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ART:
MOHINI HEWA
GHAREEB
home visuals
FACADES
TRIBUTE TO MA
***
When I was around 14, I had a dream so melancholic I still don’t know whether to categorize it as a dream or a nightmare.
The dream was set in a desert, or what seemed to be a detoxed version of it. Everything was consistently monochromatic, like bleached laundry. I often thought about that dream and the possibility of it being a vision of a bitter-sweet future. I began to question why the post-oil period created this insentient need to fabricate vibrant and cultural symbols and structures to overcompensate for negative space.
This embrace of nothingness holds so much power. A perfect example of this would be the Japanese cultural concept; ‘Ma’. Ma is a celebration of nothing (literally). The more Ma, the more space to reflect. I wanted to physically interpret my dream in this shoot the best I can. This shoot is truly a tribute to Ma and the beauty and gore of it. In the pause between words, in a deep breath, in the potential of nothing, Ma is enabled.
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PHOTOGRAPHY:
DOWMUT
KUWAIT
MODELING:
AZZAM
KUWAIT
TETE NAHLA
As I spent my final moments with my grandmother whom I was extremely close to, I developed a heightened sense of attachment around her domestic objects and routines, especially because I experienced them on a daily basis.
These sketches were quick tributes to phrases, objects, snacks, ephemeral flowers, and clothes of a person that no longer exists, and although the illustrations are whimsical, humorous and playful, the experience was more for me to preserve, heal and archive the many intimate moments of her life.
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ART:
NAHLA TABBAA
JORDAN
مسار
A photo series exploring the geography I have flown over while travelling between the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Czech, my three homes for the past 21 years of my life. Photographed using Google Maps, a medium through which I can still visit ‘home’ despite any wars, conflicts or obstacles.
Search
Location
Departure
Route
Detour
Border
Water
Blockage
Passage
Traffic
Center
Arrival
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ART:
SANDRA ABDULHAKOVA
SYRIA
HONEY, I'M HOME
As the Yemeni diaspora in the UAE makes up quite a sizeable chunk of the population, many continue to find ways to get a taste of home despite the ongoing war and conflict.
There is a bus that comes from Hadramout to Abu Dhabi once a week, carrying passengers and kilos of specialty Yemeni food products like Honey, dried fish, locally produced canned Tuna etc.
The bus ride is a somewhat risky journey where it passes through security checkpoints, crosses Oman and finally arrives to Abu Dhabi 30 hours later. I decided to follow my father and brother who went to pick up some goodies sent by my uncle. Some of which, is the ever so quintessential honey that Hadramout is very well known for.
Enjoying the intensely sweet and musky flavor of Hadrami honey is something that allows us to re-connect with the idea of home and celebrate the pride of our produce.
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PHOTOGRAPHY:
SHAIMA AL TAMIMI
YEMEN/UAE
DO YOU KNOW WHAT HOME IS?
HOME
Let Me In
Home
Waiting
Travel
I Exist
Meraki
Close Gate
Chasing Pavements
Balter
Arrived
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PHOTOGRAPHY:
ABDULLA AL SAIDO
SAUDI ARABIA
AIR[LOOM]
•••
Air[loom], is a collaboration with artist Rashed Al Falasi. Relics from our family are shown wrapped in a sterile fashion. In the process of safeguarding these possessions, the possessor is thus distanced from accessing them. The inability to come into contact with these objects mirrors the inability to come into contact with the physical manifestations of family identity. While within reach, the valuables denoting history, family, are rendered distant. This visual essay reflects that home is manifested in material belongings, but that those very physical objects do not ensure an ownership of identity. The tension between identity and ownership, physical objects and belonging, are all colliding themes that are played out in this series.
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PHOTOGRAPHY:
MASHAEL ALSAIE
BAHRAIN
RASHED AL FALASI
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
MY OLD HOUSE WITH MY FATHER
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ART:
ELIA TAWIL
LEBANON