Considered the most important art show in the United States, this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach will feature a panel discussion presented by Canvas, a magazine dedicated to art and culture in the Middle East.
The third, and final, installment in their series “Gender, Wars and Chadors, the panel will feature world-renowned artists Akram Zaatari of Lebanon, French-Algerian Kader Attia, and Ghada Amer from Egypt.
Canvas’ series was initiated as a response to the rising interest in Middle Eastern art.
Moderated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, of the Serpentine Gallery in London, the panel is intended as an opportunity for mideast artists to discuss issues of regional stereotypes, censorship and identity in a less restrictive environment than that of the region.
Daily News Egypt interviewed international provocateur, Ghada Amer, whose education in France and adulthood in New York never removed her consciousness of women that first developed in Egypt. The resulting art has been showcased from the Brooklyn Museum to the Venice Biennale to the Tel Aviv Art Museum. Evoking global controversy and acclaim, Amer’s erotic depictions of the female body use the medium of traditionally feminine crafts such as embroidery, combined with the male-dominated art form of painting.
One of the world’s best known Middle Eastern artists, she herself admits that her motivation came simply from a rejection of self-censorship. The result is an oeuvre that challenges even the most avant-garde viewer. If current attitudes towards sexuality in the Middle East endure, her quasi pornographic images may never go on display in her native Egypt; a pity, considering their power to force the viewer to question his or her assumptions about femininity, feminism and the power of the female form.
Daily News Egypt: Your work has received international acclaim in the world of contemporary art, yet it seems that your themes could apply most directly to audiences who aren’t necessarily exposed to international art, such as in your native Egypt. Would you hope for greater publicity for your work in Egypt and the Middle East?
Ghada Amer: I don t know. I would like that but it seems that Egypt is not ready for me or for any questions about “What happened to Egypt? , “Why did we become such a puritanical country? , “Why are we fearing and not loving? , “What are we embarrassed about? . Take an example. My mother, my own mother, hates my work, is embarrassed by it. She loves my success but not my work, and this I find so sad!
How do men and women’s reactions to your work differ?
I didn t do the math but I don t think there is a big [gender] difference in loving or hating the work.
How do reactions to your work differ by location? In Cairo versus in New York, for example.
In Egypt it is a much more political work.
In your lifetime, Muslim women in the Middle East have moved away from the Western feminism that appealed in the 1960s, sometimes for example, using the hijab as a symbol of both liberation and resistance. Do you think a universal feminism is possible, or will it remain culture-specific?
I think a universal feminism is a must. I consider that I speak to all women throughout the world. This is what I am trying to achieve.
Dialogue about contemporary art often occurs in academic language on a theoretical level, yet it would seem that many of your themes are intended to communicate on the gut level. How do you reconcile the style of art criticism with your own work?
I don t think about that when I work. I don t care about art criticism. The only thing I see is that it has to say whatever I feel. I did have a very good training though in art school at Villa Arson in Nice. It trained us on a very theoretical level on one hand and on a poetical level on the other.
If you could choose any group, population or individual to show your work to, who would it be?
My answer is going to shock you maybe, but it would be to teenagers. This group is the most likely to resonate because this is when we think about our own sexuality with great fear and with no one to help but the morality of our society. And sometime it is so devastating. I think my pain comes from my teenage years and this is what I am talking about in my paintings. But teenagers usually have a strong reaction to my work and usually they are shocked and intrigued.
What triggered you to first create works so intensely controversial for their eroticism?
My only intention was to express myself without any self-censorship.
How was your work received when you first began?
I was in France. It was received ok. Not because of the subject matter but just because I was just a “young artist and usually it is hard.
Which other artists do you admire, either for their craft or their intentions?
I like very much Rosemarie Trockel, Mona Hatoum, Barbara Kruger and Fernand Leger.
For more information about the “Gender, Wars and Chadors, panel discussion, visit www.canvasonline.com.
