Women Solidarity: Rethinking Mid-Twentieth Century Arab Art
The research traces the movements and histories of Arab artists through rethinking feminist ways of reading art modernities and entanglements. Centered on the contributions of several pivotal artists, including Huguette Caland, Safia Farhat, Salwa Raouda Choucair, Inji Efflatoun, and Tamam Al Akhal, the dissertation examines artistic productions, daily practices, and the influential role of women-led organizations in shaping historical discourse.
Ramadan’s research traces the movements and histories of Arab artists through rethinking feminist ways of reading art modernities and entanglements. It is centered on the work of several artists, including Huguette Caland, Safia Farhat, Salwa Raouda Choucair, Inji Efflatoun, and Tamam Al Akhal. The dissertation confronts artistic productions, daily activities, and women-led organizations that have influenced historical discourse. Solidarity, within the context of this research, connotes artists who lived through colonial and independence times; including nationalist projects, trans-culture, and through feeling connected with the suffering and injustices implied on others. By delving into the role of solidarity in modern society and its nexus to contemporary politics, Ramadan emphasizes feminist rhetoric persisting into current times. This rhetoric not only stands as a 1950s legacy from the Middle East and North Africa but also as an artistic agency challenging dominant nationalist and colonial narratives. The research is also keen to understand the dynamics of producing and circulating artistic ideas through mediums like manifestos, philosophies, exhibitions, festivals, and more, spanning from abstract to figurative creations. Overall, by revisiting these moments, the research seeks to unravel the dynamics arising from the production and circulation of ideas as artistic means and the production of Arab political and feminist discourse in the arts.
Lina Ramadan (b.1990 Doha) is a Palestinian-Lebanese writer and curator, specialized in modern and contemporary art. Her research centers on post-colonial MENA histories, women artists, and solidarities. Currently, she’s exploring independent and collaborative projects around the politics of seeing and feeling. She holds a BA in English Literature from Qatar University and an MA in Museum Studies from UCL. From 2016 to 2022, Ramadan served as an Assistant Curator at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha. Her recent curatorial projects include Ibi Ibrahim: Like Every Leaving Wasn’t A Country (June 2024); Taysir Batniji: No Condition is Permanent (2022-23); Kader Attia: On Silence (2021), Raqs Media Collective: Still More World (2019), among others. She’s the book editor of Madness of the Anthropocene: Thinking with an Image, which is part of a two-year collaborative effort with artists and researchers. Ramadan has contributed to various publications, including The Palaver Tree in Farid Belkahia: For A New Modernity (Ed. Gauthier, m. Centre Pompidou & Mathaf, 2021); Moments of Return in Avant-Garde and Liberation (forthcoming, Ed. Kravgna, C., Mumok Publications); Foreword for Yemen Art Now (forthcoming, Ed. Vartanian Collier, L & Ibrahim, I. Romooz Foundation). She is the recipient of the 421 Curatorial Development Program for 2023-24, and The Darat al Funun Dissertation Fellowship for Modern and Contemporary Arab Art 2024-25.