MANAMA: Italian-Lebanese artist and writer Cristiana de Marchi has launched an online project — a ‘Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon’ — to improve representation of female artists in the region.
“It is an online workshop where volunteers compile Wikipedia pages,” de Marchi, who splits her time between Dubai and Beirut, explained to Arab News. The information that’s currently available on Wikipedia is just a few superstar names — it’s imprecise and very limited. I’m working with a small group of art enthusiasts to collect the information. It’s a slow process at this stage. Some of the artists don’t have ready information, so it has turned out to be more like a research project.”
The first phase of the project focuses on female artists hailing from, or based in, the UAE.
“Torino Map” is by de Marchi. (Supplied)
“I wanted different generations, so I decided to concentrate on Nujoom Al-Ghanem, who represented the UAE at the last Venice Biennale; Dr Dr Najjat Makki, from the older generation; and Shaikha Al-Mazrou,” de Marchi explained.
The project can be seen as a continuation of de Marchi’s own practice, which often sheds light on the ‘unseen.’ In the late Nineties, she worked on a series of archaeological excavations (she holds a Masters degree in archaeology) in Beirut, before moving to Dubai in 2006, where she collaborated with the Flying House group — a non-profit organization that supports Emirati artists. Until that point, she had been creating art just for herself — not for public consumption, but the group encouraged her to exhibit.
Cristiana de Marchi’s project aims to improve representation of female artists in the region. (Supplied)
“My medium is mostly fabric and embroidery, and video as well,” she explained. “That really started in the early 2000s with the notion of memory. Being outside Italy, where I grew up, I noticed the memory was fading. I have a very geographic memory and so I started a map of my home city, Turin, and the medium came quite naturally. I learned all the stitching as a child.”
That first map was multi-colored, but these days de Marchi mostly works in white-on-white or black-on-black — almost hiding the first layer in plain view.
Envelops Picture #1. (Supplied)
“I started a series on political propaganda speeches,” she said. “I create the words then cover them with a second layer of embroidery. For example, the word Al-Watan — first I made the letters then covered them with a second layer of embroidery so you can’t see them unless they are lit in a certain way. Propaganda speeches are very loud, but this is very subtle.”
Another of her series focuses on borders. “I started with a map of the Middle East,” she said. “I wanted to work in monochrome with borders. I started with different kinds of stitches that you would not normally have together. It is the same, in that it shows only in light. It works on the idea of borders as an assumption — the idea of borders and also of hiding them.
Capital Punishment Letters. (Supplied)
“(I’m interested in) details and about revealing and at the same time also hiding. I’ve always been interested in politics; I don’t want to associate the idea of artist as activist, but I gravitate towards issues that I try to highlight in an artistic way,” she continued.
De Marchi is currently working on a series on contested waters and another project called “Arabesque” — using different shapes to reference geopolitical situations in the Gulf.
“I’m always looking for ways to develop and push the medium. For example, for the last two years I’ve been looking at continuation using only one stitch and then the negative space in a map of Lebanon — the rivers are empty spaces. It’s an extreme simplification of the medium. but not the easiest way to do it.
Mapping Gaps Detail. (Supplied)
“In the past year I have worked a lot on paper. I created a series of commemorative stamps (which were exhibited in Jeddah). For that, I took advantage of a fellowship during which I decided to venture into something completely different,” she continued. “I really enjoyed working this way, creating my own stamps then a series of letters addressing political issues such as capital punishment, so I made a series of letters to countries which still have capital punishment.”
She added that another change in her professional life would be coming later in the year. Coupled with her continually evolving art practice, it’s clear that de Marchi isn’t one to rest on her laurels.
“I’m a bit skeptical about comfort,” she said. “When I feel too comfortable in a situation I try to escape and give myself a cold shower.”
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