PAST

For the Adelaide Festival, Samstag presents a solo exhibition by Dana Awartani (Saudi Arabia/Palestine).

Seeking to reconsider the forms, techniques, concepts and spatial constructs that define Arab visual culture, in Awartani’s practice the wisdom and poetics embedded in traditional crafts are harnessed to tackle a range of contemporary issues.

At Samstag, two moving image works are examples of a varied artistic practice, in which Islamic geometric patterns are interpreted as a highly codified and philosophical language, rather than a lost decorative art, and the domestic and the literary are equally important to cultural record.

Contemplative, political and poetic, Awartani makes a case for beauty in the things we create and their ability to transcend time and attitude. Presented for the Adelaide Festival, her work features as part of Samstag’s Parnati season, where tensions in craft, tradition and decoration are thrown into focus.