Arsheef Gallery: Turning the Light On
Yemen’s first contemporary art gallery opens
Shaima Al-Tamimi, So Close Yet So Far Away (2019) Archival pigment print. Courtesy of the artist and Arsheef Gallery.
With text by Lizzy Vartanian Collier, writer and curator.
In November 2019, Arsheef, Yemen’s first contemporary art gallery, opened its doors in Sana’a. When the gallery’s lights were switched on, the works of five emerging artists became visible, illuminating the lives of a generation of Yemenis that you won’t see on the news.
Arsheef’s inaugural show Turning The Light On, quite literally sought to bring a new narrative into the light. Operating primarily via direct messaging on Instagram, the gallery that also has a physical space, acknowledges that there is a powerful light telling us about the world, through the backlit screens of our smartphones. Acknowledging that yes, there is a war in Yemen, Asim Abdulaziz, Somaya Abdualla, Ammar Baras, Bashayer Mohsen and Shaima al-Tamimi remind their audience that they are still young people, utilising art to express their own emotions and feelings, fears and aspirations and even mental issues.
The show covers a lot of ground, from Abdualla’s tender photographs of children and family celebrations, to Mohsen’s images taken on the road between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, which comment on a complicated dual identity few of us could comprehend. In a display of just a handful of artists work, Arsheef also comments on a breadth of experiences, presenting artists working from across Yemen. This is particularly powerful in Abdulaziz’s depiction of a man peeling potatoes in the middle of destroyed buildings in Aden, and through Al-Tamimi’s depiction—the only artist living outside of the country—of children walking in front of a sign heading towards Yemen.
“What impacts me the most to create photographs is the need within me to tell the truth and reality of my surroundings,” explains Abdulaziz, “Life in Yemen is rich of senses that unfortunately have been out of sight for the past years. As a Yemeni photographer it became my duty to change the stereotypes that Yemen is flooded with recently. Even though Yemen is going through a tough time, there are a lot of interesting details and hidden beauty that we as photographers need to show to the world.” Mohsen agrees, adding: “I have this urgent feel to share a different narrative... to influence others along the way to always be able to tell their side of the story.”
Through the medium of photography, Arsheef used their first exhibition to draw on the photographic tradition of reflecting light to create an image. The young gallery spun this into a metaphor for making the invisible visible in Yemen, and subsequently, presenting a new art space and an emerging art scene to the wider world. Reminding us that the media’s portrayal of the country is simplistic and reductive, Arsheef introduces another narrative. Al-Tamimi explains: “We all need to create work that comes from the heart,” and Arsheef shines a light onto that heart.
November - December 2019
Collier, Lizzy Vartanian (2020). Arsheef Gallery: Turning the Light On. Tribe, 10, 24-29.