The Tate Modern opened in May 2000 when I was six years old. During its inauguration year, a huge steel spider made its home in the Turbine Hall, allowing the viewer to walk around its long spindly legs and look up at its body, or down onto it from the above gallery floors. This […]
Hiba Schahbaz paints nude, peach-toned goddesses that smile languidly out at their viewer against pastel coloured backdrops overflowing with delicate arrangements of flora and fauna. Born in Karachi and now living in Brooklyn, Hiba’s long-haired beauties, look like they have stepped out of a dream world and are painted in soft, shimmery watercolours that completely […]
I have a lover who thinks the world Of himself and when he sees me off He cocks up ‘You couldn’t have had a better man.’ And I throw back: ‘Do you know of a better woman?’ – Hafsa bint Hamdan, 10th century Islamic Spain It is no secret that throughout history, the voices of […]
I become my art, my art becomes me. My art is becoming my heart in my art. My heart is hard to handle, my art is too. I want to overwhelm you. I want to touch your feelings I want to give you tender strength. Feel! Feel the folds; one fold, two folds, expressive precise […]
Arab women are typically perceived as repressed females. They are often misinterpreted as being subordinate to men, lacking the same freedoms as their western counterparts. However, more often than not, it is Arab females, not men, who are the pioneers of the burgeoning Middle Eastern art world. Biennials, galleries and exhibitions across the region are […]