[-empyre-] (no subject)

[Derderian, Elizabeth]

Hello all
In response to one of Dale's earlier Qs: the artists I have worked with in the UAE have used the internet to make work about exile/belonging/citizenship (or lack thereof), compulsions across boundaries or taboos (physical, emotional, social, etc), hymen rejuvenation schemes that prey on Khaleeji women, to name a few. I think the first two artists, their work is relatable quite broadly. The third artist, her work was meant to spark a conversation amongst local women, which it did; it speaks to global feminist art practices secondarily. Most artists I worked with felt some kind of obligation to speak to a local community they identified with (whether city, nation, ethnicity, religion or region), but struggled to do so in ways that didn't feel a) trite or b) silo them as a [qualifying adjective]* artist - they reported often trying to speak broadly about the human condition from their particular vantage, and being frustrated as writers in the media defined their contributions as valuable solely because of their positionality.

*ie Arab, female Muslim, Emirati, etc. See also: Olu Oguibe, The Culture Game (2004)

-Beth
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