Rain Coat. Fashion and performance. Liverpool August 2007.

In August 2007, I went to take part in COAST- a Triangle Arts Workshop. Summer is not the same everywhere and I soon realised that Liverpoolian summer was going to be cold and all I could think of is rain and how to deal with it. At the end, it turned out to be a fresh summer and all was well. But meanwhile, I was keen on making myself a Liverpool rain coat. It is made of chicken mesh and wire for flexibility, protection yet a sense of difficulty or anxiety, it is covered with sewn plastic pockets holding every day memorabilia from my 2 weeks in this new place, objects from fellow workshop artists, from the brewery next door, the walk from the dorms to the gallery, etc. On the exhibition day I suggested putting on to visitors, sort of wear my experience, my diary in Liverpool.

thank you Dagmar!

 

 

for more:

http://coastinternationalartists.com/overview.html

 http://www.afoundation.org.uk/liverpool/education.php?id=5

Princess DYNA (diana)

DYNA, collaborative project with Hanan Khalil, Meeting Points3, Amman, Jordan

This projects brings to attention the relationship between a driver and his diana (DYNA toyota truck). A space where the driver creates a moment of fantasy and space of privacy and all his dreams possibly come true. 

This truck, used for transporting varying things from banana to humans, furniture and sheep, is highly decorated and every year there is a new fashion which involves the upholster, carpenter, painter, and the accessory shop owner.  

Hanan and I met with the different groups of men who work these trucks, and work on them. We went on journeys and made interviews. This is a "man's" world that uses very "female" elements: heart shaped cushions, little stuffed teddy bears, velvet, dolls, sequin, and a lot of glitter. 

 






















We recreated a DYNA truck and placed it during the Meeting Point event on an accessible terrace, people could sit in it, pretend to drive it overlooking the city, and watch a video recording of an ninterview and trip taken with one of the DYNA true drivers. A sneak peak on the private life of a DYNA truck driver.


The post cards we deisgned were part of the work, a document, a piece of transporation.

http://www.makanhouse.net/content/meeting-points-2005

bibliography:
http://rubasaqr.blogspot.com/2008/02/artist-diala-khasawnih-to-launch-beauty.html

The First Bra Boutique

 
The First Bra Boutique, an installation work in Makan, Amman, Jordan, May, 2008
with a production award from the Culture Resource, Cairo, Egypt and support from Makan.  

A part of the installation took part in a group show in Cairo, organised by the Culture Resource as part of the Spring Festival in May, 2010.
http://www.mawred.org/en/events/2010-events/162

This project started from a shared experience (realised over conversations) in getting the first bra from a particular lingerie boutique in Amman in the period from say 1975-1985. I was ten and the woman was shameless, with long red nails and a diamond ring she strapped me and I was never comfortable again. 

The installation included a collection of bra stories from different women printed in a small book with illustrations and commentaries by the artist, a collection of used bras and memorabilia. It turns out everyone has a story to tell about a bra. The bra transforms into a symbol about sexuality, coming of age, ageing, public/private space, sickness, beauty, gender and more and above all that this piece of torture (unless you do not really need it) is used by women across the board, exhibited on shop windows and can be as expensive as hell, yet there is a lot of whispering around it, it is still a secret. 

 

 

For more, check http://www.makanhouse.net/content/first-bra-boutiqueinstallation.



bibliography
http://www.jo.jo/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=659:bold-and-brassiere&catid=77:culture&Itemid=176

http://www.al-akhbar.com/ar/node/74557 
 http://www.360east.com/?p=977
http://www.jocr8.com/interview/5
http://rafique-n.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-days-as-anti-feminist-are-totally.html

Of my grandmother. Painting. Amman 2009.

my grandmother, is the second from the right in the back row.

