Lalla Esaydi: Converging Territories at Columbus Museum of Art
Stephen Gosling
Hanging amongst the surprisingly diverse collection housed at the Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio is a refreshingly thought-provoking exhibit by Lalla Essaydi. Taking on a controversial topic such as Islam at a time when most of the Western world has learnt to fear some form of it is a bold move. And a successfully executed one because of the boundaries and stereotypes that the work is able to cross.
This exhibit’s setting helps to convey its message. Set in a traditional art museum, you wander past the predictable pieces: Renoir, Matisse, Picasso. But then you are challenged by the way that the museum had embraced modern and contemporary art. Shocking to see hanging amongst these recognizable greats are such artists as Cindy Sherman, Jeff Wall and Damien Hirst. The clever way in which this diverse collection dismissed my stereotype of the museum itself is an excellent introduction to work that Essaydi has exhibited.
"Converging Territories." This exhibit does exactly what it promises. Walking into the exhibit you are confronted with a statement; "I am writing. I am writing on me, I am writing on her. The more you read, the more I know, the more this is impossible to obey. I am a book that has no ending. Each page I write could be the first?" This is the statement that is repeated through the images on display. It is in the background, in the foreground, on clothing, on objects, it is even on the models themselves.
The images are striking portraits, narratives and still lives of women and objects within the Islamic culture. The background, foreground and everything you see has been covered with the above statement written in their traditional language and henna ink. The women here are not objects as we would believe them to be but instead are beautiful representations of their faith and of themselves. Any exhibit which educates you for the better such as this one is truly a success.
Through what little an average Westerner knows about Islam we believe that the religion suppresses its women. They have no voice. No way to explain anything to an outsider. These images have become such a way. Essaydi has given these women a voice, and being of Islamic descent, those voices through her images speak a truth and a beauty that could have been left unheard.
