HAYV KAHRAMAN (IRAQI, B. 1981)

This 2011 work on paper by Iraqi artist Hayv Kahraman was created for the book, Sultani: Traditions Renewed, by Dr Reem Tariq Al Mutwalli. Mitwalli commissioned the artist to illustrate women’s traditional clothing in the UAE from 1966 to 2004. The work features the figure of a woman, arms outstretched to display the traditional shape of the sleeve of the thoab. The tilt of the figures head allows a glimpse of the gold Emirati burqa, partially covering the face of the woman, who is adorned with gold jewellery which has long been favoured in the Emirates.

The work was created around the same time as Kahraman began her Body Mapping works, where she had her body scanned in 542 quarter inch sections, utilising her findings in works such as Icosahedral Body.