Caesura

Join us at HOMME Gallery for an evening of narrative photography, film, poetry, paintings, and a unique live exhibit of Arabic & Persian calligraphy on skin.

Artist Statement

Caesura is the pause between words in a line of poetry. This pause, like white space on canvas, like silence in film, is where both the artist and audience absorb the impact of what has been expressed and prepare themselves for what is yet to come. It is the rest-stop on the highway of truth, a gift of respite and silence for the mind to gather its scattered thoughts and make sense of what it has seen. And from this moment of rest comes clarity. Something is made known, followed by a desire to know more, to see more. And this is where I’ve found myself as an artist, in no man’s land between one word and another. And from this silence and empty space, I’ve built this project that is both continuing what has been said in my art and departing significantly from it in its need for more truth.

Caesura is a collection of confessional work that addresses the personal and universal themes of the life of an Arab woman who has been raised in an environment of shame, secrecy, lovelessness, and loneliness (of course, it is not the case at all that every Arab woman has had this experience).

The exhibit will feature narrative photography, film, poetry, paintings, and a unique live exhibit of Arabic & Persian calligraphy on skin. It will showcase an autobiographical line of work on trauma & childhood, culture & tradition, and daring resistance. In this project, the female body is the canvas that carries the story. You will read testimonies and poetry on the skin and clothes of a group of Arab and Persian women, and you’ll experience in proximity and through various mediums the story that I have to share with you all.

Artist Bio

Aiyah Sibay is a Syrian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist. She has produced and exhibited a range of personal and political artwork internationally and within the US. She has worked as a volunteer, journalist, and photographer in Greece, Palestine, South Africa, and Jordan.

Her work explores the various possibilities of combining Arabic calligraphy, storytelling, and film and attempts to challenge the traditional rules and conventions of cinema, poetry, & art.

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This show is made in honor Safoura, whose story inspired this project. (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7cIUsp3Z91iXHB-KB0Xwtg/featured)

Produced by Syrian-American artist Aiyah Sibay.

www.innpassage.com

@aiyahsibay

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

HOMME Gallery, 2000 L Street Northwest, Washington, United States