MONA SAUDI & DIA BATAL
HOMAGE TO MAHMOUD DARWISH
26 March to 14 April 2013
One of Arab’s foremost sculptors and printmaker, Mona Saudi, joins with her daughter, spatial designer Dia Batal for their first exhibition together at Jacaranda Images in Amman. To honour the memory of the late Mahmoud Darwish born in March 1942 and to celebrate Palestinian Land Day on March 30, the works are inspired by Darwish’s poetry. Both artist’s calligraphy and drawings add a new dimension to the words of Darwish.
Mona Saudi’s friendship with the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish began in the early 1970’s. His poems influenced and resonated with Mona and others – “I am a poet with a particular perspective on reality,” he said. The 7 drawings shown in ‘Homage to Mahmoud Darwish’ were created between 1976 and 1980, inspired by Darwish’s poetry of that period. Phrases from ‘Earth Poem’, ‘Hymn for the Green’, ‘Her Image’ and ‘Suicide of the Lover’ became part of the composition of Mona’s drawings. . The series was shown for the first time as a full set in 2012 in Beirut.
“This collection of drawings was inspired by the poetry of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. It was intended to be my gift to him on his birthday in March 2009. However, his sudden death in August 2008 delayed my project… ‘Et le Poète encore est parmi nous…’ (Saint John Perse).
So now, I bring out this homage to Darwish, a great poet, a friend and continuous source
of inspiration.”
Mona Saudi
Since childhood Dia Batal was exposed to Mahmoud Darwish’s poetry, listening to recordings of his recitals that her mother used to play at home, and going to his poetry recitals in Amman. During her university years in Beirut, he often came to hold recitals and recited the poems along with the crowds that knew his poems by heart.
‘Once at university I did an etching of the poem ‘ There is on this earth what is worth living for’, and framed it for him. I wrote on the back: you may not know this, but your poetry is one of the things that are worth living for. I was so embarrassed to give it to him, but rang his door bell in Amman and quickly did. He always had it on his book shelves next to his library…’
In this work for the exhibition, Dia found herself interested in using elements from her mother’s work to build up the compositions. Mona’s calligraphy work has always inspired her and she believes that Mona’s work in poetry, text and the lines she uses have all informed Dia’s current practice in incorporating text in her furniture and spatial design.
Mahmoud Darwish wrote several dedications in books of his poetry to Dia, including one in the book ‘Fewer Roses’ which reads:
Dear Dia, With you, roses become more plentiful..
Poets and artists turn to one another for inspiration, and the dialogue has been mutually beneficial. Between Mahmoud Darwish, Mona Saudi and Dia Batal the friendship, and respect as well as the dialogue was obviously one of mutual respect and admiration. Poet Naomi Shihab Nye commented on the poems in Unfortunately It Was Paradise: “[T]he style here is quintessential Darwish—lyrical, imagistic, plaintive, haunting, always passionate, and elegant—and never anything less than free—what he would dream for all his people.”
Mona Saudi
Mona Saudi is considered one of the most prominent artists in the Arab world. She is known for her creations in sculpture and her ink drawings inspired by poetry. Her work is featured in private collection worldwide, as well as in museum collections such as that of the Museum for Women in the Arts in Washington D.C., l’Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, the National Gallery in Amman, the Sursock Museum in Beirut, the British Museum in London and others. Born in Amman in 1945, Mona Saudi obtained her MFA from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She lives in Beirut since 1969.
Dia Batal
Dia Batal is a spatial designer working between London and Beirut. She graduated from the Lebanese American University in Beirut with an AA in Fine Arts and bachelor in Interior Architecture. Afterward she completed her Masters in Design, Critical Practice from Goldsmiths, London. Her work is often context specific and enables audience and user to physically engage with it.
Dia is an admirer of Arabic calligraphy and the traditional art of working with text. Her work responds to her cultural identity in content and aesthetics. She use free style Arabic calligraphy to create an object, or tell its story, while looking at possible transformations of the text, in relation to its meaning, the space it occupies, and the function of the object itself.
