i am anything, i am everything

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I Am Anything, I Am Everything Ayman Yossri Daydban Robert Kluijver

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Catalogue of solo exhibition by Saudi artist Ayman Yossri Daydban at Athr Gallery, Jeddah, Jan 2012

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Page 1: I am Anything, I am Everything

I Am Anything, I Am Everything

Ayman Yossri DaydbanRobert Kluijver

Page 2: I am Anything, I am Everything

I Am Anything, I Am Everything

Ayman Yossri DaydbanRobert Kluijver

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© Athr Gallery, 1433 h, 2012

Ayman Yossri DaydbanAthr GalleryEdited by Robert Kluijver, 1433h

112 pages, 19 x 29 cm

This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License.

All rights reserved to Athr Gallery, 2012

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means whatsoever, without written permission from the publisher. For any information contact Athr Gallery on the following address:Athr Gallery5th Floor Business CenterWing B, Serafi Mega MallPrince Mohammed Abdul AzizTahlia Street, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaT: +966 2 284 5009F: +966 2 284 5009 ext. [email protected]

All the texts and photos herein published are included in this book with the consent of all concerned. The book editor, publisher, and the printer do not hold any responsibility of any breach of rights or any other breach of laws. No effort has been saved for ensuring all information and names are correct. Should there be any errors or omissions, Athr Gallery would be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgement in any subsequent editions.

Typeset in: Seria Sans & Rotis Semi Serif

Photography: Bourkan Kaoukji, Majed Al Malki

Designed by Al Mohtaraf Assaudi Ltd.

Printed in Sarawat Printers, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

First Edition, January 2012

Ayman Yossri Daydban

I Am Anything, I Am Everything

Robert Kluijver

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Hamza SerafiFounder, Athr Gallery

Foreword

We come from a land of storytelling

From scattered oasis that were born from the stars

Oasis that hide under the shade of palm trees, far from prying eyes

We have harvested art since the beginning of time, and despite the harshness of the seasons, our palms yield only the ripest dates

And when the light began to shine, we were there with our souls laid bare before you, so that you may know them, and be touched

But Ayman has been set free! His earthly body is transformed into spirit and consciencehe is anything, and everything

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Ayman Yossri Daydban is one of the most promising artist living in Saudi Arabia. In recent years his work has figured in several international art fairs and exhibitions – notably the 2011 Venice Biennial — The Future of a Promise.

The exhibition that this book accompanies, ‘I Am Anything, I Am Everything’, marks a major step forward in his practice. Although Ayman Yossri Daydban arguably always was a conceptual artist, he has now thrown himself whole-heartedly into the development of a single concept, which has generated the body of work currently shown. This book explores that concept and its expressions.

Before delving into his work, however, we must understand the artist’s environment. Ayman, though born Palestinian, has lived all his life in Jeddah, and he has been an important participant in the city’s art world since the early 1990s. Its developments influenced and were reflected in Ayman’s artistic growth. In recent years, Saudi society has been changing so rapidly that artists felt it necessary to reveal the current dynamics of the scene. For this, I chose the method of collective discussions.

At my request, Athr Gallery convened a series of meetings with participants in the Jeddah art scene, including artists, collectors and art critics, to discuss the issues that drive its transformation. The transcripts of these conversations, edited and mixed with fragments of one-on-one discussions with art lovers in Jeddah, led to the first chapter in this book, ‘Voices from Jeddah’.

I also had the chance to speak at length with the artist, during my five-day visit to Jeddah, about his practice in general and the new series of works in particular. This material resulted in the interview with Ayman Yossri Daydban and a review of the present exhibition.

Robert Kluijver

Salwa Mikdadi, one of the foremost scholars of modern and contemporary Arab art, contributed an analysis of Ayman’s recent work, focusing on his deconstruction of the Palestinian national narrative.

I feel that the multiple perspectives offered in this book do justice to Ayman’s recent work. A single reading by one person would have been inappropriate in any case, given the multi-layered nature of the works displayed in ‘I Am Anything, I Am Everything’. This exhibition, together with the Edge of Arabia exhibition in Jeddah that opens the day before – tellingly entitled ‘We Need to Talk’ – confirms that Saudi contemporary art has reached a new stage in its development, and has sufficient vitality to continue surprising the rest of the world.

I would like to thank Athr Gallery’s wonderful team, including Hamza Serafi, Mohammed Hafiz, Maya El Khalil and Wedad Nazer; Kameel Hawa, Yara Khoury and Khalid Rabea of Al Mohtaraf Publishing; and last but not least Ayman Yossri Daydban himself for generously spending five days with me and letting me discover his world.

Robert Kluijver, January 2012

Introduction

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Regional ContextA: A renaissance is happening in the region. The revolutions taking place are not

simply political; I believe they are revolutions of expression. Art is a means of expression that isn’t governed by the constraints imposed on our traditional ways of self-expression.

G: Art is for us a new method of communication for depicting reality across cultural boundaries. It can be used to counter the stereotypical image of Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world in general that is generated by the global media. This was the only source of information available to people around the world. But now we also have art.

G: I think the timing for the emergence of the Saudi art scene couldn’t have been more perfect: the spotlight is right on us. Many people wonder what is happening in this country.

A: People abroad would not believe that someone like me exists [a female Saudi movie director], or that there are other, internationally successful, artists in Saudi Arabia. In the West, there is only one image of Saudis: terrorists.

G: There is a difference between the art currently we see emerging in Saudi Arabia and that made by Middle Eastern artists living in the West. The latter mainly address a Western audience, sometimes reproducing stereotypes, while artists here express the Saudi environment. What’s interesting is to see that you now see local Middle Eastern artists such as Ayman [Yossri Daydban] on the international art scene.

G: These Saudi artists don’t offer the West what it wants to see.

G: Most Saudi artists do not have a classical art education. They are creative people trying to express themselves, to express an idea or a feeling through a novel medium, and they discovered that the best medium for this is art. That makes the Saudi art scene conceptually very strong, because the artists are trying to invent a new language for expressing themselves, despite all the constraints.

