Reclaiming memory: A Review of Manal AlDowayan’s Exhibition
Manal AlDowayan’s recent exhibition is a deeply affecting exploration of loss, memory, and teh defiant act of preservation in the face of cultural annihilation. The work resonates with a quiet power, born from the artist’s meticulous engagement with both the tangible remnants of destroyed heritage and the intangible weight of collective trauma.
the exhibition’s centerpiece, a sculpture constructed from adobe bricks in shades of ocher, white, and dark gray, promptly draws the viewer in. The geometric arrangement evokes an ornately tiled floor, but its significance is amplified by the accompanying text revealing its source: a recreation of the washroom tiles from the fourteenth-century Hamam al-Sammara in Gaza, destroyed by Israeli bombs in 2023. The deliberate cracks and chips in the bricks,held together without cement,underscore a fragility and impermanence that speaks to the deliberate erasure of Palestinian history.This isn’t simply a lament for a lost structure, but a poignant commentary on the genocidal impulse to obliterate not just lives and property, but the very memories that sustain a culture.
This tension between the concrete and the metaphysical permeates the show. Complementary works on cotton rag paper extrapolate the floor designs into diagrammatic line drawings, suggesting an infinitude that transcends the material world. This idea of continuation is further explored in the video installation A while ago I remembered. I remembered I’d forgotten you. I was dreaming (2017). Awartani meticulously sweeps away a conventional Saudi sand pattern, revealing the western-style tiles beneath, a gesture that speaks to the erosion of vernacular architecture in the face of modernization.The act of sweeping itself becomes a meditative, almost ritualistic performance, a physical prayer that unveils a deeper truth.
Even in the large-scale installation Come, let me heal your wounds. Let me mend your broken bones (2024), a series of monumental sheer silk screens, this delicate balance persists. The play of light and shadow through the fabric creates a mesmerizing effect,but it’s the tiny,darned cotton patches that truly capture the attention. These subtle repairs are echoed in smaller wall-hanging works, each accompanied by a panel detailing the destruction of a ancient landmark – the Tetrapylon in Palmyra, the Mar Sleeva Church in Syria – listing the date, perpetrator, and motive with stark precision.These works are not merely memorials to what has been lost. Through the act of stitching and darning, AlDowayan transforms grief into a powerful act of resistance. She doesn’t simply mourn the past; she actively recreates it,preserving memory through a process of loving,painstaking reconstruction. In a world increasingly defined by destruction, AlDowayan’s work offers a vital and hopeful message: that even in the face of annihilation, the act of remembering – and recreating – can be a profound act of defiance and a testament to the enduring power of culture.
