In collaboration with platform QISSA, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam presents Female Gaze, a group exhibition showcasing the work of four young women artists in the museum’s city gallery. The installations, digital art, and surrealistic objects of Rawen Jouini, Khaddouj Barghout, Esra Çopur, and Halima Shaaban explore the mechanisms behind the visual representation of women and how views on women have evolved over time. The artists relate this to the body, which carries our experiences, changes over time, and shapes who we are. What would happen if we were able to show our true selves – without judgement, without filter?
Female Gaze is a visual reflection on such questions, in which identity, self-image, and visibility play an important role. The exhibition departs from a fresh sense of rebellion and acts like a mirror for both the artists and the spectators. The work extends an invitation to think about who we are as human beings and makers. But also, and especially, about how we present ourselves. After all, our self-image, visibility, and identity are subject to constant change.
Female Gaze was initiated by, and realized in collaboration with QISSA, a platform and community for new generations of makers. All four participating artists are alumni of this talent development programme that encourages young makers to develop their own visual language, offering them professional support within their own field of expertise. The exhibition is curated and compiled by Atlynn Vrolijk, in collaboration with the four female artists.
About the artists:
Rawen Jouini
Rawen Jouini (2002) is a 3D artist whose work centres on technology and visions of the future. Her work examines how rapid technological advancements have transformed our views on identity and humanity. Rawen uses visual narratives to explore the boundaries between the natural and the artificial. An example of this is a work in which a humanoid robot is carrying a growing foetus in a glass uterus. She thus raises questions about what it means to be human at a time when life can also be created artificially.
Rawen Jouini
Khaddouj Barghout
In the work of Khaddouj Barghout (1999), the human body is transformed into a surrealistic landscape where the boundaries between human and object have become blurred. In her visual language, stereotypical images referring to the female body – including elements like face veils, worn underwear, and Moroccan tea sets – are turned into weapons. Scents and flavours are captured and celebrated in a contradictory, yet inviting manner. Barghout has a layered way of playing with our perception of sensuality, the female body, and the representation of it. She furthermore invites the spectator to think about subjects like oppression, liberation, and loss of innocence.
Khaddouj Barghout
Esra Çopur
The work of Esra Çopur (1998) is about identity and culture, specifically zooming in on traditional dress, within the context of the Turkish diaspora. She often works with surplus garments and second hand textiles that she subsequently transforms using either traditional, forgotten techniques or new techniques that she developed herself. Embracing the restrictions of some materials or techniques, she actually turns these into the point of departure for her work. Her installations make tangible how traditions and rituals are intimately intertwined in who we are, using memories and inner growth as recurring threads.
Esra Çöpür
Halima Shaaban aka ARTIFICIHALLY
Halima Shaaban (1997) creates digital art about healing her inner child, being a women, and escaping reality. In her work she aims to develop a safe, digital ‘home’ where she can find the courage to explore her own subconscious and visualize her most authentic self. To Halima, a home is not merely a location, but more importantly a feeling: a mental place where you are allowed to be your true self and that evolves along with you. A place you can make your own and can always return to. Mirrors play a central role in her work. They not only represent the many meanings that can be derived from one’s identity and home, but also reflect the intimate connection between the concepts of home and identity.
Halima Shaaban aka ARTIFICIHALLY
About QISSA
QISSA is a platform for a new generation of makers whose stories are told on the cutting edges of art, design, and digital culture. It offers talented artists a community and safe space to develop themselves, experiment, and grow.
QISSA’s Visual Storytellers programme supports young visual makers in developing their own visual language and finding their position in the artworld. During this six-month trajectory, participants work on building their portfolios, take part in workshops by professionals, and receive personal coaching. A regular feature of the programme is a visit to Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, where participants can engage in conversations with curators and the director, for instance. This gives them more insight into how makers might find their way to and in museums.
Director Anne de Haij: “It is our aim to make as many different (young) artists as possible feel at home in our museum. However, not all artists will find the museum the most obvious location to exhibit their work. It is therefore very exciting, as well as important that we are now able to give them that opportunity. At the same time they broaden our horizons too, showing us that great art can also be developed outside a museum setting.”