The following discussions were held mid December 2011 in Jeddah. The participants included Ayman Yossri Daydban, other artists, collectors and other people strongly involved in the art scene. The Athr Gallery convened three meetings, in the gallery and in the artist’s studio, which were moderated by the author. Besides, the author held many one-on-one conversations during his research visit. The transcripts of the meetings and the notes taken by the author were edited and rearranged according to the themes touched upon.

Artists are indicated by ‘A’, while ‘G’ stands for all the other guests. The sections between [brackets] have been added by the author for clarification.

Discussion of the Saudi Art Scene todayVoices from Jeddah

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G: Saudi Arabia is not a colonized country that was influenced by the colonizing country’s art. That gives Saudi art its genuine nature.

G: And Saudi culture is one. Other Arab cultures are a melting pot. I can see this in Lebanese culture for example. This makes Saudi art unique.

G: For ages, Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus were the leading cities of the Arab art world, but now this position seems to be shifting to the Gulf.

G: What is happening in the Gulf art world is very interesting. It’s moving at a fast forward pace, but it’s not based on strong fundamentals - at least the contemporary art scenes in some cities of the region. There you find interesting initiatives for supporting the arts and a lot of galleries, but very few good local artists. The question is whether it’s possible to build an art scene top-down.

G: But now Abu Dhabi has the Louvre and the Guggenheim, instead of only having a Ferrari world. This gives credibility to artists and art generally; it recognizes their social role. OK, you cannot buy culture; you cannot create culture with money. But you can build institutions that become platforms for artists to express themselves and experiment. Artists, not only in the Gulf but in the whole Arab world, need these platforms. Where else do you find them?

G: The Gulf countries have created a market for countries in the region where the local artistic scene has been developed bottom-up; they complement each other.

G: Without the development of the art market in the Gulf, the Saudi art scene would not have developed, at least not in the way it is doing now.

JeddahG: Within the Gulf Region, there are two or three areas where cultures developed

steadily throughout the ages. The Hijaz, Asir, and probably Yemen: in short, the West coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

G: We could also add Bahrain and Muscat.

A: Jeddah and Mecca have been cosmopolitan cities since the beginning of the Islamic age because of pilgrimage. If you look at the population of these two cities, you see many Saudis with ancestors from all over the world: from Sudan to Turkmenistan. This has made the people of the Hijaz relatively receptive and creative.

A: There is also a Sufi tradition in the Hijaz and Asir, which makes people here more open to art than in other parts of the country.

G: The people of Nejd and Riyadh have a solid cultural tradition too.

G: That is a tribal culture. They have no tradition in visual arts. You can see the difference between the art scenes in Riyadh and Jeddah: Jeddah is more visual arts-based.

G: And Riyadh has a more intellectual and literate scene.

G: The cultural background of the Saudi West coast is essential for the development of its artistic scene. There is no such fertile soil in the Center and East of Saudi Arabia. What can you tap into over there? From what can you create? You can’t fast-track all that and just develop something and call it “contemporary” without going through certain phases. It just has to take more time. This is also true for other countries in the region.

A: There is not much to inspire an artist in Jeddah, either in terms of aesthetics or of social situations. Maybe this is because the urban explosion of Jeddah—and other Saudi cities— coincided with a regressive, anti-art period of the 1980s and 90s.

G: The sculpture park along the Corniche [with works by Moore, Miró, Cesar and other international artists] may have been an element of inspiration for local artists.

A: I used to play there, we would climb on the sculptures. But we didn’t think of them as ‘art’. We would go there because it was one of the few public spaces in the city. I don’t know if it inspired me. Maybe at an unconscious level.

Voices from Jeddah

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G: There was no information about those sculptures, nor about the artists: not even their names. They only stood there to beautify the city, not to give the public an art education.

Current DynamicsG: The 1970s were essential for the development of the Saudi art scene. It was our

first contact with the rest of the world.

A: There was even an art college in Riyadh then, you could become a professional artist. I was lucky enough to attend it. Then, from the early 1980s onward, we went through two decades where society was isolated. Whereas the essence of art is to develop your own voice. Even throughout that period, art did not disappear. It just isolated itself in different cells.

G: Those that continued practicing arts, like Ayman [Yossri Daydban], were brave.

G: From the late 1990s, Saudi Arabia was hit by the communication revolution. Internet and satellite television opened up the country. Nowadays, whatever is happening abroad is retransmitted here.

A: Global consumer society invaded our private lives through TV and internet, the malls, the fast-food chains etc. Just like the rest of Saudi society, I welcomed this change because it provided a relief from the strict society in which we grew up in, cut off from the rest of the world. But now I wonder if we’re not the victim of an imposed ideology like before, only it’s not Saudi, it’s global.

G: At least art is accepted as part of the global consumer society. When I drive down the streets I see more and more art galleries. I stop to look what’s happening inside. I pretend I want to buy something and then the people running these places, often artists themselves, start talking to me with love about the art they display. People are more conscious about art now, they cherish the idea of being an artist.

G: Even the national and local TV stations have started discussing art, inviting artists to speak about their work.

G: One of the reasons we appreciate art is because it is light, it is fresh, it is an escape from the pressure of our society. The art community today is very small, but at least it is there.

G: There is room for growth. The Saudi art scene is an open field; you can shape it in whatever way you want to; this sense of promise or opportunity drives many people.

G: A more general thirst for culture exists in our society. There was a conference for architectural heritage in the Red Sea Mall. Traditional craftsmen from different parts of the country were invited to build their houses in the traditional style - inside the mall - and there was a photographic exhibition. It was a great success.

G: The malls have become the main public space for most people. They are the places with most foot traffic, where people can meet freely.

Social DeterminantsG: Saudis are brought up to perceive things in a determined way. There is no

freedom of interpretation. Take this glass for example: abroad it could be anything, you could put rocks in it to make it into a musical instrument. Here the perception is very limited: it is only a glass. This limits the receptivity of people to abstract art. Take Ayman’s recent flags: here most people will see them as old metal, and that it belongs in a junkyard. They will not search for its different meanings.

