WITHIN THE OTHERWORLDLY SHADIA ALEM PROFILE S At the centre of Shadia Alem’s practice is an inquisition into the black unknown, beyond what the eye can see. Danna Lorch and Myrna Ayad speak about contrasts in light, identity and time with the Mecca-born mixed media artist. audi. Female. Artist. Shadia Alem collects these loaded 21st century identities like pearls strung on a necklace. But she is much more than the sum of these parts. Once just a girl clutching drawing pencils in her hand, even then, she was able to recognise the jinn (hidden, spiritual creatures in Islamic and Arab folklore) dancing through her native city of Mecca. Alem is an artist with a gift for sensitivity, one who believes in light and energy and struggles to render the invisible visible. She gladly owns the identities that society has given her. “I love all that defines me – Saudi, female and a seeker of beauty. I don’t mind being part of the related social political connotations,” she says. “Saudi translates in my history, the life I have lived, the set of struggles and privileges that formed my unique character.”Yet Alem is uneasy referring to herself as an artist because of the commercial connotations that the title carries in today’s market. “The title of artist means commitment and exposure and allowing others to be an active part in what you are. That makes me uncomfortable,” she explains. Destiny, however, is another story entirely: “I am destined to be a person who is continually seeking to capture and simply express beauty.” WITH THE OTHERS Armed with a Bachelor’s degree in Art and English Literature from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, it was in 1999 that Alem staged her first exhibitions in the Red Sea port city: The In Between at Ridha Art Gallery, Signs at Roshan Gallery and Panorama at The American Geographical Society. Before these shows however, she received her first paid commission, a cheque for $8000 from the General Presidency of Youth Welfare as first prize for three tableaux. Perhaps in some circles, a commission may have outlined her career in art, but she has felt like an artist all her life, beginning as a five-year-old, mischievously scribbling figures on walls, 110 PROFILE To truly understand their [Shadia and Raja] respective practices, it is important to appreciate each as an individual force and talent. doors and textbooks, impervious to the scolding of while telling their stories or hiding under my pillow.” her parents and teachers. Perhaps one of Alem’s first experiences with the jin- The stories that Alem selects to tell through nyat came in the form of dolls, on which she would Opening spread: her art are, without exception, deeply grounded drape fabric bought from the markets in Mecca. The The Supreme Ka’aba Of God 02. 2011. in Saudi legend, custom and myth. A cloud of dolls resurfaced in 2000 with Jinniyat Lar, which saw Photographic collage. 133 x 200 cm. magic surrounds her creative process, softening Alem take inspiration from the Arabian mythology This page: the lines between fantasy and fact. It has been of the Wadi Aqbar and River Lar regions as a plat- The Supreme Ka’aba Of this way since Alem was a girl, when the jinnyat form to bring the unseen jinnyat to paper. She cre- God 06. 2011. C-print diasec mounted on dibond. (Arabian folklore’s term for unseen creatures from ated a series of 21 paintings that are accompanied 120 x 200 cm. the desert with supernatural powers who are able by text written by her sister Raja. In doing so, she Facing page: The Supreme Ka’aba of to shift forms) first became real to her. “The jin- created a tale surrounding the resurrection of the God 04. 2012. Lambda nyat were a tangible aspect of my childhood,” she River Lar by these supernatural creatures, which was print alucobond mounted on aluminium faced with recalls. “In my eyes, they insisted on taking forms then compiled into a book commissioned by the Perspex. 120 x 200 cm. Image courtesy Athr around me, climbing my grandmother’s white braid, Al-Mansouria Foundation. In 2000, Jinniyat Lar was Gallery, Jeddah. 111 “I wake up every morning without a destination in mind and exhibited at Euro Art Genève in Switzerland and at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and a year later Raja the writer, and to truly understand their respec- tive practices, it is important to appreciate each as an just drift at Galerie Janine Rubeiz in Beirut, the Saudi National Museum in Riyadh and the Brunei Gallery at the individual force and talent without viewing them as perpetually orbiting the other. into cities, School of Oriental and African Sciences in London. Raja, a prominent novelist, is often mistakenly into faces, positioned as Shadia’s artistic half, as though without one, the other could not create. No doubt, the two DIFFERING SPECTRUMS In her early years, Alem worked in a Jeddah stu- sometimes are spiritually connected, so much so, that they can sometimes read one another’s minds. They have often dio with views of the desert. “It was all windows and uniformly coloured sand and there were no onto the same collaborated: Shadia with art for Raja’s literary works and Raja with The Black Mirror (2004), a multimedia walls to display paintings, leaving only a small space where I framed one of my mother’s embroi- roads, but installation showcased at the first-ever National Pavil- ion of Saudi Arabia at the 2011 Venice Biennale. The dered pillowcases, which was a great source of early inspiration,” she recalls. It was here that she discovering sisters are effortlessly fashionable and were photo- graphed clad in Cerruti for Vogue Italia in 2011. They produced Negative No More (2004), a project which explores the way in which Saudi women are pub- new share secrets, homes, a public website and even a bank account. However, Shadia is the visual artist and licly depicted in the shadows of society, similar to the way that figures take unidentifiable shape on revelations.” 