Power of Culture

I’m a British-Libyan sculptural artist and I’ve been living in the UAE for quite some time – but I hadn’t been to Qatar before taking part in the Fire Station Artists Intensive Study Programme (AISP). I work between 2D and 3D, with a very research-based practice and a strong relationship with materials, both conventional and unconventional. I’m particularly interested in how objects are markers of a specific time and how they move across geographies. It’s a reflection of my own life; my relationship with the Global North and Global South and my movement between the two.

I arrived in Doha in October last year. The residency lasts nine months and then we return in October for the AISP exhibition during Qatar Creates. I’m currently working on a few different projects that are inspired by being here.

Coming to Qatar and seeing Souq Waqif and the Al Dosari Zoo and Game Reserve, for example, I realised that taxidermy is common practice here and exists in public spaces outside of the museum frameworks we’re perhaps used to seeing it in. I’ve been exploring the relationship between objects and animals, and how the body is preserved through inflating its skin.

As I have an intuitive process in my practice, the way the AISP is structured within a loose framework that allows flexibility really fits with how I work. It's also been incredible to have so many different voices – both from the cohort of artists taking part and from the external educators, artists and curators who come each week to do workshops, lectures and studio visits. Artistic practice is communal – it's always a conversation. The Fire Station and its facilities allow for so much of that.