A: The strong egalitarianism in our society may also have a downside. It discourages individualism, while the need for individual creative expression is the basis of art.

Voices from Jeddah

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G: Religion comes into play as soon as you start drawing or making something. Are you idolizing it or trying to prolong its life: what are you trying to do? So the question goes back to what art is, and what it is supposed to be.

G: In other Arab countries people are surrounded by art, and have learnt how to relate to it. But not here.

G: Social conservatism also plays a role. There are people who will not want the artist to even hint at anything that is against their sense of how matters ought to be portrayed.

A: These people receive a lot of popular support. Twitter gives a good indication. A conservative sheikh may have up to 400.000 followers, but the liberal opinion-makers will have a few thousand at most.

Art EducationA: In our schoolbooks, a line would be drawn across the neck of human figures, to

indicate that their soul had departed and that they were not representations of living beings. I think that’s where the expression ‘red lines’ came from.

A: In school, we were not even allowed to draw a face or a human figure; now that has changed, but not completely.

G: Art education was not available when I grew up here; even now, I cannot find a class to take, maybe they are more available to women than to men.

G: But there is a demand for it. When I started taking art classes in Jeddah ten years ago, women would come all the way from Mecca or Taif. I believe that frustration fired these girls. They came to art because they needed a place to express their dreams.

G: Nowadays some private universities have started offering classes such as art appreciation or art history.

A: What’s needed is visual education in all fields, not only in art. Children should be taught how to look critically, discern and think for themselves. We should start with museums of science, history and anthropology, not with contemporary art. This will provide the references and the basis for truly understanding art.

G: Visual education should include an appreciation of our cultural heritage. You cannot understand the present without understanding the past.

G: For some reason, even calligraphy or geometric art are not taught in our schools, although they are part of our culture.

Red LinesG: We now have more freedom of expression then we used to. This encourages

artistic creation.

G: The art scene is still limited to a relatively small group. We don’t know what would happen if the masses would gain access to this art scene.

G: Let’s face it, there is still a lot of censorship in our society.

G: But there’s no turning back the wheel now. The red lines of yesteryear have been passed. Where would the new red lines be drawn?

G: The seed has been planted. Some steps may be taken back, but you cannot turn the whole clock back… just delay further development.

G: For now, censorship is becoming more and more lenient. The government is becoming more flexible.

G: The artists can learn to leap over the barriers limiting their artistic expression, instead of being blocked by them.

G: I feel that the red lines imposed by society are part of the strength of Saudi art. Living somewhere with restrictions can challenge an artist in a very positive sense. It forces him to be extra clever and creative in the execution of his ideas,

Voices from Jeddah

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and, above all, to be subtle. The result is almost a kind of refinement rather than works that are loud and explosive. Smaller steps are always better than giant leaps, because they go unnoticed. Giant leaps cause giant backlashes, which can be counterproductive. The smaller steps are the ones that are here to stay.

A: As an artist, you try to provoke people in a delicate manner. You want to wake them up, but not turn them away from you.

A: From my experience in the art scene, I notice that censorship usually doesn’t have this positive impact. Most artists do not dare reveal the truth of their thoughts. Even when we heard that we artists should freely express ourselves, an internal censor was turned on because we thought that this was a trap. The artist had lost his capacity for expressing himself freely. Only artists who dare express their opinions find creative ways of dealing with the red lines in our society.

The Shabab (Youth)G: Sixty percent of the population is under thirty; this generation lives differently

from the way we lived; they are developing their own values.

G: The new generation has to figure out a way of dealing with the world that we, the older generation, have constructed. And not only in Saudi Arabia, this is a challenge for the young all over the world. The new generation is discovering its own voice, and is finding out that it is a communications tool that can impact reality — not only virtual reality.

A: The new generation of artists has matured during a very suitable period, historically, because it coincided with the opening up of the country by King Abdullah. We — I consider myself member of the older generation — fought the young artists at the beginning, we used to deal with them condescendingly. But they went their own way, and started developing new art forms in a culturally real and deeply felt manner. Then we started learning from them — at least I did.

G: The ambitiousness of many of those young artists and their ability to absorb the world around them is astonishing.

G: Exposure to TV, color, vibrancy and movement has changed the new generation’s aesthetic values.

G: The new generation of artists is experimenting with new media and novel shapes and forms. We are going to see a kind of art we haven’t seen before.

G: New media are really big, especially photography. There seems to be hundreds of photographers showing their work in the malls. Recently, I was a panel member on a jury for a photographic competition. We received more than 400 entries!

ShortcomingsG: We need more exhibition space, places to see art. Jeddah, a city of nearly

four million people, does not have any exhibition halls, no contemporary art museums, and only one good gallery: Athr. This is the only place one can go to if one wants to see good contemporary art.

G: The artist can only play a social role if his work is accessible to the masses. He needs a platform. Today some platforms are emerging, for example, the international tour of Edge of Arabia and the virtual museum BASMOCA [Edge of Arabia is a traveling exhibition of contemporary Saudi art. Following its launch in London in 2008 it has traveled to Riyadh, Berlin, Istanbul, Dubai and Venice. For Basmoca see page 20].

G: There needs to be a space where artists can interact with each other, where they can discuss their work and comment on each other’s art. Thus creating the nucleus of an art community.

A: The most important thing for me as an artist is to have the support of a safe place–a studio–my temple, my shrine, where I can continue to create whether they see my art or not.

Voices from Jeddah

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G: Artists need exposure, they need to be pushed.

G: What is most sorely missing is good art criticism.

G: What we really need in this country is a non-profit sector. You don’t have grants for artists or residency programs here; we look for them in Europe. We need a non-profit art movement, whether supported by the government or the private sector or both.

G: There is al Mansouria Foundation, established by HRH Princess Jawaher bint Majed. This was one of the first foundations to raise awareness of Saudi art at the national and international level. It has a good collection of modern and contemporary Saudi art. It is a non-profit organization that offers residencies in Paris. This is an example that needs to be followed.