120*120 cm. oil and paper on wood

50*70cm. mixed media on wood

50*70 cm. mixed media on wood

This is part of a painting series exhibited in Zara Gallery in Amman, Jordan, 2009. To see the whole collection, visit gallery site: http://www.zaragallery.org/content/ArtistDetails.aspx?a_id=110 

bibliography

http://www.aramram.com/episode/173

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=17777

http://www.alghad.com/index.php/rss/frame.php?news=428896

http://www.al-akhbar.com/ar/node/144443

food artwork

Food with artists in Makan
1. April, 15th 2010, Diala Khasawnih's studio, Amman
a collaborative cooking event with artists Sav and Ana Pecar (artists in residence in Makan). The idea is to bring together all three artists in an interactive, playful, and intimate setting with an audience (invited group of artists, art practitioners and writers), check: http://tinyurl.com/3ysw3hs 

2. September 2009, ¿QUIÉN PUEDE VIVIR EN ESTA CASA? An art space in Buenos Aires, Argetina.
This cooking project, a collabroative work with curator Ola Khalidi, was part of a residency in the art space in Argentina run by artists Lucrecia Urbano. The project involved several cooking feasts, a cook book of recipes including where to get the ingredients locally, in English and Spanish, and wall displays of the dishes and recipes in the kitchen of the residency home. Check http://www.makanhouse.net/content/makan-cooks-argentina

Food in Shatana (Shatana International Artist Workshop, Shatana village open day, Jordan)
1. Shatana Workshop 2009
this project is a collection of recipes with stories and illustrations documenting recipes specific to the shatana workshop menu. Food is very important in the workshop, it brings the participants together, conversation takes place, relationships develop and all the craziness of organising the workshop is okay for the duration of a meal. The collection was photocpied and bound in a small booklet and distributed on the open day. http://www.makanhouse.net/content/diala-khasawnih-jordan-1

2. Shatana Workshop 2008
This project involved several people from the village (mainly women) who make food at home to bring in income. They were encouraged and assisted to display and sell their produce on the open day and placed on the event map which indicates the locations of the art works/performances by the participating artists. http://www.makanhouse.net/content/diala-khasawnih-jordan

3. Shatana Workshop 2007
Shatana village is a small village with a 150 quickly dwindling population. Many women, to support their families, have turned into the production of dairy foods such as cheese, butter, jameed, labaneh and yogurt. Labaneh, soft and cream-cheese like, is a popular ingredient of every breakfast in Jordan, a favourite of mine. In this project I created a jewelry shop in an abandoned house and placed the labaneh (which is often preserved in small ball shapes in jars of olive oil) one ball in a small jar each filled with olive oil in a display mimicking that of jewels in a boutique and called it Habbat el Lulu (pearls).
http://www.makanhouse.net/content/diala-khasawnih-jordan-0

3. blog on food:
example: 
Saturday, May 29, 2010
makmoura from eidoun

makmoura is a very personal dish for me. it is about my grandmother in a small village up north of jordan. and now my aunt makes it. it is big and festive. my grandmother woke up as early as 2.00 am to start cooking it, for it took hours and hours in the oven after all the onion chopping and meant and/or chicken cooking and dough preparing.

so my aunt and sita made it for us this time with me present to watch and understand and possibly one day cook.

1. the onions: finely chop a lot of onions and cook with a lot of olive oil, some salt, 7 spice mix and add cumin and cinnamon. cook until soft but not totally. keep to cool to avoid burning fingers.

2. the game, a mix of meat and chicken seems to be the standard
boil the chicken first for five minutes and take away the fat in
the water.

in a deep pan heat some oil with a bit of onion then add the meat (spice with salt, 7-spice mix, cumin, cinnamon, sumac, bay leaves and some curry leave) and cook for a few minutes before adding in the chicken and cook until 85% done.

3. mix white flour (1 third) and brown flour (2 thirds) with salt, sesame seeds, black seeds (قزحة) then start adding water until it is a fine thick dough, soft enough to spread with hands, use olive oil to avoid dough sticking on hands. 

start the layering in a deep oven pan, first two layers of thin dough flats. then spread onion mix on each layer using fingers, add some of the chicken/meat stock from the meat pan. then add the pieces of meat and chicken, say 2-4 pieces each layer. and so on until the pan is full and you end with a thick layer of dough. cover with foil and place in medium heat oven and leave for 3 hours. to check if done, taste the top layer of dough if done (still soft and all) then all layers are done.

flip upside down on a big pan and serve to a huge crowd. the bigger the merrier. you may want to have some yogurt with it, or a yogurt drink. delightful.

traditional alternative: place layer after layer of dough and in the center place all the meat/chicken and wrap dough around it, like a ball with the meat as center. it used to be cooked in taboun oven and covered all over with heat.

Posted by zareefeh at 9:36 PM 4 comments