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Lot Essay
"The mashrabiya became for me a symbol that operates in two directions with the possibility for dialogue, rather than closure" (Susan Hefuna, 2008)
The Egyptian German artist Susan Hefuna questions in a poetic and subtle way issues of multiculturalism through her delicate wooden latticework screens. Not for Sale - Enta Omri recalls the traditional mashrabiya motives commonly seen in the Arabic urban landscapes. The ornamental screen is an element of traditional Arabic architecture used since the middle ages up to contemporary times and its primary function is privacy as the dense crisscrossed pattern prevents from any vantage point from the exterior. The mashrabiya creates separation, inside from outside, women from men, private from public, family from outsider and as such, is charged with symbolism.
In the present work, Susan Hefuna combines English words with transliterated Arabic words into Latin characters as if to create a bridge between her own conflicting backgrounds, between East and West. Enta Omri (You are my life) is the title of one of Umm Kulthum's famous songs first performed in Cairo in 1964 and as such intends mainly to viewers from the Arab world. Legible only when viewed from a certain distance, the words position their reader just outside of the private space the mashrabiya would presumably enclose as the viewer is invited to look at the work from the front in order to decipher the words. The artist does not aim to revive exoticism, but uses the metaphor of the mashrabiya to create a dialogue.
Christie's is proud to offer the present work, Not for Sale - Enta Omri, one of the finest and most delicate screens of wooden latticework ever made by the artist.
The Egyptian German artist Susan Hefuna questions in a poetic and subtle way issues of multiculturalism through her delicate wooden latticework screens. Not for Sale - Enta Omri recalls the traditional mashrabiya motives commonly seen in the Arabic urban landscapes. The ornamental screen is an element of traditional Arabic architecture used since the middle ages up to contemporary times and its primary function is privacy as the dense crisscrossed pattern prevents from any vantage point from the exterior. The mashrabiya creates separation, inside from outside, women from men, private from public, family from outsider and as such, is charged with symbolism.
In the present work, Susan Hefuna combines English words with transliterated Arabic words into Latin characters as if to create a bridge between her own conflicting backgrounds, between East and West. Enta Omri (You are my life) is the title of one of Umm Kulthum's famous songs first performed in Cairo in 1964 and as such intends mainly to viewers from the Arab world. Legible only when viewed from a certain distance, the words position their reader just outside of the private space the mashrabiya would presumably enclose as the viewer is invited to look at the work from the front in order to decipher the words. The artist does not aim to revive exoticism, but uses the metaphor of the mashrabiya to create a dialogue.
Christie's is proud to offer the present work, Not for Sale - Enta Omri, one of the finest and most delicate screens of wooden latticework ever made by the artist.