112 PROFILE an undeveloped negative. Perched cosily on a cushion, she stitched together two dec- ades’ worth of sepia-stained family photo negatives that make up this large-scale installa- tion. In total, 132 rolls (of 4752 pictures) comprise Negative No More, which was exhibited in Languages Of The Desert (2005) at the Kunstmuseum in Bonn in 2005, at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris a year later, and at Edge of Arabia’s shows in Venice and Istanbul in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Alem is sensitive to the notion of women being portrayed on the margins of Saudi society and in re- sponse to this, produced The Black Mirror in 2004 – a 37.5-metre-long roll made up of images of wedding announcements and other social gatherings published in Saudi newspapers. As per Saudi media practice, only men’s faces and names are published, and in the event of a wedding, the bride is not referred to by her name, but as the daughter of ‘Mr so and so’. For part one of The Black Mirror, Alem gathered two years’ worth of wedding clippings from a Riyadh newspaper and set up a workshop where five women were tasked with censoring the groom’s faces and names with black marker. The second part of the installation saw her create an invitation card, which featured a bride, superimposed with Alem’s face, while the faces and names of the men are censored with black marker. In her attempt to enlighten across a body of work This page: that addresses social, economic and spiritual themes, Alem’s oeuvre deals with an ongoing conversation Installation view of The with “the black” or the space beyond where the eye is able to travel. She defines black as “a complete Black Arch at the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia at absorption of light, mystery, richness and power” and is noticeably drawn to the qualities of the colour, the 54th Venice Biennale. so much so, that her family’s nickname for her is ‘The Black One’. She grew up at the feet of the Al-Masjid Facing page: Negative No More. 2004. Al-Haram (The Sacred Mosque), home to the Holy Ka’aba, the cuboid structure made of granite covered in Strips of photo negatives, the kiswah, a black ornate velvet curtain. Just as women are draped in black abayas in Saudi and just as the 132 film rolls containing 4752 pictures, hand-sewn Ka’aba is enveloped by the kiswah, Alem continually ponders what lies beneath. “I feel like I am destined together. 300 x 200 cm. Image courtesy Athr to tackle the colour black, to challenge it and explore its depths,” she says. Gallery, Jeddah. 113 PROFILE NARRATIVES OF THE DIVINE crowded with worshippers – it’s a living mosaic that Mecca often makes an appearance in Alem’s body reveals what lies behind the black.” of work. Rather than portray it distinctly, Alem fo- In recent years, she has dabbled with photogra- cuses on aspects related to the holy city. For exam- phy, a medium that fascinates her for the voyages ple, The Black Arch seeks to illuminate the parallels that the camera takes her on. “I wake up every morn- between Venice and Mecca, two small cities that are ing without a destination in mind and just drift into cultural centres, drawing traders, scholars, pilgrims cities, into faces, sometimes onto the same roads, but and enthusiasts alike from around the world. The arch discovering new revelations,” she says. It is through stands at 350 x 700 cm and is surrounded by 3457 this trance-like experimentation that Alem has lately stainless steel balls. Through immersion in sound, sensed “a strong bond developing” between her and light and photography – gathered from both cities the world, one which, she says makes her feel more – the dramatic installation transforms passive view- like “a traveller”. ers into unwitting participants as it imparts a sense In the past decade, controversial develop- of stepping into a sacred space and melding with ment has been undertaken in Mecca’s ancient the unknown. “It is a field of energy produced by the neighbourhoods surrounding the Masjid Al- cultural and spiritual exchange which we grew up in Haram. Skyscrapers branded with international This page and facing page: The Black Mirror Part 3; as children that is enriched by the energy of an audi- logos tower over the mosque alongside a fren- The Black Mirror Part 1. 2007. Collage. ence from around the world,” explains Alem. “The au- zied herd of construction cranes. A series of 17 x 10 cm each. dio-visual aspect of The Black Arch captures the joyful photographic collages, The Supreme Ka’aba Of All images courtesy spirit of my Mecca – its ancient markets, wedding cel- God (2012) represents Alem’s attempt to recon- the artist, unless otherwise specified. ebrations mingled with melodic prayers, the streets cile whether transaction-focused development 114 PROFILE “I am all for change, but not when it doesn’t leave a space for the soul and the original identity [of a place] to prosper.” is in conflict or harmony with sacred ground. Now based in Paris, Alem has come to be- “I have nothing against modernisation but lieve that all studios are temporary protective against distortion and destruction,” she explains. shells, but what remains essential is the quality and “I am all for change, but not when it doesn’t vibrancy of natural light. Here, she deliberately leave a space for the soul and the original iden- challenges herself to defy instinct and be crea- tity [of a place] to prosper. It is a question of tive in a cramped space containing only a modest keeping the balance.” The project represents table and a computer that increasingly functions Mecca using real images of the site that have as a virtual canvas for ongoing digital and photo- been distorted and overlapped so tightly that graphic projects. Exactly what those projects are, the effect is claustrophobic, arguably referenc- Alem insists on keeping a mystery. “Like conception, ing both the sensation of being packed into a creation needs privacy,” she says. “It needs to be pro- tight crowd of pilgrims and the intrusion of the tected behind the dark layers of the body until the commercial into the holy. Alem’s work on Mec- moment of revelation.” ca, she says, “is not solely concerned with the changing face of the holy city, but the changing For more information visit www.shadiaalem- face of our world in general and our way of life.” rajaalem.com and www.athrart.com 115
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