G: We also need to open communication channels for the art world. I feel there is a lack of communication between the artists and within the art scene. One of us mentioned an exhibition in the Red Sea Mall. I hadn’t heard about it and wonder where I could have found out about it.

PolicyG: The government could offer opportunities for art education, and provide platforms

that facilitate artistic expression and discussion. Provide an art infrastructure. Beyond that, I recommend that the government does not get involved.

G: We must keep in mind that Saudi Arabia is a very young country. We are less than 100 years old. There was nothing. A total desert. We needed to create schools, universities, roads… we had other priorities.

G: The government has no rules and regulations to deal with art. Specific policies should be developed to deal with the art sector.

A: The government should support art in general by acknowledging its impact on the general social climate. It should create opportunities and spaces for artists and allow the emergence of organizations that support the arts.

G: At a policy level, the government could encourage private-sector initiatives. Like providing tax cuts and other incentives for stimulating private-sector investments in the public art sphere. Because there are many ideas and solutions for developing the art scene in the private sector.

G: In many places in the world, there are old warehouses that have been converted into studio and exhibition spaces where artists and their visitors can meet, exchange ideas and comment on each other.

G: There was an initiative in the old town to create an artists’ space. I don’t know if it’s going to happen. This would be the kind of government action that we need.

A: There was a place like that, the Al Miftaha arts village near Abha, which was sponsored by King Faisal. It was a great place where some of the most famous Saudi artists today matured. But now it is about to close for lack of funding.

G: One of the issues dogging the development of an art scene in this country is bad management. Many good initiatives did not receive proper follow-up because of shortcomings in the management.

G: One project in the old town that led to an exhibition of twenty painters, for example only occurred once, after that nothing happened. We do not have any recurring events that we can look forward to.

G: The Saudi Pavilion at the Venice Biennale was a great exhibition, but there are no plans to show it in Saudi Arabia. Where could that happen anyway? We have no exhibition spaces.

Voices from Jeddah

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Private SectorG: Our parents’ generation would buy antiques, we buy art.

G: Just collecting and sharing the collection is already a big step. More and more people are doing that. This is in large part thanks to Athr Gallery. It has changed the geography of art in Jeddah because it presents art in a proper way. Everyone wants to be part of that because it is something to be proud of. Before, collecting was different, it was private. Now it has become a more open scene. The situation is becoming more relaxed, we buy art, our friends buy art, we discuss it. It is becoming a language.

G: One still does not show the more controversial of artworks in the public spaces of their house.

G: We also play a role for artists: we act as critics and give them advice. Since many of us travel a lot, visit art fairs and speak to other artists and gallery owners, we have an access to the art world that they can use.

G: I started the BASMOCA virtual museum as a private initiative. It follows a new approach to breaking barriers by using technology. It can be visited online. This was a way of responding to people who criticize the building of museum structures that do not attract enough visitors. It was also an initiative for representing our country – in second life. This was a small initiative to show locals and international people that we have a cultural vision, even though we face many challenges. To show that there is nothing wrong with visiting a museum. I am trying to provide a public service with private means.

G: In Athr Gallery, we have educational programs and exhibitions. Besides the real art lovers, we have newcomers who want to learn, and incidental visitors interested in discovering what art is about. Some of them get hooked. Even if they came only once it counts for us, because this is what we are trying to give to society. We hope that other art spaces will emerge for introducing art to a broader public. Not only by displaying artworks in big rooms, but by providing a place to work and develop in, a place you want to be part of.

The Works

Voices from Jeddah

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The Flag • Stainless Steel on Wood • H288 x W122cm • 2008

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Distortion 01 • Stainless Steel • H140 x W60cm • 2011 Distortion 02 • Stainless Steel • H140 x W60cm • 2011

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Distortion 03 • Stainless Steel • H140 x W60cm • 2011 Distortion 04 • Stainless Steel • H140 x W60cm • 2011

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Distortion 05 • Stainless Steel • H140 x W60cm • 2011 Distortion 06 • Stainless Steel • H140 x W60cm • 2011

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Reflections 01 • Stainless Steel • H219 x W49cm • 2011Reflections 00 • Steel • H217 x W52cm • 2011

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Reflections 02 • Stainless Steel • H219 x W51cm • 2011 Reflections 03 • Stainless Steel • H220 x W50cm • 2011

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Reflections 04 • Stainless Steel • H100 x W54cm • 2011 Reflections 05 • Stainless Steel • H41 x W50cm • 2011

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Reflections 06 • Stainless Steel • H206 x W41.5cm • 2011 Reflections 07 • Stainless Steel • H217 x W67cm • 2011

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Reflections 08 • Stainless Steel • H106.5 x W104cm • 2011 Reflections 09 • Stainless Steel • H100 x W44cm • 2011

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Reflections 10 • Stainless Steel • H196 x W52cm • 2011 Reflections 11 • Stainless Steel • H121 x W42cm • 2011

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Reflections 12 • Stainless Steel • H100 x W215cm • 2011 Reflections 13 • Steel • H200 x W60cm • 2011

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The artist at work during a residency with Ara Azad in Beirut.

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R: Before we discuss your recent work, can you tell me about your artistic career?

A: My first exhibition was in 1992, in the Vision of Art Hall. Over the following years I showed my work many times in Jeddah. During the first ten years of my career I mainly produced drawings or oil on canvas, although I’ve always experimented with other materials.

R: This period culminated in the Daydban paintings, for which you are still remembered in Jeddah. Can you tell us about these works and why they led to a break in your career?

A: Daydban, my last name, means ‘watchman’. In these paintings I portray myself as a mask that observes the viewer and its surroundings, while at the same time being detached from them. There is an unbridgeable opposition between the watchman and what is being watched: They seem to be in different worlds, while in such close proximity, which produces an enormous tension. This resonated well within the intellectual circles of Jeddah. After that series I had to stop painting. I could no longer bear to give a part of myself to each new creation, and I made a conscious decision not to. The creation of a painting or even a drawing became too painful. This coincided with a difficult time in my personal life. I was frustrated at the obstacles and the limitations I was facing as an artist and as a human being and decided not to be involved anymore with the art world at that time.

