LONDON.- We all think we have the answer to the question What Is Home? - be it the building, town or country we live in, the people we live with or even the objects we surround ourselves with.
Welcome to the
Pump House Gallery home, where the work of a group of Arabian artists with divergent concerns is presented. From gender roles to the relationships we hold with architectural and historical space, these concerns are manifested in their work through humour and a close cultural examination of the mundane and everyday. All contribute to the idea of what we consider home to be, either by challenging readily-accepted norms or confirming what we already know or believe.
Set within a quasi-domestic situation, the viewer is able to spend time with the artwork outside the constructs of the gallery. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own life experience to their interaction with works that address ideas of place, memory and history, both global and personal, identity and how it is formed.
There is no suggested resident of the Pump House Gallery home, rather each visitor should assume that role for themselves as they discover the work of such artists as:
Hamra Abbas (Kuwait b. 1976) versatile artistic practice straddles a wide range of media, from paper collage and painting to ephemeral soft plasticine sculpture and video. The work often takes a humorous look towards widely accepted traditions. (TBC)
Manal Al Dowayan (Saudi Arabia b. 1973) uses her practice of installation and photography as a tool to raise awareness around gender issues in Saudi Arabia. (TBC)
Faten Eldisouky (Egypt b.1984) is an artist concerned by the formation and dissemination of taste, which she explores through the use of found materials in her sculpture.
Walid Elsawi (Egypt b. 1987) is interested in the concept of alienation and the impact of the words; text features strongly in his video and sculptural work, which can often be puzzling.
Hazem Harb (Gaza b. 1980) creates multi-media work that deals with a number of core issues including loss, trauma, human vulnerability and global instability.
Nadia Kaabi-Linke (Tunisia b. 1978) creates work related to places and their histories whilst exploring socio-psychological topics such as perception, memory, and geographically and politically constructed identities. Kaabi-Linke performs a kind of archaeology of contemporary life to expose the survivals of the past.
Ahmed Maters (Saudi Arabia b. 1979) interdisciplinary art encompasses photography, calligraphy, painting, installation, performance and video, to explore the narratives and aesthetics of Islamic culture. (TBC)
Amina Menia (Algeria b. 1976) is a multimedia artist whose work questions the relation to architectural and historical spaces, and challenges conventional notions around the exhibition space. (TBC)
Ayman Yossri Daydbans (Palestine b. 1966) work is often a reflection of his life; a life afflicted with issues of identity and belonging. His last name Daydban means watchman, a mask that observes the viewer and its surroundings while at the same time remaining detached from them.