This exhibition stems from the desire to pay homage to the women in our society that were/are empowering figures in our lives.
The starting point for this body of work is Yasmina Hilal’s grandmother’s home. Not only the house itself but the treasure trove of trinkets and antique gems that proved to be a growing fascination for the artist’s developing photographic eye. For example, Hilal’s resin sculptures are made based on molds of her grandmother’s intricately engraved silver frames in which one found images of family members.
Another indispensable source of inspiration is Hilal’s mother’s blue velvet wedding dress that the artist wore around the house during the pandemic. She had been quarantined in her grandmother’s home, where the dress was stored. To kill time, she immersed herself in the house and its objects. “I realized I never really felt at home anywhere until I moved into this house. I found my mother’s dresses, fell in love with them” said the artist in an instagram post dating back to December 2020. “Objects hold a lot of memories, but as time changes our perception changes,” she explained, and that ultimately inspired her to create this project. The aforementioned a-typical gown is on display as a symbol of intergenerational ideals of beauty and femininity.
Curated in a way to take the audience on a journey through Hilal’s artistic process, the exhibition showcases a series of unique dark room prints, from which she created the body of collages by reprinting them on photo paper and acetate paper in small and large format, some of which were first released in Brussels as part of the MENART FAIR.
More recently, Hilal collaborated with artists and creatives to make a video and a holographic work, expanding the project into the digital realm. The artist also created a life-size mirror installation, on which is displayed custom jewelry with the Arabic title of the exhibition, that replicates the effect of her collages in order to breakdown and scatter beliefs embodying the spirit of generations past all the while giving room for a more modern version of femininity.
