AN EXPLORATION OF THE UNTAMEABLE

“My big, poofy hair is a big part of me, my personality, and identity. The curls that I choose to show complete me and are an integral part of me, in a mental and physical manner,” says Hessa Al Suwaidi, an Emirati textile designer whose latest work, Kshati, explores the transition from girlhood to womanhood through knotting, weaving and embroidery. She steps back from conservative cultural expectations to express her own cultural identity through the use of colour and untamed forms within the works. 

“Kshati” means “my messy hair” in most of the Gulf dialects, and as such carries a negative connotation for Al Suwaidi. Her hair’s unpredictability is projected in the inconsistency of handspun yarn, a technique she learned at New York’s Parsons School of Design, where she is pursuing a master’s of fine arts in textiles. 

But Kshati, the first series of which Al Suwaidi completed in December, is about more than untamed hair. It is about the sense of identity and the change in one’s perception of oneself and how one happens to be around people. The concept of the work was prompted by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last August which motivated Al Suwaidi to dive into the social media war, siding with Afghan women activists fighting to protect their rights to independence and self-expression. She was most affected by how Afghan women were stripped of their traditional colourful clothes to a dull monotone version, now defined by the Taliban as traditional clothing. At the same time, she was reflecting on elements found in the Mosque of the Late Mohamed Abdulkhaliq Gargash in Al Quoz, Dubai, the first mosque in the UAE designed by a female architect, Saudi-born, Dubai-based Sumaya Dabbagh. The mosque’s façade is imbedded with geometric patterns made of triangles.

The work uses handspun yarn, digital embroidery, tapestry (knotting and weaving), 3D printing and recycled sari yarn. Handspun yarn is a technique she learnt at Parsons and echoes the concept of the work. The knotting technique uses the geometric pattern found in the mosque, creating triangles within triangles. The recycled sari yarn in the tapestry is a nod to the women of Afghanistan. The 3D-printed word “Kshati” is embellished on the woven piece. 

Later Al Suwaidi used digital photography to document the works and to introduce an element of Emirati heritage, the ghaf tree, a symbol of life in harsh desert environments. The tree is essential to maintain stability and peace in its setting, “thus conveying [that] even with hard social and cultural pressures I still stand strong with my identity,” Al Suwaidi says. The photographs showing the ghaf tree symbolise Al Suwaidi’s link to Emirati culture, embedding her cultural identity within her work. 

Kshati is an ongoing, growing series that Al Suwaidi wishes to develop and explore further. Her works are heavily themed with self- portraits, intertwining textiles and the use of digital photography.

Fatma Al Mahmoud is head of 1971 Design Space in Sharjah and Managing Partner at Hamzat Wasl Studio