Al Tariqah (The Path) features selected works by the multimedia Arab-American artist Sama Alshaibi (b. 1973, Basra, Iraq). This exhibition presents photographs from the series “Silsila”, and “Negative’s Capable Hands” in which the artist explores concepts of borders, migration, and the relationship of her body to nature and its resources. Alshaibi‘s first memory of photographs was watching her parents fleeing the war in Iraq; gathering their family photographs with her mother sewing them into the folds of their clothes. For Alshaibi and her family, photography serves as a sacred means of holding onto the memory of their life before experiencing displacement from two homelands, Palestine and Iraq. Her work operates outside the typical art studio; the featured photographs and video works serve as a documentation of private performances in desert and water landscapes. The Silsila series was inspired by the travels of the great 14th century Moroccan scholar and traveler Ibn Battuta, whereas the Negative’s Capable Hands series explores Rumi poetry portraying natural resources from a poetic perspective.
Exhibition Curator: Tala Nassar, Student May 2019, NYUAD
Exhibition Advisor: Salwa Mikdadi, Associate Professor Practice of Art History, NYUAD
About the Artist
Sama Alshaibi is Co-Chair and Professor of Photography, Video, and Imaging at the University of Arizona. She holds a BA in Photography from Columbia College and an MFA in Photography, Video, and Media Arts from the University of Colorado. Alshaibi’s art has been exhibited at international biennials, museums, and galleries and was featured in fifteen solo exhibitions including Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary art. Her video art and films were screened at several film festivals and museums such as MoMA/NY, Darat al Funun Amman, and Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris. Her work is found in many international collections. She was awarded a Fullbright Scholar Fellowship and the title of the University of Arizona1885 Distinguished Scholar. She is represented by Ayyam Gallery in Dubai.