The Journey

In 2022, the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival has as its theme “The Journey”.  As it is the 10th anniversary of the festival, which takes place as the UAE celebrates its 50th anniversary, this annual celebration of contemporary art reflects on the journey of the festival, Ras Al Khaimah and the United Arab Emirates, and encourages us to consider our relationship with space, time, and the self.   

The festival, which began in 2013 as a local festival, transitioned in 2019 to an international festival.  In 2019 it also became an outdoor festival when it moved to Al Jazirah Al Hamra Heritage Village.

I was privileged to visit Al Jazirah Al Hamra in February 2016 and saw archaeologists at work. The old fort was still in the process of being restored. The experience was amazing and I wrote about it at the time.

I visited the Ras Al Khaimah Arts Fine Arts Festival in its original format, but in 2019 we moved to Canada before I had experienced it in its new format and location. 

Following it online the wish to exhibit there grew, and when I saw the theme of this year’s festival, “The Journey”, I knew the time had come in my life’s journey to make the effort to realize this dream.  

My iPhoneart forms part of the up and coming Mobile Art Movement. The figures in my iPhone artworks, although rooted, appear to be moving in a dimension beyond normal space and time. We are invited to enter this space filled with mystery and potential to discover the journey waiting to unfold. This I felt, was most fitting for the theme.  

This theme of rootedness and movement is in part inspired by the stories of Bedouins. Journeying through the desert they were on the move, but when they stopped, their “centre of now” became the place they were at. 

My process involves an exploration of time, space, interconnectedness, rootedness and movement - parameters i term “here2here”. This too I felt was in keeping with the theme.  

The decision was made! As I pondered upon which works to submit, I was inspired to include works which depicted another theme that flows through my work - the traditional dress of the UAE and my observations of how the abaya, worn by women, changed in the years I lived in the region. A keen observer of culture, I noticed that the fashions women wore started to change over time and that the black abaya slowly began to be replaced by ones incorporating more color.  The abaya has made its own journey and has its own story to tell.  

The abaya is an outer cloak, the public dress, worn by women in many areas of the Arab world.  

In earlier times it was a large article of clothing worn draped off the head.  As time passed and this form became impractical for women as they went about their daily lives with all the demands of modern living, this traditional garment  evolved into a longer jacket, cape like form, which was more functional. These garments were originally black, and that was the format and color I encountered upon my arrival in the UAE in 2010. 

At this point in time many women wear the abaya but in a variety of colors, textures and textiles. As the UAE welcomed many different cultures into its midst, women found themselves in globalized settings. They have adapted their clothing style and their fashion to not only reflect their traditions at the same time as their individuality, but also to be functional for use in the era they find themselves living in.  

More detailed information about the evolution of the abaya can be found here,  courtesy of The Zay Initiative, founded by Dr Reem El Mutwalli.

I am very honoured and proud to report that two of my works were selected and are being exhibited in the desert in large format at this year’s Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival, which will be held from February 4 - March 31, 2022.  

 Change ©Linda Hollier

The woman in the artwork “Change” was one of the first women I saw wearing an abaya that was mainly white.  She certainly seemed to be moving in a different dimension to most others around her. As she confidently journeyed into the future she was certainly inviting others to follow her on this journey.

 Dissolving ©Linda Hollier

The stripes in the abaya in this artwork are moving but the woman appears to be confidently rooted.  Tradition and the future are apparent at the same time. 

This work was also projected onto 9 metre and 13 metre screens at The Equinox Experience in Santo Stefano Al Ponte in Florence in 2017.  That this piece journeys from a deconsecrated church in Italy to the desert of the UAE is in itself amazing to me.  

Both works were created entirely on my iPhone before being printed onto recycled wood. 

I intuitively captured the women in these works as I went about my day. The recycled wood reminds us of the importance of being grounded whilst the use of modern technology hints at movement.  The media used as well as the women in the work and what they are wearing remind us of the importance of our history as we journey into the future.