Can art offer a blueprint for healing? That’s the argument Dana Awartani, 39, makes in her work. The Saudi Arabian artist creates immersive installations of silk panels by ripping and “darning” (or repairing) the fabric. She also works with experts in ancient craft traditions to build installations that double as memorials to places destroyed by conflict. At this year’s Venice Biennale, she covered the floor of Saudi Arabia’s pavilion with 29,000 clay bricks, handmade by 32 master artisans, which referenced 23 damaged sites across the Levant. Entering the installation felt like being transported into an archaeological dig. Laid without binding agents, the floor was designed to crack over the course of the show’s run—an acknowledgement of the fragility of cultural heritage and the violence of erasure. Awartani, who trained in Islamic art traditions, will open solo shows at Lisson Gallery in London in November and Norway’s Stavanger Art Museum next year.
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