Lida Abdul
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Lidā Abdul (;
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Lidā Abdullah, ; born 1973), is an American-Afghan-born
video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...
ist and
performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
ist. She was born as Lida Abdullah in
Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
in 1979 and fled the country as a child during the Soviet Invasion. She went on to live in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
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, and the
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. Her work has been featured at the 2005
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
, Kunsthalle Vienna, Museum of Modern Art Arnhem Netherlands and Miami Cantral, CAC Centre d'art contemporain de Brétigny and Frac Lorraine Metz, France. Her work has also been exhibited in festivals in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...
,
Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...
, and
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. She lives and works in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and Kabul."Lida Abdul"
Guggenheim. Accessed February 8, 2017.


Early life

Abdul fled
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
in December 1979 with the threat of the Soviet invasion, making her a refugee to
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, and thus is an "artistic nomad". The Russian-Afghan conflict goes back to 1838. Autocratic Russia (and later the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
) had expansionist goals, continually competing with
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
for Central Asian territory.Collins, Joseph J. ''The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: A Study in the Use of Force in Soviet Foreign Policy''. Lexington (Mass.): Lexington Books, 1987 Historically, Afghanistan's goals have been independence, maintenance of territory and the security of the throne. This contrasted with two great powers, Russia and Great Britain, competing for power in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. The Soviet Union and Afghanistan were "natural allies" during the Second World War. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan is considered the leading event of the Cold War. Soviet presence in Afghanistan was felt strongly in infrastructure. Afghan cities, notoriously difficult to travel between, were connected with a major road system with Soviet aid. Abdul completed a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
in
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
in 1997 and a Bachelor of Arts in
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
in 1998, both from
California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public research university in Fullerton, California, United States. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the California State ...
. She also completed a
Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...
in the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
in 2000.


Career and art

Abdul's
video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
and
performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
has been described as abstract and dream-like, and she uses film techniques such as blurring to evoke the mind, as well as an "epic scale". Her films are politically charged and use themes of hope and renewal to suggest her war-torn home country's future of progress. While Abdul was made a refugee in 1979 after the Soviet invasion, she was able to return to Afghanistan after the fall of the
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
to revisit her home country, film, and meet with Afghan people to talk about their hopes for the future. She considers herself a nomadic artist, because of her life growing up involved a lot of moving country-to-country and keeping her away from her homeland. Abdul uses those feelings and emotions as inspiration or motivation in her art. Abdul creates political commentary, films that speak to themes of devastation, displacement culture, identity and bodies.


"White House" (2005)

''White House'' is a short film rich with political content. It is one of Abdul's better-known works, which was shown at the
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
. The film depicts the rubble of a classical building in a landscape set outside of
Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...
.MacGilp, Alexandra
"White House"
ArtAsiaPacific: Lida Abdul. November/December 2013. Accessed February 8, 2017.
The artist films herself dressed in black, painting the rubble white. A man enters the scene, and Abdul paints his back in a similar fashion. Finally, the short, five-minute film ends with a herd of goats exploring the ruins. The film is rhythmic, and a symbol of hope and progress, as well as an act of political resistance to various injustices, such as the United States' profitable occupation of Afghanistan, the whitewashing of history, and Afghan people's psychological injury from living in a war-torn region.


"Dome" (2005)

Dome holds an optimistic tone contrasted with symbols of distress. It depicts a boy spinning joyfully in a crumbling
mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
while an American helicopter passes overhead. The spinning and dizziness are meant to represent displacement due to war, the irrationality of war acts and the strength of human hope


"Trees" (2005)

Trees is a video documentary where young men discuss their reason for cutting down a tree, one that is still alive and bearing fruits. They explain their reasoning for cutting it down is because it was the site of many hangings and had to be destroyed. In the end the men cut the tree down and carried it off.


"Clapping With Stones" (2005)

Clapping with stones is a video documentary, which contains a group of men in black ''Shalwar Kameez'' performing a prayer like ritual in front of the rock of Bamiyan. The Bamiyan contains traces of ancient Buddha's, which was destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban.


"Brick Sellers of Kabul" (2006)

Brick Sellers of Kabul is a photograph of young children in Kabul, each of them breaking a brick that they hand to a man with a shock of unruly hair and a painted expression. They are very serious and there is a sense of adulthood in the lives of each of these children. Abdul said, "Kabul is full of kids who run in the streets, but if you knew their lives you would wonder how it is possible for them to keep going... when their laughter disappears".


