From top to bottom: Nation of Islam at Edge of Arabia.
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Reem Al-Faisal shares a strong opinion in both photography and writing. In her photography she goes out of her way to capture the divine in man and nature in her country and around the globe. In her columns for Arab News she deals with more profane events in the Middle-East, which she will attribute to Arab failures after dressing down 'imperial' drives of Israel and the West. To convince people that 'art is no luxury' is a drive of her own and perhaps the third of her arts. When interviewed she will tell of her wish for a reawakening of muslims and the need for them to do more research into their history and culture. She is a granddaughter of King Faisal. Al-Faisal studied Arabic literature in Jeddah and then moved to Paris to pursue a photographic career. She had apparently been given a camera at a very young age. In Paris she studied at Speos school, but she returned to honour Jeddah with a photographic journey through its port. Her photography is consistently in black and white to concentrate on showing light, which she sees as one of many manifestations of the divine and essential in exposing form. She has done projects in countries as diverse as China, Japan, Egypt and the United States. Among her projects a few stand out that deal with the world of Islam like reports on muslims in America and the American 'Nation of Islam' movement. At home over a period of a few years (2000-2003) she has documented the Hajj, the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca. 'As a muslim artist, sprung up from my native Saudi culture and history,' is how she likes to define herself. Al-Faisal has shown her work at many international events, the latest of which were at the National Museum of Singapore (2007) and in London (2008) where she joined the Edge of Arabia exhibition of a group of contemporary Saudi Arabian artists. (2009). Sources: www.reemalfaisal.com |
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From top to bottom: Nation of Islam at Edge of Arabia. |