THINGS AND NEEDS
(Hagaat w' Mehtagaat)
Dina Danish
ORIGIN OF THE TITLE
The title comes from a 1993 Egyptian Ramadan TV program, hosted by the famous performer Sherihan. This season the show was called Hagaat we Mehtagaat.
Danish says she has a strong memory of it as a child, its aesthetics has had a great influence on her, especially for this exhibition.
The words themselves are interesting as, in Arabic, they have the same root.
In the last couple of years, various questions between things and needs have been on the mind of the artist: What do we need and what do we want regarding things? Do we have a need to make things?
THE ARTWORKS
Dina Danish reflects upon her own confrontations with the past couple of years: being stuck at home and finding herself seeing one press conference after the other. During this time period, Danish started thinking about crafts, that have long been associated with women and the domestic, such as sewing and embroidery. Suddenly, the domestic around the world was no longer associated with women, but rather with everyone around the world. The exhibition will include sewn works, gouache paints and embossed velvet.
Melly, Dina Danish
Cloth, thread, appliqué, machine embroidery and sewing
95x108cm
2021-2022
I’ve chosen the strongest images that remained in my mind. One of them is Melania Trump when she was dressed in pink in 2017, giving a speech at the United Nations about bullying , which was highly covered and ridiculed within social media.
The image of her form for some reason was engraved in my memory and I had associated it to all the other covid press conference.
- Dina Danish
Drive Them Out, Dina Danish
Cloth, thread, acrylic paint, appliqué, machine embroidery and sewing
160x142cm
2021-2022
This work is based on an event that took place in 2017. It was an anti-terrorist institute that was inaugurated by the Saudi king, Trump and Egypt’s el Sisi. They were seen holding a glowing glove.
It was a strong and absurd image that was also highly ridiculed by the media for its witch like appearance.
- Dina Danish
Manual skills and the re-interpretation of what we usually regard as craft is definitely a core of my interest in this show. I am specifically interested in the time it consumes to make things, given that time has been our most common denominator in the past couple of years. You do not need a large studio or work space to work with it. It is also something that may be regarded as more related to craft but is simultaneously an ancient technique.
- Dina Danish on gouache painting
Three Suited Stars, Dina Danish
Cloth, thread, appliqué, machine embroidery and sewing
143x180cm
2021-2022
I was starting to feel overwhelmed by the need to give commentary about the aesthetics of political events which sometimes diverted us from the actual subjects that were at stake. At the same time, I was inspired by the visual appeal of these images and how they would not escape my mind but were forever engraved within it. In a way, I wanted to echo the artistic tradition of visualizing political events.
- Dina Danish
Dina Danish
Artista
Dina Danish (Paris, FR) is an Egyptian artist and educator living and working in Amsterdam.
In her multi-media work, Danish focuses on language and structure, incorporating humour and misunderstanding.
Awarded illy Present Future Prize and Barclay Simpson Award, Danish work was alsoshortlisted for Prix de Rome, Volkskrant Award and Abraaj Art Prize.
Her work is held in several collections including De Nederlandsche Bank, NomasFoundation, ABN Amro Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and MoMA.
Danish studied at the American University in Cairo and California College of the Arts.She was artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, PiST in Istanbul, The American Academy in Rome, Rose Residency Programme MAMbo in Bologna, A.I.R. Dubai, by Delfina Foundation and ResO Fondazione Spinola Bannaper l’Arte in Poirino.
Danish teaches at The Royal Academy in The Hague and at Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam.