Lakum Art Space’s “Performing Bodies” exhibition, one of 22 partnering galleries of the Misk Art Week, brings together six female local artists to experiment with diverse folkcraft techniques, bringing the area’s rich past to life.
“Not only does Misk Art Week give artists exposure but it gives them a chance to tell their story and that’s what is important. It also allows artists to connect and have this one week of a year to converse and tell their own story whether that’s through a group exhibition or a residency,” 26-year-old exhibiting artist Hana Almilli says.
“It fosters an environment for us all to be in one platform — collaborating galleries and collaborating artists,” Almilli added.
Misk Art Week, which ran from December 5 to 10, aims to give artists a chance to come together and collaborate in workshops, exhibitions, and forums to foster creativity and deepen community engagement.
The “Performing Bodies” show explores tactile art practices handed down from generation to generation, emphasizing the ancestral bond and ritual practice. It focuses on the themes of memory and ritual.
“We’re very proud to be an all-female-led team and to work with these six female artists on producing an exhibition that is so rich in history and tradition, but also reflects the contemporary aesthetic and techniques in textile arts,” Neama A. Al-Sudairi, founding director of Lakum Artspace, said.
Historically created by women, the exhibition’s crafts are associated with a feeling of community in which rituals and methods would be passed down over the years.
The artists explore the Middle East’s rich cultural heritage and social identity through weaving, knitting, folding, stitching, embroidering, and crocheting.
“Within the flourishing contemporary art and design disciplines in the Middle East, we see an attempt to reconcile ruptures between past and present in the form of an intergenerational investigation into practices that link the human body with craft,” Ran Beiruti, the exhibition curator, said.
Almilli participated in a collective art exhibition at the Misk Art Week partner gallery, Lakum Art Space. If the voice has a memory and The Echoes of My Alienation are the titles of two of her art shows.
Afshan Daneshvar (Iran), Dina Haddadin (Jordan), Ghizlane Sahli (Morocco), Hadeyeh Badri (UAE), Hana Almilli (Saudi Arabia), and Nojoud Al-Sudairi are just a few of the artists from the region represented in the exhibition (Saudi Arabia).
The artistic processes used in the show bring together the imaginative faculties of artists in a crucial act of unification that emphasizes the cultural and social character of the area.
Almilli added that this year’s Misk Art Week creates an opportunity for collaboration between diverse artists, whether they are veterans or just beginning their careers.
“Misk Art Week this year accumulates all different avenues to showcase works of younger artists to even more established artists. Putting them in one platform causes an exposure for younger artists and now that they are even collaborating with galleries, it’s so beautiful to see galleries collaborating,” she said.