Hurriyat Jeddah
Hafez Gallery – Jeddah , Saudi Arabia
24 November 2022 – 5 January 2023
The Mermaids of Jeddah series expands on Amira Nazer’s exploration of material by exploring the tension, freedom, beauty, and constraint present in Jeddawi women’s lives. She describes the mermaid metaphor as a duality of existence: the mermaid calibrates her existence according to her physical surroundings. Much like the experience of a mermaid, the Jeddawi woman is versatile and adaptable in her own environment.
This intimate exhibition captures various presentations of a covered body within a range of natural environ- ments: those experienced by both the mermaid and the native Jeddah woman. Each image presents the weight of the abaya, the fluidity of the garment, and its relationship with nature while acknowledging contrast- ing feelings around its accompanying comforts and constrictions.
To bring the metaphor to life, the garment each woman chose and how she used it to cover her body was left to the freedom of the model. Amira used this to contextualise individual experiences within the mermaid’s narrative and maintain each subject’s authenticity.”