R: That was in the first years of the 2000s.

A: But I remained involved with other artists. And I never stopped my artistic research. What really bothered me in art at that time was the predominance of aesthetics, which becomes hollow when there is no content. We became idolaters of the exterior and I reject the exterior. I am interested in the concept or the idea. I want to find the shortest and fastest route to the heart of the message.

Interview with

R: So you started producing different work

A: I would say conceiving, not ‘producing’. I’m really not interested in the production. The quality of my work suffered, but it didn’t matter to me because it was part of the process of rejecting the exterior. It is only through my experience with the Athr gallery that I started understanding the importance of the appearance again, the quality of the execution as well as the content, because the form must be able to communicate the content.

R: When did you make your first ‘flag’?

A: In 2002. I had noticed how easy it was to fold a piece of paper into the shape of the Palestinian flag. It’s easier than to fold it into a boat or an airplane – I found that ironic and paradoxical. The idea grabbed me. One day I found a piece of scrap metal (an old road sign) and I folded that in the same way. But the metal resisted, and that made me think.

R: Did you really see it as a flag? Was it linked to your Palestinian identity?

A: Yes it was. The flag divides the people into groups – nations – and demands them to assume the collective identity it symbolizes. But we Palestinians have the identity without the country, so we assume the colors of wherever we are without being fully accepted anywhere. Therefore my first flag in rusty metal didn’t have any colors at all. In fact it was rusty white like the road sign, and I called it ‘Sheer’ like in sheer white. The collective identity is present but cannot express itself.

R: Do you consider your Palestinian origin an important part of your artistic personality?

A: I am the child of the place I grew up in: Jeddah. This is my home. I didn’t grow up with a problem of belonging as I feel more at home here than anywhere else in the world. My nationality has mostly been problematic for me in an administrative sense. But Internet and social networks provided me with the opportunity to get into closer contact with my acquaintances, both in Palestine and throughout

Robert Kluijver

Ayman Yossri Daydban

Robert interviewing Ayman

Ayman Yossri Daydban

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the world. This has affected my sense of identity and made me think a lot. It produced in me a deep feeling of longing. My Palestinian identity is therefore a source of artistic inspiration. It remains like a problem frozen in time, while the world is changing and acquiring ever new identities. My parents, whom I live with, never could return to their homeland after 1967 and my mother still sheds tears about it daily. It seems like we’re still while the world is changing around us. But isn’t this a universal characteristic of the human condition? Aren’t we all trapped in imaginary identities? I notice that questions about identity, belonging, and privacy in a globalized world are being heavily debated everywhere.

R: How do these questions of identity reflect in your current work?

A: My recent work transmits this paradox in several ways. The stainless steel sheets are like the frozen individual identity which reflects, like a mirror, the changing world around it. It cannot influence this world but it reflects it, and that is its temporary identity. But the sheets, in various phases of unfolding, also show the effort of the human being to break free from the narrow stereotypes which are imposed on them and to acquire a broad multicultural mindset, thus becoming an active part of the universe. At another level, while hammering and unfolding the sheets into shape, I fell in love with the element of patience and repetitiveness in this labor. Maybe the process of folding, hammering and unfolding expresses the violent and sometimes painful process whereby the individual being is formed.

R: After the flag you made in 2002, what was the next one you exhibited?

A: In 2008, I folded a large, shiny, stainless steel sheet in the shape of a flag, and fixed it upon a shiny red sign stating «warning». The various forms and colors on that sign got reflected by the folded sheet, creating a vivid, interactive and natural impression. Then, a year or two ago I folded a discarded vegetable grater into a flag form and affixed it to a background of Braille paper. This was an experiment with the symbolic strength of the shape on a completely different level of size and meaning. I also tried a larger version. This got me started on

using metal sheets more systematically. After that I started working on them in three dimensions, not as wall pieces. They stopped being flags.

R: Do you see these metal sheets as a new body of work you’re developing?

A: Again, the medium doesn’t matter, and in fact I work in all possible media all the time. The idea which informs the metal sheets can also express itself in the subtitles, which I continue making, or I may even return to the theme of the tissue box (Maharem). For example the subtitle image ‘Day 3’ (p. 100) , which just states ‘Day 3’ on a black background fits well into this concept. And then I’ve been making these small ‘flags’ from paper or other light discarded materials. Anything that strikes me as being able to express the concept can be used as a medium. For example this packet of Camel you’ve been smoking, I’ve been wanting to fold it into a flag. My objective is to immortalize the idea at the expense of the form, insofar the latter is ever changing and perpetually renovating.

R: Now, however, you are focusing very much on the metal sheets. Why this choice of material, why work in three dimensions?

A: Metallic sheets are a basic material used in many applications in our everyday lives; we can see them in construction work, military defense, transportation, communication, advertisement, media, etc. They are everywhere – they are proof of human existence, persistence, and passion for life. It was during a residency with Ara Azad that the enormous potential of the metal sheets became clear to me. I feel I’ve only just started to explore it. I know I will continue working on them for a while. After the exhibition in Jeddah, I will do a residency at Cuadro in Dubai, to be followed by a residency at La Cité des Arts in Paris. Who knows how this work will develop.

Ayman during his residency program with Ara Azad.

Work produced during Ayman’s residency program at Ara Azad.

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R: You mentioned before that you became a social recluse. How are you coping with the international attention you’re receiving now?

A: I’ve learnt a lot from the international art world. Seeing my work in well-curated exhibitions in different cities of the world has allowed me to develop new perspectives on my own work; as I mentioned before, I’ve become more sensitive to their appearance. I also enjoy meeting people from the international art world, like at Art Dubai, and am picking up many ideas from these meetings. For example the time I spent with the artist Ara Azad in Beirut and the discussions I had with him – he is not only an accomplished artist but also teaches at the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston – allowed me to become more confident in my experiments with the metal sheets.

R: What about your relations with the Jeddah artists you grew up with?

A: I’m not that involved in that scene anymore. The scene itself has disappeared. The galleries where I and people from my generation that used to show our work – the Roshan, the Arabesk, the Redda – have become an IT shop, restaurant and hair salon respectively. Only Atelier Jeddah is still around.

