Published in Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia, Tribe Photography Magazine, Canvas, Art Asia Pacific, The National newspaper
A weekend at Warehouse 421 discussing the alternative artistic publishing methods in the Arab World and naming a few of my top 6 publications! The Publishing Maneuvers Symposium was part of their recent show curated by Maha Maamoun and Ala Younis ‘How to maneuver: Shape-shifting texts and other publishing tactics''
Latif Al Ani, whose role as ‘Father of Iraqi Photography’ encompasses three decades of documentation, from the 1950s through 1970s. His work captures the belle époque of the cosmopolitan and modern Iraq during these years.
An overview of my interviews with one of these respected artists was Saleh Al Ustad, who sadly departed us in April 2018. Saleh was one of the first fine arts photographers and instructors in the UAE, actively contributing to the contemporary photography movement since the early 1980s.
In one of the most groundbreaking international shows for an artist from the UAE, Abdulqader Al Rais achieved his first international retrospective at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris earlier this September, writes Suzy Sikorski
Seven graduating female architecture students at the American University of Sharjah are challenging the timeless elements of this work out of their love for Renaissance.
Amidst the dirt, unpaved paths and rusted buildings deep into the farmlands of Sharjah, I uncovered Emirati artist Khalid Al Banna’s oasis: a single room, glistening in color, with bookcases, sofas and objects arranged in careful precision.
Nouf is an experimental photographer and visual communications designer who uses her background in English Literature and Linguistics to explore identity politics and gender issues from a feminist perspective.
Kamrooz Aram, the Iranian-born, Brooklyn-based artist and 2014 Abraaj Group Art Prize recipient is back in Dubai with his second solo show at Green Art Gallery. Aram creates a site-specific installation that encompasses his passion for exhibition design, focusing on how an exhibition space stirs emotional response.
Khalil reflects on his time as Hassan Sharif’s student and his perspective on the direction of the UAE art scene. He was part of a progressive and close-knit group that would incorporate Hassan’s practices within their own respective traditions. Image courtesy of Ammar Al Attar.
‘The Quarantine Files’ series presents of the most inspiring stories of the pioneer Egyptian female artist Inji Efflatoun during her time as a political prisoner in jail from 1959-1963. Including first hand accounts from Inji herself, this article is a story of how bravery, perseverance and ingenuity lead to self-discovery and artistic explorations —all while confined and quarantined within a jail cell. Hope is just as contagious these days - read on.
Mid East Art founder Suzy Sikorski reflects on her unforgettable memories documenting artist’s stories in the region since embarking on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2016. With insights behind her drive to archive a close-knit community of Emirati artists, along with her recent photography skills and visual anecdotes that encompass her lifelong journey to cover Middle Eastern Art.
The vivid narratives of Suzy Sikorski’s lengthy photography adventures and artist studio sessions. Both a witness and active player in these memories, Suzy weaves her way into these beautifully captured stills.
Featuring an intro text by Suzy Sikorski on the origins of the UAE art scene that was included in the Imago Mundi Project she co-curated for the UAE and Bahrain in 2016.
An essay on the Palestinian photographer Ahlam Shibli in Tribe Photography magazine. Shibli’s hyper-visual images draw deeper attention to everyday life, and shift our understanding of marginalized communities as they are depicted in media images, closing the distance between documentary and spontaneous intimacy, and between critical detachment and compassionate engagement.
This is a personal story of how some of the leading Emirati artists have worked to fashion a path through an often fast-moving and potentially bewildering landscape of change. Senses of identity and belonging, of heritage and inheritance, loom large under conditions of constant transformation. In a place that is as young as the UAE, artists find themselves grappling with the recent past as they look towards the future.
My once in a lifetime experience of becoming a child again while exploring Desert X Al Ula in Saudi Arabia this January. As part of the 21,39 Jeddah Arts programming, a group of art lovers boarded a flight to witness 14 artist commissioned installations, playing in an artist’s jungle gym of ambitious projects scattered in the surreal and breathtaking desert landscape nearly 2,000 years old.