ZawBa3a(زو$عة) explores the collapsing forms of identity, dancing through the uncertainty of the histories told and forgotten. Finding a lack of preservation within rituals and cultures across the Middle East, this piece is part of thorough research in forming a new map that collides with both historical and fictional narratives. By delving into the works of Mohammed Sami and Michael Rakowtiz, they highlight the importance of memories found within collective cultures. This reflects how inanimate objects become the forefront of holding an authentic sense of culture and history.
Zawba3a translates to a violent gust of winds or shrill noise of chaos in Arabic. The imagery disregards linear timelines or form: enabling a raw and authentic montage of the self to be unfolded. From merging multiple tribal garments to the amber found in whales for incense and biblical tales of the Queen of Sheba, this chaos contradicts and accentuates the message as its inaccurate and haphazard depiction of culture shows its transformative nature but also the current threat of rituals and identities purposely being erased and forgotten. However, it is an act of defiance and resilience as they are being held up by patchwork hands, gripping onto the map and resisting it being forgotten.
The Hoopoe is a collective zine dispersed across the campus leading to ‘ ZawBa3a (زو٤عة )’. The zine voices personal everyday rituals, bringing an unrefined and colloquial form of history from a community rather than an institution. Questioning the agency and privilege institutions hold in the narrative of cultures and what is retained and valid, this zine exhibits how vast culture is being maintained from its more intricate and intimate sense to its most performative in dispersed communities.
Lahji No. 1
2023
Lahji No.1 is part of a collection of work that explores how traditional dances can be a practice of anti-colonialism: to resist cultures and heritage becoming stagnant and lost by bringing movement through the body. Traditional dance allows the body to take agency in its heritage and its wider scale as a culture, creating a playful and collaborative act to preserve and exchange cultures. Lahji No.1 showcases this as Lahji is a Southern Yemeni folk dance seen by the multiple figures in the painting. It reflects Yemeni traditional silhouettes and patterns, celebrating the architecture, fabric patterns, sites, and traditional dances. It also presents the richness of cultural exchange within the region through the Ottoman/ Persian manuscript style used to depict this scene.
Hidden Bodies
2022
Displayed at Chelsea Collage of Arts November 2022
Limerence
2022
Displayed at Chelsea Collage of Arts November 2022