R: And the young generation of Saudi artists? How do you get along with them?

A: They represent something completely new in our culture. For example, Arabic art was always about love and human relationships. From Umm Kulthum to most of the paintings you’ll see in the galleries of Jeddah, it is always about love, distress, joy and hope. But young artists are leaving that behind. They’re interested in social, political and cultural issues. There’s no precedent for that in our art world, so they have to find their own ways to deal with these issues, develop an appropriate artistic language. That’s really interesting. It’s stimulating to be around them and to talk about art.

During Ayman’s interview with Robert.

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Salwa MikdadiArt Historian

Modern and Contemporary Arab ArtAbu Dhabi, 2012

In this seventh solo exhibition, Ayman Yossri Daydban expands on his original flag series giving the national icon new meanings that reflect on the politics of national identity in a globalized world.

In his earlier series of flags, Ayman manipulated the thin steel sheets by folding the sides inward with the triangular top folded down in the shape of the Arab revolt flag and its many derivatives now adopted by several Arab countries. In Ayman’s version, the flag that once signaled independence and unity of all Arab nations stands devoid of the distinctive colors of black, green, white and red. It is reduced to a harsh metal surface that engages any viewer as his/her distorted image reflects in its glossy brushed surface.

In I Am Anything, I Am Everything, one of these original flags is on display alongside a new series exhibited in two sections. The first section presents daunting human-size stainless steel sheets of unfolded flags (100 cm wide and 200 cm high). The creases where the folds unraveled are clearly visible and mark the form of the flag. Ayman reduces the national symbol into a series of flat sheets, stripping it of its formal function. The stainless-steel rectangular sheets are propped against the wall-like stretched animal carcasses. Their proximity to the floor shows a lack of reverence to this icon of national pride that always hangs high above all; the structure imprisoned in the rigid steel contrasts with the free flow of fine textured fabric flapping in the wind on high poles. The work ridicules our obsession with notions of identity in a globalized world, an identity that Ayman describes as “an identity that is fragmented and has lost its form and meaning.”

In other art works in the same section, Ayman reshapes the ‘flags’. Using the same standard size stainless-steel sheet, he sculpts the pieces into several origami-style folded shapes: cones, tubular forms and a long flag folded into the shape of a cube. Without cutting or welding, he uses sheer force to create inward or outward indentations, making the surface reflect multiple distorted images of the viewer. He molds the sheets using his bare hands, forcing a dent with his shoulder or pushing

Blinding the BlindCoated Braille Paper with Stainless SteelH180 x W100cm2011

with his elbows, he wrestles with the thin stainless sheets producing just the right dimples and waves that reflect the space around them. The overall effect is a soft undulating wave of rainbow colors. Reminiscent of Jasper Johns’ monochromatic White Flag of 1955, the stainless-steel surfaces draw us into the frame.

In the second section of the exhibition, many symbols of consumer culture, such as a Marlboro cigarette box, a KitKat and bubble-gum wrapper, are folded into flags fixed on a large framed base of Fabriano drawing paper. The contrast of fine paper and recycled objects further deconstructs the flag, which still bears resemblance to the Arab unity and freedom flag. Together, both series of art works reflect on a flag ‘empty’ of ideals and are a reflection on a society steeped in consumer culture.

Borders, flags and other symbols of belonging and identity continue to infuse Ayman’s oeuvre. Far from an idealized Arab nation, regional borders form separation walls making it impossible to travel freely from one country to the other. In I Am Anything, I Am Everything, Ayman uses consumer products for both underscoring the free movement of consumer goods across borders and commenting the state of a society that is defined by the material goods it acquires “We are What we Buy.” He reverts to pop culture imagery to criticize society’s indulgence in consumption.

He sees this work as liberating him from his obsession to be free; his art now moves across borders and into the region’s thriving art market. This would not have been possible ten years ago, when few Saudi Arabian artists exhibited outside the Arab world. I Am Anything, I Am Everything, his seventh solo exhibition in Jeddah since 1992, comes after his first solo exhibition outside Saudi Arabia at Selma Feriani’s Gallery in London in 2011. His group exhibitions follow a similar trajectory of a long list of local galleries, with more recent appearances on the international art scene. The rise in international interest in Saudi Arabian art is relatively recent and can be traced back to one of the first exhibitions at an international art venue in 2008: the Edge of Arabia exhibition at SOAS Brunei Gallery at London University.

Unfolding IllusionsAyman contemplating at Athr Gallery rooftop.

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Ayman’s art is both biographical and a commentary on the environment he grew up in; his art in many ways is a reflection of his life. His humble home is full of found objects and few purchased “necessary” items. Ayman is a full-time artist, dedicated to his art. He is one of few artists who manage to survive solely on the income generated from his art.

Talking to him, one gets the sense that he lives for his art almost to the point of obsession. The price and sale of his art work are secondary to his passion for drawing the viewer into his world.

Borders, flags and other symbols of belonging and identity continue to infuse Ayman’s oeuvre. Far from an idealized Arab nation, regional borders form separation walls making it impossible to travel freely from one country to the other.

Flags

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Sand Paper 1 • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Sand Paper 2 • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Awdet Al Tareekh • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 BBC • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Charcoal • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Suffering • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Luggage Tag • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Emergency Exits • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Chiclets • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 KitKat • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Exchange Policy • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Gone with the Wind • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Al Funoon Al Sha'biyah • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Misk Jamed • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Traffic Fine • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Red Dress • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Scrap Yard • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Toyota • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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iPhone • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Aiza Atgawez • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Job Search • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Monopoly • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Oud • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Panadol • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Zahrah • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011Tide • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Indomie • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011Lipton • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Cornflakes • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 La vache quit rit • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Coca Cola • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Pepsi • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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KFC • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Al Baik • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Marlboro • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Ilaika Ayuha Al Arabi • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Superman • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Comics • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Prozac • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Obama • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Dollar • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011Joker • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Day 1 • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Day 2 • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Day 3 • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Day 4 • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Day 5 • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011 Day 6 • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Braille • Mixed Media on Museum Quality Archival Paper • H77 x W56cm • 2011

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Review of Ayman Yossri Daydban’s exhibition “I Am Anything, I Am Everything” in Athr Gallery, Jan 2012

1. The first work of art the visitor is greeted by as he enters the exhibition is inaccessible. The Red Flag stands alone in a closed room, one can only glimpse it through the window from the hallway. The stainless steel sheet folded clearly in the shape of the Palestinian flag, but standing upright, its head bent downwards on a bright red background, is the key to the exhibition. But the key is behind a locked door.

