We explore the artists’ favourite pieces to understand the breadth of reencountering in ‘I Forgot What You Felt Like’.
In London, two Arab women - Christina Shoucair and Kinzy Diab - are on a mission to ensure the stories of this generation’s Arab women do not go untold. With a chosen medium for storytelling as art, the duo lead nomadic gallery/art collective Hayaty Diaries across the city, making ripples that extend throughout the global artistic community. Their impact is consistently driven by the stories of prolific Arab women creating art.
In their newest exhibition, ‘I Forgot What You Felt Like’, Hayaty Diaries invites four Arab women to ponder the concept of ‘return’ in their chosen mediums. Specifically, they provoke the concept of a re-encounter with something that is deeply familiar, but with which they have been disconnected with. In the words of Lebanese photographer Yasmina Hilal, “Objects and people carry the essence of a time and place.” In its specificity, this question evoked an expansive range of emotions in the artists in question, Yasmina Hilal, Zahra Holm, Raya Kassisieh and Huda Jamal.
Yasmina Hilal - 'The Warmth of My Bed'
A Beiruti photographer with an extensive portfolio in both fashion and mixed media, Hilal has been a long-standing contributor to Hayaty Diaries’ exhibitions. Her favourite piece in ‘I Forgot What You Felt Like’ is a portrait of love and grief taken in her grandmother’s home. “I recently lost my grandmother, and this photo was taken in my bedroom at her home,” Hilal explains. “Since her passing, I haven't been able to bring myself to visit the place. Having this piece as a memory of her home means so much to me - it keeps a part of her close.”
With the hope of providing viewers with a space for reflection, Hilal’s work holds up a mirror to memory, loss and hope. “Much of my work revolves around memory, motherhood, and a deep sense of appreciation. Objects and people carry the essence of a time and place, and the ability to see through them to capture their stories is what resonates with me.”
Zahra Holm - ‘Echoes’
Holm’s reencountering is centred around a concept more familiar to her than anything else: her body. When approached for the exhibition, she had just given birth, and decided to create a number of paintings to explore this new territory she has unlocked within herself. “The subject of my artistic oeuvre is the human form, and I wanted to see what my consciousness had to say in this new special chapter of my life,” the artist tells us. “I'm slowly experiencing this concept of 'reencountering', not with someone or something but with myself and my own body.”
“'Echoes' is the first piece I did postpartum, only a few weeks after giving birth. It represents the stage I was in, with mixed feelings, a body in pieces, in recovery and that sense of bittersweet experience of rediscovery. The two other pieces, 'Dawn of Quiet Sun' and 'Waves of Becoming', have a brighter feeling, a deep and soothing connection with my identity and the new version of myself.”
Utilising an abstract art form, Holm hopes her work invites, above all, contemplation.
Raya Kassisieh - ‘Close, Closer, Closed’
Palestinian-Jordanian multidisciplinary artist Kassisieh’s second appearance in a Hayaty Diaries exhibition features steel, copper and canvas. Her favourite work, ‘Close, Closer, Closed’ tackles an intimate embrace of self in 3D.
“The work captures the embrace of a moment between body and object; with the object in question being a body pillow, which is in fact a distorted soft sculpture bust made of the holder's own body. The sculptures capture this longing, the embrace meeting the deeply familiar yet distorted self. It is the cementing of a moment - a moment of attempt to confront grief and longing for love lost.”
Whether it evokes a sweet memory, critique or anger, Kassisieh creates with the aim of leaving room for reflection and ample pondering.
Huda Jamal - ‘Strangers in Bed’
Having participated in Hayaty Diaries’ debut exhibition ‘Through Their Eyes’, Bahraini artist Huda Jamal is no stranger to the female narrative. In fact, her favourite piece for ‘I Forgot What You Felt Like’ charts a space well-traversed by women: the feeling of being misunderstood.
“‘Strangers in Bed’ delves into the emotional disconnection that can arise between individuals who are constantly in each other's presence, whether romantically or platonically, but lack empathy in their relationship,” Jamal tells us. “This piece resonates deeply with me and captures a situation that feels deeply familiar and personal in my own life, but its impact does not end at my experience, it speaks to anyone who has experienced feeling consistently misunderstood in a particular situation.”
Using soft hues and artwork that feels vaguely homelike, Jamal’s art hopes to provide viewers with a sense of validation. “My goal is to evoke a sense of being heard and understood through my work.”
