Bahrain-raised urban designer and architect Ola Znad is exploring her Iraqi roots through architecture at one of two art exhibitions set to open on Thursday at Al Riwaq Art Space.
Ms Znad’s exhibition ‘City by City towards Home’, showcases the research and pieces that went into creating ‘An Absent/Present Mudhif’, a profoundly personal installation previously exhibited at the Dubai Design Week.
‘An Absent/Present Mudhif’ exhibited at the Dubai Design Week
“In City by City towards Home, I am showing the research practice behind creating the ‘Mudhif’ (a traditional communal guesthouse and events space, traditionally made with reed or papyrus), where I have dismantled the exhibition and showcased various parts,” Ms Znad, 30, told the GDN.
Ms Znad
“For me, this project was a search for identity and the work is still ongoing as I continue this journey.
“In fact, the exhibition doesn’t offer any answers on this search but rather I hope it encourages us to ask what home feels like, especially when we grow up in different cultures.
“It traces an ongoing research practice shaped by distance, return and attentiveness to place.”
The ‘mudhif’ is a communal space made with reeds and papyrus
Ms Znad left her homeland in 2003 when the Iraq War broke out and with her installation, she wanted to recreate a moment and space that was frozen in her memory.
The ‘mudhif’ itself was created in Iraq by indigenous artisans Jasem Al Asadi, Mahdi Taleb, Rajab Abd Bashar, Abdulzqhra Amer, Saeen Narem Jaber and Maher Rashid, who crafted each reed, while photographer Ammar Al Asadi documented their process, and Mustafa Makia helped export it to Dubai.
The exhibition at Al Riwaq moves through her research akin to how she imagines she would move through her homeland after being away for most of her life.
It starts from the marshlands in Northern Iraq and slowly takes the reader towards Baghdad, where she was born.
The posters for ‘From the Ground’, above, and, ‘City by City towards Home’, below
According to Ms Znad’s curatorial notes, the marshes come first, perhaps because they were made to feel furthest away and in tracing them, the work is intended to stay with the feeling ‘long enough for it to speak back’. “Maybe this is how return begins, not all at once, but by leaning into the places that were taught to feel distant, and allowing them, in time, to feel near,” she added.
“I began my research in 2021, when there was an open call for vernacular architecture – buildings that were historically created organically based on local needs, environment and culture, using readily available materials, without professional architects – basically, architecture without architects.
“So this Sumerian architecture typology made sense, and in speaking to those who lived in the marshlands, I learned about how this structure was resilient to environmental changes and what sorts of issues they face today, in trying to preserve their culture.
“My own memories of Iraq are beautiful, but of course, that’s also nostalgia speaking, so I am sure if I was to go back to Iraq one day, my perception would change.
“But I wanted to preserve those memories in a way, with this installation, while also finding ways to empower those marginalised in different regions of Iraq.
“After three years of research, practising the traditional making of the mudhif became a powerful act of reconnection with my hometown and collaboration with indigenous artisans, weaving together raw materials and shared histories.”
The exhibition remains open till March 26.
The entire structure was dismantled and exported to Dubai, and now Bahrain
It will be opened alongside a visiting exhibition from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture (Ithra), which will run until the end of the month.
‘From the Ground’ highlights agriculture as a living source of culture and creativity, tracing its journey from natural resources to contemporary design and artistic expression.
The opening of the two exhibitions will be followed by a two-day symposium exploring intersections between art and design, in order to establish a new platform for innovation and creative production.
naman@gdnmedia.bh
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