As one walks down the hallway this original work of art is deconstructed in a series of Reflections. The slightly smaller metal sheets standing against the wall on both sides of the visitor explore the various phases in the unfolding of the original shape. The right flap opens, the left flap opens, we see the sheets from the front and the back… The visitor may almost think he’s in a science museum, witnessing a lesson in physics.

Although we simply see stainless steel sheets of 1.40m high, folded and then unfolded in an obviously manual process, each piece is compelling in its own way. It suggests that there is something hidden which cannot be revealed, for even when the metal is unfolded we only see reflections.

Shrugging off this feeling of perplexity, we may recognize instead the general shape of the Palestinian flag, and recall that the artist is Palestinian. Ayman has worked on the ‘flag’ theme before. But the colorless flag could also be that of Jordan, Sudan or even the Bahamas. Moreover, the elongated form brings to mind the human body rather than a flag. Are they shrouds? Familiar with television imagery of war, one recalls that flags are draped over the coffins of soldiers who die in combat.

One could also view them sarcastically, as giant chewing-gum wrappers.

The different readings of the artworks shown in this opening section of Ayman Yossri’s new solo exhibition make sense, but they hardly prepare the visitor for the next part of the show.

The Mystery of Identity in the Consumer Age

2. Behind the door at the end of the corridor, a large hall is populated with Ayman’s new creations. The visitor may think he intrudes upon a mysterious ritual, that the pieces were engaged in a complex relational dance and have interrupted their movements, or were frozen in time by a mad scientist.

As the fleeting reflections underline, it is not on their surface, but in their movement that these metal sheets reveal their identity. And the movement originates in the creases left by the folding.

Whereas the works shown in the hall focused on the process of unfolding, the larger works shown here examine specific forms created in that process. The artist clinically examines them, occasionally zooming in on a set of creases and deformities wrought on the metal and blowing these up into a new piece. Ayman studied microbiology and it is clear he likes observing life through the microscope.

The artist does not seek to control the motion of the sheets any longer, as they fold into strange shapes, even rolling themselves up as a cone, and then unwrapping themselves again with a furl. None of these sheets can be properly called a ‘sculpture’, because they refuse to obey a fundamental principle of this form of art: they are not finished. They are fleeting, in transition, they may still move a bit, be scratched and further belabored by the passage of time. They are alive. When moved, they make a tremendous and angry sound.

Fear, pain and despair were some of the impressions felt by early viewers of these works; but hope, freedom and beauty emerge as well. If they summon such contrary feelings in those contemplating them, it is probably because these works of art are about the process of individuation, and thus reflect the inner workings of the viewer’s soul. Individuation is the process whereby the individual human being gradually sheds the identities imposed on him by society, overcomes the limitations imposed by his unconscious, and integrates the various aspects of his personality, life experience and soul into his true self. These pieces intimate that the end goal has not yet been reached, and maybe never will.

Robert Kluijver

Reflections 00Steel • H217 x W52cm • 2011

Reflections 05 • Stainless Steel • H41 x W50cm • 2011

Reflections 12 • Stainless Steel • H100 x W215cm • 2011

Reflections 10Stainless Steel • H196 x W52cm • 2011

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3. The framed works on paper shown in the small room adjacent to the main hall, place this process in real life; in this case the artist’s life in Jeddah. They are the residues of everyday existence that one may find lying around anywhere as litter: wrappers, cans, images from magazines, a traffic bill. They are folded/unfolded in ways similar to the large metal sheets.

Each piece, however, may bring to mind specific individual memories. The Kit-Kat wrapper, the rolling paper wrapper, a traffic bill and the airline-luggage tag with its barcodes – these may recall a major turning point as well as a minor irritation, almost forgotten, in any person’s life.

This junk, the artist seems to be saying, is ultimately the stuff our life is made of. These pieces of litter of the global consumer and information society are at once the reflections and the bearers of the collective identity that the individual tries to shake off. They are like the cultural DNA that form the building bricks of each person’s identity.

The artist uses this universal litter to illustrate his own life history, but thereby suggests what everybody’s life is made of: I Am Anything, I Am Everything.

In conclusion, we can say that Ayman Yossri Daydban’s recent work reflects the individuation of the human being from mass society. The starting point is a mass-produced identity shaped by collective narratives, such as that symbolized by the flag. When that flag/collective narrative is unfolded/deconstructed, we discover the indelible marks they leave on the individual soul. The artist tells us that these marks are actually symptomatic of our individual nature. They are not to be erased in favor of some supposed pristine essential nature – for then we would be confronted with a simple sheet of stainless steel – but analyzed, magnified and loved.

…one might say that Ayman Yossri Daydban’s recent work is not about the Palestinian flag but about how to leave it behind. How to escape the collective narrative, the imaginary identities and become oneself.

Traffic FineMixed Media on MuseumQuality Archival PaperH77 x W56cm • 2011

Luggage TagMixed Media on Museum Quality Archival PaperH77 x W56cm • 2011

Ilaika Ayuha Al ArabiMixed Media on Museum Quality Archival PaperH77 x W56cm • 2011

KitKatMixed Media on Museum Quality Archival PaperH77 x W56cm • 2011

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What kind of residency is it?

Ayman will stay for two months. The studio is in the gallery. There’s enough space for Ayman to work on his metal sheets, also in big format. Besides providing artists with the opportunity to make new work, we give them curatorial advice and an educational course.

What does that course consist of?

There are three modules: business, legal and writing. The idea is to provide the tools needed to operate as a professional artist.

