Yemeni-Egyptian-American artist Yumna Al-Arashi (b. 1988) creates work with a singular purpose: to oppose the oppression and stereotyping of women worldwide. The artist uses a range of media 鈥 photography, book, sculpture 鈥 to explore how the Arab world is depicted, question the legacy of colonialism in our thoughts and contemplate matriarchal traditions that are all but lost. Huis Marseille presents Al-Arashi鈥檚 first solo museum exhibition, titled Body as Resistance,聽which brings together her entire oeuvre. Featured works include dyptich聽Axis of Evil聽(2020), which depicts four women from the countries designed 鈥渞ogue states鈥 by the US government and聽Shedding Skin聽(2017), made in a bathhouse in Beirut, emphasising female solidarity and reappropriating the 鈥淥rientalistic view of the hamam.鈥 A particular highlight is the 2024 artwork in book form, 础颈蝉丑补,听to which an entire gallery is devoted. The piece is inspired by three surviving photographs of her Yemeni grandmother, which prompted Al-Arashi to research the vanishing tradition of facial tattoos in older generations of North African women. Aesthetica spoke to the artist about the show and what it means to use the body as a means of resistance.聽
A: How did you first begin working behind the camera?
YAA: I started using photography to understand my surroundings and the dynamic of living between the US and Yemen聽鈥撀爈earning about the political atmosphere,聽and聽how images were being made and consumed.
A: You鈥檝e spoken about the聽鈥渧iolence鈥 embedded in photographic language: capturing, shooting, taking. How do your works disrupt conventional power dynamics between image-maker and subject?
YAA:聽It’s聽very聽important for me聽to be able to have conversations with people before a camera is introduced into the process. I聽commonly聽ask people how they want to be portrayed and what it is that they want to be seen as (or not seen as).聽So when I speak about photography, I think about it as a process of creation with whoever is in front of the camera, whether it’s another subject, me or even聽with聽landscapes.聽A process that鈥檚聽“collaboration”聽or聽“making”聽instead of聽“taking”聽or聽“capturing”聽is聽paramount.聽Sometimes, this extends to self-portraits, in which I photograph myself聽as a way of replacing a聽“model.” If聽there’s a specific thing I’m trying to say,聽sometimes聽it鈥檚聽just easier for me to use myself, because it’s聽me聽who wants to say it.
A: You鈥檝e cited the early years you spent in Washington DC following the attacks of 11 September 2001 as聽鈥渁nchoring politics in your identity.鈥 Could you tell us more about this?
YAA: After 9/11, images became聽鈥撀爀ven more than they had already been in the past聽鈥撀爏uch a force for persuading聽the public.聽As a young person growing up surrounded by conflicting imagery around who I am and the people that I come from,聽it聽was聽really hard for me to unlearn what I was聽being shown聽in聽media. Thus, it became important to me to use this聽tool聽myself聽to challenge聽the narratives around me.
A: Much of your work challenges stereotypical depictions of Arab women. What kinds of images were you most intent on resisting?
YAA: There鈥檚 an anecdote that I like sharing on this topic. Just before the invasion of Afghanistan, there was an event where Oprah Winfrey unveiled an Afghan woman on stage at a “feminist event,” and press photos of the event were widely circulated afterwards.聽It鈥檚聽interesting to me because it聽made me realise that being photographed or representing something in the US, even if you are a Black person or an Arab person, means that you’re oftentimes plugged into these roles to serve a larger narrative.聽 So it聽became clear to me聽from that moment聽that,聽as聽Audre Lorde聽puts it, you聽“can鈥檛 dismantle聽the聽oppressor鈥檚 house with the聽oppressor鈥檚聽tools.” You can鈥檛 work within their narrative to change your own. That聽became a big starting point for me to figure out how聽I聽can聽challenge a lot of these narratives through simplicity and imagery.聽Because the pictures we often see are super simple聽鈥 they鈥檙e not even staged photographs, just press shots from an event.聽Yet,聽capturing something in that way and have it spread in the media has the same effect.聽Western Asia, Central Asia and North Africa are seen as having made war in the USA, and those of us who are from these countries are grouped together in one narrative of “we must liberate these women.” Although that image with Oprah depicts an Afghani woman, which I am not, I still felt very close to that narrative. So I try and resist these monolithic portrayals of Arab women.
A: Female solidarity is a recurring theme of your work, particularly in Shedding Skin. What draws you to spaces where women gather collectively?
YAA: Put simply: a lack of men.
A: Aisha聽began with three photographs of your grandmother. At what point did this personal starting point expand into a wider, transnational project?
YAA: The shift occurred after the war in Yemen made travel impossible. My cousin sent me three low鈥憆esolution WhatsApp images of my grandmother聽and聽I realised that the pictures didn’t show the thing that I remember the most: her tattoos.聽The images were聽these little passport-sized photographs to begin,聽they were blown-out and already disintegrating quality-wise, then also compressed by Whatsapp (which is also says something interesting about聽how we communicate through such distance and war). That begged聽this whole question of how聽a聽photograph represents聽somebody, or fails to do so. My memory was challenged聽by聽these images, where聽when I was young聽I聽was聽always told that image is truth. I started to聽think more deeply about what archives mean, be they personal or collective, and how they carry so much weight around the way that we define people.聽That’s when the wider project of Aisha 产别驳补苍.听
A: Facial tattoos appear throughout聽Aisha聽as markers of identity and memory. What did you learn by following this tradition across different regions?
YAA: That聽I聽can聽never understand what these tattoos mean in their entirety, because each woman had their own story around their bodies, different experiences in life and that’s really hard to define.聽I like that聽my book gives the space for the nuances and the opacity that all of these individuals deserve.
A: What do you hope visitors take away from the show?
YAA: I hope that people are able to really understand the process of my relationship to imagery, which reflects a larger story of photography in this world, and that it makes them uncomfortable enough to try to understand more, because it will definitely make some people uncomfortable 鈥 it goes from a series of veiled women to completely nude imagery of me. And if you look at those things in their extremities, it can be quite shocking. But there’s a very strong storyline for visitors to take note of, so I hope people understand that there is a need right now for us to challenge the way that we perceive women. I don’t think that’s necessarily tied to the Arab or Muslim body, but generally how we consume images of women.
Yumna Al-Arashi: Body as Resistance is at Huis Marseille, Amsterdam from 14 February – 21 June:
Words: Emma Jacob & Yumna Al-Arashi
Image Credits:
1. 漏 Yumna Al-Arashi, I Am Whoever You Want Me to Be, 2018 from the series I Am Who I Am Who Am I.
2. 漏 Yumna Al-Arashi, Axis of Evil I, 2020, from the series, Axis of Evil.
3. 漏 Yumna Al-Arashi, Northern Yemen II, 2013, from the series, Northern Yemen (2013鈥2014).
4. 漏 Yumna Al-Arashi, Untitled, 2020.
5. 漏 Yumna Al-Arashi, Northern Yemen I, 2013 from the series, Northern Yemen (2013鈥2014).
