Mountain Pearl (2023)

Mountain Pearl
2021-2024

Oil on Canvas, Film, Installation

In this project, I explore the rich cultural and historical identity of Siji, a unique area within the UAE's Hajar Mountains. Utilizing my background I aim to provide a micro-historical perspective that brings to life the personal and collective memories of the Bedouin community in Siji. The project encompasses our ancestors’ understanding of adaptability and profound symbiosis with the earth and challenges our conventional perspectives about arid terrains through themes of the attachment of people to their land, language and colour.

Mountain Palm Mountain (2023)

Sediment pigment, Acrylic on Canvas
240x150 cm

Using Arabic gum, I transform the colorful rocks collected from Siji, my mother's village in Northern UAE, into pigment. The technique preserves collective memory through non-traditional archival methods, making use of the land in order to depict it. Siji's villagers, who live a specific lifestyle, are captured not just in the physical location of the canvas but also in its dynamic, transient essence.

Woman of the 80s (2021)

Oil on Canvas
60x70cm

In this painted portrait, my great aunt stands firmly rooted, symbolizing the enduring presence of our cultural heritage through her traditional attire. This image challenges the notion of the orientalist gaze through archives as repositories of the forgotten, asserting their role in preserving living traditions. Her attire, still worn in modern times, invites a re-examination of identity and legacy. The portrait underscores the significance of art in archival practices, emphasizing the need to document not just events, but the enduring personalities and traditions that shape and are shaped by them.

Terrain (2024)

Snaah, Oil, and charcoal on Canvas
240x150 cm

Using snaah as a painting medium, I depict the scenic landscapes of Siji, my mother’s village in Northern UAE.
This technique transforms a traditional bridal perfume into a pigment, embodying the village’s cultural and ecological character. By using snaah to paint the land, the work preserves collective memory through non-traditional archival methods, capturing not only the physical geography but also the dynamic and transient essence of Siji’s villagers and their way of life. The process intertwines material and subject, allowing the land itself to become both the medium and the message.

Collection of Dubai Culture

Ijihla (2024)

Charcoal, Oil, and Pastels on Linen
100x100 cm

From a photo taken in 1963 showing a woman from the Siji or Masafi areas in Fujairah. The photographer recalls that she was on her way to the mountains, and after taking these photos, she rested in Masafi. It is not known exactly which area this resolute woman stood in, but it was mentioned in some of the photos that she was from the Siji area, and this is a re-imagination of one of them.

Echo (2023)

Charcoal on moving image
1:20 min
Music by Daniel Nivia

Through the use of sikham, a charcoal native to Bedouin people, I aim to create a layered narrative that explores the heritage and memories of daily life in Siji through intertwined sequences with footage from the 80s. In this unique animation technique, excerpts are posterized to five frames per second and printed, illustrated on with sikham, and then scanned. Against these fixed characters, the morphing landscape animations symbolically illustrate the fluidity and adaptability of the nomadic lifestyle, signaling resilience despite ever-changing conditions.

Ijihla II (2024) Zinc Etching Print

The Sailor II (2024)

Oil on Canvas
60x90 cm

Mother (2024) Lino cut

Aunt Mowaz (2023)

Oil on Canvas
60x50cm

This painting is more than just another depiction of an elderly Bedouin woman; it is a portrayal of my Aunt Mowaz, embodying the resilience and richness of identity, culture, and representation. It serves as both a personal homage and an educational instrument, fostering conversations about cultural representation. The artwork emphasizes the importance of individual narratives in comprehending broader societal contexts, highlighting how personal stories like that of Aunt Mowaz can illuminate and enrich our understanding of culture and identity.

Yedi Khalifa (2024)

Yedi Obaid (2024)