Dana Awartani talks through her work in La Biennale di Venezia 2024

29 May 2024

Dana Awartani engages in critical and contemporary reinterpretations of the forms, techniques, concepts and spatial constructs that shape Middle Eastern culture. Based between New York and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and of Palestinian descent, Awartani’s work is steeped in a multitude of historical references, notably Islamic and Arab art-making traditions, straddling continuity and innovation, aesthetic experimentation and social relevance. Spanning painting, sculpture, performance and installation, the artist’s commitment to historically situated and locally sourced materials lends a rare sensitivity to urgent political concerns of gender, healing, cultural destruction and sustainability. Consistent throughout Awartani’s work has been her philosophical elaboration of geometric patterns as an alternative genealogy of abstraction. Awartani continues to be represented by Chemould Prescott Road and Athr Gallery.