women liberated from the stifling gaze of society,” Diab said.
Photographer Sara Benabdallah takes a flamboyant and colorful approach to her photographs using her grandmother as the main subject wearing vivid abaya dresses with matching niqābs that are decorated and embroidered with text, floral motifs and rhinestones.
In one photograph, her grandmother is holding a cup that reads “ I <3 NY” whilst wearing a lavender abaya dress that has been slightly tucked into cowboy boots.
Other pieces in the showcase include Farah Foudeh’s photography of desert landscapes in relation to sexuality; Nour Ammar’s contrast strokes in her paintings and Yasmina Hilal’s collaging of old polaroid images.
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