Aya Haidar, a Lebanese artist living and working in London discusses her work and the contemporary Middle Eastern art market

As told to Reem Fekri

Haidar will be showing work at Art Dubai this year and is represented by Bischoff / Weiss, Stand B16

“There is an increasing importance on arts education in that it is more current, generally accepted and better provided for. One must make the distinction however between art education and the shift into art as a profession. I don’t think that step is well accounted for and art students are lacking in the transition from art school to becoming professional artists which is very problematic.

The conceptual process in my work is very much interwoven to the aesthetic of the work itself. I explore whether the durational aspect of craft, more so than other artforms, expresses concepts of time, generational narratives and alluded to feminist narratives by bringing the domestic into a more discursive platform. I place myself at the centre of the work, both physically as the object and emotionally as the subject.

The work comes out of an exploration of the personal, from my heritage of being a Lebanese in the diaspora, my identity as such, both Lebanese and growing u within a British context, and both a personal and political environment i find myself. These stories, and experiences are literally woven into my work, making a self-referential body of work that also seeks to be open up dialogues around the viewer’s experiences.

I'm most pleased with the concept of 1982, for example, which will be shown later this month at Bischoff Weiss Gallery in London. 1982 is an installation comprised of several large maps set in Lebanon. The work exploits hand-marked checkpoints translated into musical phrases where corresponding to a raw, often unpredictable dialect of instrumental sound which floods the space. Inside, darkness fills the room heightening all senses. 1982 inhibits feelings of fear and loss, enhanced by a curiosity to explore. Illuminating a way through the space, the viewer can divine a route through unknown paths and streets of Lebanon. Discovering a distant land; unearthing a familiar political soil. Rendering 1982 as a visual narrative; reading the land like notes.

I would never say that I was unsatisfied with a piece of work – in whichever way a work turns out, there is something to be learnt from it, so I would say I have been happy with all my works, as they all form part of my process, my body of work, my history of art making.

We are assuming that all art is viewed from the West which references all sorts of problematic imperialist discourses of the notion of the ‘gaze’ and [Edward] Said’s Orientalism. I think that politics has become synonymous with the Middle East, which makes politically engaged work rather topical. I see work dealing with politicised realities as bridging a cross cultural gap between the two. It must be said that the Middle East is a rich resource in terms of it’s history,

I do believe there is a shift in focus from the West to the East in the contemporary art market. However, it cannot be discussed in a positive/negative way as this is too reductive.

The art world is often looking for expanding markets, and it forms part of a western discourse around what 'high art' is. This shift is money-driven where there are buyers and makers out there that the West want to capitalise on.”

Photo Credits:

1 – Aya Haidar, Untitled, 2008 Ink and Collage on Paper
Image courtesy of Artist and BISCHOFF/WEISS

2 – Aya Haidar, Peregrination, 2008, Shoes and Thread (Dimensions Variable)
Image courtesy of Artist and BISCHOFF/WEISS

3 – Aya Haidar, The Stitch is Lost Unless the Thread is Knotted, 2008, Shirts and Thread (Dimensions Variable)
Image courtesy of Artist and BISCHOFF/WEISS

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