Exhibitions and shows

Lida Abdul's work has appeared in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the Middle East, Europe and North America.


Solo exhibitions

* National Museum of Afghanistan (Kabul, Afghanistan 2007) *
Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art Indianapolis Contemporary, formerly known as the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art or iMOCA, was a museum of contemporary art in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. In 2020, the gallery's board voted to begin closing down operations, a result of ...
(Indianapolis, USA 2008) * OK Center for Contemporary Art (Linz, Austria 2008) *
Krannert Art Museum The Krannert Art Museum (KAM) is a fine art museum located at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Illinois, United States. It has of space devoted to all periods of art, dating from ancient Egypt to contemporary photography ...
(Champaign, Illinois, US 2010) * Centro de Arte Contemporáneo (Málaga, Spain 2013) *
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...
(Lisbon, Portugal, 2013) * Foreman Art Gallery, Bishops University (Quebec, Canada, 2013) * Giogrio Persano Gallery (Turin, Italy, 2013) * Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Paris, France, 2014) * CAP Center (Lyon, France, 2015)


Group exhibitions

*
Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
(2005 and 2015) *
Moscow Biennale The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art is one of the most important Russian cultural events and was founded in 2003. First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art The First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (January 28 – February 28, 2005) ca ...
(2007) * ''Global Feminisms'' (
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...
, NYC, USA 2007) * ''History of Violence'' (Haifa Museum of Art, Israel 2009) * ''Beyond Memory'' ( Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, Israel 2011) * Documenta (13) (Kassel, Germany 2012) * ''Transition Project'' (Yapi Kredi Kültür Merkezi, Istanbul, Turkey 2013)


Awards

Lida Abdul's work has received several awards, including the Taiwan Award at the Venice Biennale in 2005, the Prince Claus Award in Amsterdam and the Netherlands in 2006, the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Prize for the Promotion of the Arts from the United Arab Emirates in 2007, and the EMAF Award in Osnabrueck, Germany in 2009, and won the Finalist Mario Prize 1, Fondazione Merz, Turin in 2015.


Themes

Abdul's art also addresses the common issue of the depiction of Afghan people in the mass western media. It is common in western media to only report on Afghanistan in contexts of terror and war, and public western knowledge does not expand much beyond that image. Through her art, Abdul hopes Western people will learn more about Afghan people and cultures.


Ethnicity and language

Her works are permeated with; cultural identity, migration, psychological damage, process of destruction & displacement, and include notions of exile and homeland. Though a centrally governed country, is not unified in culture, national identity or language, though the ''lingua franca'' is
Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...
.Hammond, Thomas Taylor. Red Flag over Afghanistan: The Communist Coup, the Soviet Invasion, and the Consequences. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1984, pg. #5. Few people living in Afghanistan would describe themselves as "Afghan", but rather of a specific tribe living in the region and surrounding areas. Major groups include Pushtuns,
Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...
,
Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...
and Baluch, each distinct and without strong feelings of national borders or identity, who spill into neighboring countries without regard for borders.


Terror and media representation

Some attributes unite most "Afghans", however, with a 90% majority
Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
population. One of Abdul's goals in her films is to educate a western audience about the nature of these cultures, and how they may diverge from the assumptions that people make about Afghanistan and Afghan people due to
stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...
s they may encounter in the popular media. She recognizes the tendency of western media to paint a stereotypical image of Afghanistan, and through her art, she hopes to humanize people who are often demonized. One such stereotype is an image of a nation overtaken by war and stripped entirely of culture, however, even in light of devastation, Afghan people still had the desire to create art. With the works of Lida Abdul and other artists in the forefront, a western audience is given an alternative way to see Afghanistan removed from the depictions of terror and devastated cities.


Politics

Afghanistan is more regional than central in orientation and culture, in part because of the lack of transportation throughout the country to connect major points of interest. However, a road system connecting the three major cities was built with Soviet aid.


See also

* List of Afghan women artists


References


External links

*
Artkrush.com
– Interview with Lida Abdul, November 2006
Location1.org
– Exhibition at Location One Gallery, New York, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul, Lida 1973 births Living people Feminist artists People from Kabul 21st-century women artists Afghan artists Afghan women artists Afghan Tajik people Tajik women American artists American women artists Afghan expatriates in the United States