In what way do you think his work will develop?

He’s exploring the creases made in the folding/unfolding of the metal sheets. He’s zooming in on them because this is where the tension lies – not in the reflective surfaces. I want to push him in this direction. I hope he will also further develop the small ‘flags’ he makes with the residue that a city leaves behind. We are also thinking of working on a much bigger sculpture than those made until present.

What attracts you in Ayman’s artistic demarche generally?

He’s a fully Arab-centered artist but he has a Western way of questioning and producing. A lot of his work is carefully researched, he works in depth. He is unique.

Ayman Yossri Daydban will have a solo show at Cuadro in Dubai during Art Dubai (March 2012). Cuadro, a not-for-profit organization where gallery revenues finance other programs, is a platform for the development of artists. Ayman will do a residency in the gallery before the show, to further develop his concepts and prepare new pieces.

Bashar Al-Shroogi is director of Cuadro and curator of Ayman’s next project.

Have you worked with him before?

The first time I met Ayman was during the first Edge of Arabia exhibition, in London. He installed his studio inside the Brunei gallery, to prepare the show. That was impressive. Since then I’ve kept in touch, monitored his progress and collected his art. I worked directly with Ayman on Edge of Arabia TERMINAL in Dubai and have traveled with him to Edge of Arabia’s exhibitions in Berlin, Istanbul and Venice. He’s a free spirit, who lives his life in his own way.

What grabs your attention in his recent work with metal sheets?

This is Ayman at his finest. He works on the concept and continues to abstract and perfect it until he gets to the point where he can communicate it clearly.

Do you think he somehow bridges the discontinuity between ‘modern’ and ‘contemporary’ Arab art?

He’s a true artist, an artist for art’s sake. He wants to get his message out. His work was ahead of its time also in the ‘modern’ period of last century; he has always been a contemporary artist.

What do you think about the Saudi art scene?

The Saudi art scene is leading the way in the Gulf.

Interview with

December 2011

Bashar Al-Shroogi

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Born in 1966 in Palestine. Currently works and lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Selected Solo Exhibitions l2011 Identity, Selma Feriani Gallery, London, UK 2008 Touch, Plastic Artist Home, Jeddah, KSA2007 Hopes, Jeddah Atelier, Jeddah, KSA2004 Darkness, Jeddah Atelier, Jeddah, KSA1999 Body Memory, Rabya’s Hall, Jeddah, KSA1998 Daydban, Jeddah Atelier, Jeddah, KSA1992 The Mirror, Art Vision, Jeddah, KSA

Selected Group Exhibitions lJan. 2012 The Bravery of Being Out of Range II, Sultan Gallery, KuwaitNov. 2011 dou·ble en·ten·dre, Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, Dubai, UAE Nov. 2011 The State: The Coming Insurrection, Traffic, Dubai, UAESep. 2011 The State: Social / Antisocial?, Traffic, Dubai, UAE May 2011 The Bravery of Being Out of Range, Athr Gallery, Jeddah, KSAMar. 2011 The Terminal, Edge of Arabia, Dubai, UAE Feb. 2011 The State: Uppers & Downers, Traffic, Dubai, UAENov. 2010 TRANSiTION, Edge of Arabia, Istanbul, TurkeySep. 2010 Nabatt, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, ChinaJun. 2010 Grey Borders, Grey Frontiers, Edge of Arabia, Berlin, GermanyJun. 2009 Balla-Drama, Paradise Row Gallery, London, UK Dec. 2008 Edge of Arabia, SOAS Brunei Gallery, London, UK

Art Fairs / Biennale lNov. 2011 Contemporary Istanbul, Edge of Arabia, TurkeySep. 2011 Marrakech Art Fair, Athr Gallery, MoroccoJun. 2011 The Solo Project, Basel, Switzerland Jun. 2011 The Future of a Promise, 54th Venice Biennale, ItalyMar. 2011 Art Dubai, Athr Gallery/Traffic Gallery/Selma Feriani Gallery, UAE Jul. 2010 MENASA Art Fair, Athr Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon Mar. 2010 Art Dubai, Athr Gallery, UAEJun. 2009 53rd International Art Biennale Venice, Edge of Arabia, Italy Mar. 2009 Art Dubai, Athr Gallery, UAE

Ayman Yossri DaydbanBiography

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Auctions lOct. 2011 Christie’s Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish Art

Auction, Dubai, UAEApr. 2011 Christie’s Modern and Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish Art

Auction, Dubai, UAEApr. 2009 Christie’s International Modern and Contemporary Art Auction,

Dubai, UAE

Public Collections lAl Mansouria FoundationThe British MuseumBASMOCAGreen Box MuseumFarook Collection

Selected Bibliographies l Canvas Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 6, January/February 2012, Page 90-97Contemporary Practices, Volume VII, 2011, Text by Alia Al Senussi, Page 144-147 Art of the Middle East, 2010, Saeb Eigner, Merrell Publishers Limited, Page 93Contemporary Practices, Volume VI, 2010, Text by Nour Wali, Page 56-59Edge of Arabia, 2008, Text by Henry Hemming, Page 86-95

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This book was made possible with the kind contribution of our esteemed patrons:

Hassan Al Kabbani

Sharifa Al Sudairy

Bashar Al-Shroogi

Abdullah Al-Turki

Raneem Zaki Farsi

Mona Khashoggi

Hayat Shobokshi

Faisal and Sara Tamer

The Farook Foundation

Ayman Yossri Daydban would like to thank Salwa Miqdadi, Robert Kluijver, Kameel Hawa, Sal Kurdi-Serafi, Rami Farook, Ara Azad, Hamza Serafi, Mohammed Hafiz, Maya El Khalil, Wedad Nazer, Zeina Haddad, Aya Alireza, Jumana Ghouth, Ramadan Bakhsh, Red Bual, Al Mohtaraf Team, Stephen Stapleton and the Edge of Arabia team for their invaluable support and contributions. Last but not least, a special thank you to all the guests who joined us for the ‘Voices from Jeddah’ discussions.

Acknowledgements

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