Lahji No.1

2023

29.7 x 42 cm

Acrylic paint on Satin

Lahji No.1 explores how traditional dances can be an anti-colonial practice to resist cultures becoming stagnant and lost through movement in the body. Lahji is a Southern Yemeni folk dance displayed in the painting, where the dancing body takes agency of its heritage, creating a playful and collaborative act to preserve and exchange cultures It presents the richness of cultural exchange and history referring to the Ottoman and Persian empires through the manuscript painting style.