Curated by Meena Vari
Adlita Stephan (LEBANON) / Dalia Baassiri (LEBANON/UAE) / Ghada Zoghbi (LEBANON) / GS Smitha (INDIA) / Elizabeth Dorazio (BRAZIL/UAE) / Karine Roche (FRANCE/UAE) / Lana Khayat (SPAIN/UAE) / Najat Makki (UAE) / Najia Mehadji (MOROCCO) / Salmah Almansoori (UAE) / Zena Assi (UK) / Zoe Benbow (UK)
An exhibition exploring the concept of a social and physical landscape and its distinctive representation and unique perspective by female artists.The conventional cultural portrayal of land has often been imbued with gendered connotations: Nature is frequently personified as female, as is the Earth itself; land can be seen as "Virgin," conquered through the endeavours of predominantly male explorers; places can be perceived as either spoiled, idealised, forbidden, or untouched.
Remarkably, the language of geography often parallels that of sexuality, divided into active and passive roles. This language also connected creativity with one aspect of life and procreation with another. In this cultural framework, a landscape artist may consciously or unconsciously align themselves with the role of a creator-explorer-documentor, regardless of their gender.
Considering the historical barriers women have faced in accessing land, pursuing travel, being outdoors at large, it stands to reason their experiences of the world are distinct and unique compared to their male counterparts - artists or not.Should we then reconsider the landscape through a gender focused perspective?