Dana Awartani

Saudi Arabia

Saudi-Palestinian b. 1987, Jeddah, KSA, where she lives and works Dana Awartani’s oeuvre aspires for the revival of traditional geometry and historical modes of making through crafts and artisanal practices which are enacted in the contemporary.

Ranging from painting and sculpture to performance and multimedia installation, Awartani’s artistic practice imbues forms, techniques, concepts, and spatial constructs that define Arab culture with contemporary awareness. Her work spans a variety of materials and techniques and often revolves around the highly codified and symbolically laden language of geometry in reference to notions of universal interconnectedness and spiritual harmony. The timeless relevance of forms and the wisdom embedded in traditional crafts are harnessed to tackle issues of gender, healing, cultural destruction, and sustainability in a constant effort to straddle continuity and innovation, aesthetic experimentation and social relevance.

Traditionally trained at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, she received her Masters after her BA and Foundation degrees at Central Saint Martins. She is currently furthering her practice and commitment to preservation of the Islamic illumination skills through the completion of an ‘Ijaza’ certificate, in order to be eligible to transmit these skills.

She has participated in numerous group exhibitions at venues including Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (2020); NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (2020); Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, United States (2020); Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey (2020); Monash University of Art, Melbourne, Australia (2018); The Mosaic Rooms, London, United Kingdom and Institute of Arab and Islamic Art, New York, United States (both 2017). She participated in the Diriyah Biennale, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2021), Rabat Biennale, Morocco (2019), Sesc_Videobrasil Biennale, Sao Paolo, Brazil (2019), the Jakarta Biennale, Indonesia (2017), the Marrakech Biennale, Morocco (2016), the Yinchuan Biennale, China (2016), and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India (2016).

Her solo exhibitions include: The Silence Between Us, Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, UAE. (2018); Detroit Affinities: Dana Awartani, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit (2017); and The Hidden Qualities of Quantities, Athr, Jeddah (2015). Awartani’s work is in the collections of the Sheikh Zayed National Museum, Jameel Arts Centre, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, The British Museum, The Hirshhorn Museum, The Guggenheim Museum, among others.

Dana Awartani’s artwork is an adaptation of her 2014 installation titled “Orientalism” which is a room that is covered entirely with patterns that are inspired by both the traditional motifs found in the tribal costumes of Saudi Arabia and “Al Qatt Al Asiri” which is a historic artform of interior domestic wall decoration adopted by the women in the region of Asir.

Through this piece she aims to comment on how global modern-day society is obsessed with the “new” and consequently much interest and knowledge of our culture and heritage has greatly diminished and is in danger of dying out. Rather then using natural materials which is a common thread throughout her artistic practice, Awartani chose PVC tape as her medium to symbolize the industrialization of traditional modes of making and how artisanal knowledge is slowly disappearing.

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