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A Dhivehi Artists Showcase

An ambitious collaboration of Dhivehi visual and performance artists, musicians, and designers sheds light on how Maldivian artists use unified and disparate aesthetics to reflect on class, space, and politics.

For our event In Grief, In Solidarity on 5th June 2021, we featured the most ambitious collaboration SAAG has attempted to date, with over 20 Maldivian performance artists, visual artists, musicians, typographers, artist collectives, and poets in a wide-ranging showcase on a range of Dhivehi art.


Curated by Kareen Adam and Associate Editor Nazish Chunara, the showcase was meant to glimpse the art practices in an overlooked country and demonstrate the perspectives one misses as a consequence of overlooking whole communities and peoples. It is a paradigmatic problem for the international Left: Why do we so often take borders for granted in practice, even if we fervently do not wish to in principle?


The showcase also provides a counterpoint to what people often associate with Maldivian: as merely an exclusionary, elite haven for tourists. The music and poetry are intentionally not subtitled, as SAAG, the magazine, shifts into multilingual presentation. We hope to strike against the expectation that population size should dictate such expectations and consider Dhivehi aesthetics and politics on their terms.


Artists and collectives featured include Afzal Shaafiu, Aishath Huda, Beatz Crew, Cartman Ayya, DIONYSIAC, Eagan Badeeu, Firushana Naseem, Little Faratas N’ Monkey, Mohamed Ikram, Mariyam Omar, Mary Halym, Meyna Hassaan, Nadee Rachey, Nashiu Zahir, Nur Danya, Raya Ali a.k.a. Echnoid, Symbolic Records, and Yazan.

For our event In Grief, In Solidarity on 5th June 2021, we featured the most ambitious collaboration SAAG has attempted to date, with over 20 Maldivian performance artists, visual artists, musicians, typographers, artist collectives, and poets in a wide-ranging showcase on a range of Dhivehi art.


Curated by Kareen Adam and Associate Editor Nazish Chunara, the showcase was meant to glimpse the art practices in an overlooked country and demonstrate the perspectives one misses as a consequence of overlooking whole communities and peoples. It is a paradigmatic problem for the international Left: Why do we so often take borders for granted in practice, even if we fervently do not wish to in principle?


The showcase also provides a counterpoint to what people often associate with Maldivian: as merely an exclusionary, elite haven for tourists. The music and poetry are intentionally not subtitled, as SAAG, the magazine, shifts into multilingual presentation. We hope to strike against the expectation that population size should dictate such expectations and consider Dhivehi aesthetics and politics on their terms.


Artists and collectives featured include Afzal Shaafiu, Aishath Huda, Beatz Crew, Cartman Ayya, DIONYSIAC, Eagan Badeeu, Firushana Naseem, Little Faratas N’ Monkey, Mohamed Ikram, Mariyam Omar, Mary Halym, Meyna Hassaan, Nadee Rachey, Nashiu Zahir, Nur Danya, Raya Ali a.k.a. Echnoid, Symbolic Records, and Yazan.

SUB-HEAD

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
Shebani Rao
A Freelancer's Guide to Decision-Making
Jamil Jan Kochai
A Premonition; Recollected

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Exhibition
Maldives
Art Practice
Internationalist Perspective
Art Activism
Indigenous Art Practice
Oceans
Islands
Luxury Tourism
Malé
Painting
Dhivehi
Typography
Fine Art
Experimental Music
Folk Music
Music Video
Performance Art
Dance
Repertory
Dance Troupe
Art Institutions
Gatekeeping
In Grief In Solidarity
Curation
Aesthetics
Missing Aesthetics
Hip Hop
Un’dhun
Urban/Rural
Fuamulah
Huvadu atoll
Rasmadhoo
Kulhudufushi
Seascapes
Class Struggle
Environment
Atolls

KAREEN ADAM is a Maldivian-Australian visual artist sharing her time between Maldives and Melbourne, Australia. The experience of living between multiple cultures, particularly negotiating between the East and the West informs her practice. Ideas about transitions, cultural identity, and the juncture between 'local' and the 'visitor' emerge in her work. Her current projects explore representations of island tourist destinations and island diaspora. Kareen explores these ideas using various mediums including printmaking, drawing, painting and digital multi-media. Kareen is the creator and maker “Kudaingili”—a range of hand-made, hand-printed products. Kareen has curated exhibitions, and exhibited her art works in Maldives, Brisbane, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and the Asia Pacific region. She has a Diploma in Visual Arts from the Southbank Institute of Technology, Brisbane and a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology from the Queensland University of Technology.

Nazish Chunara is a painter, installation artist, and aerodynamicist currently based in Los Angeles.

5 Jun 2021
Exhibition
Maldives
5th
Jun
2021

FIRUSHANA NASEEM practices abstract styles with acrylic and recycled materials, using anything that moves her. Her artistic process is mutable. She often finds the balance between thoughtful, intentional composition and the intuitive placement of color, shapes, texture, and gestural marks, conveying vibrant and uplifting abstract paintings.

EAGAN BADEEU earned initial recognition in 2000, when his works were exhibited in the Funoas Art Exhibition at Esjehi Gallery in Malé. Since then, he has exhibited his works with various groups and solo exhibitions, both in Maldives and abroad. His most significant works include 18 triptychs commissioned by the National Art Gallery, which were displayed in 2008 in a solo exhibition, “Theyokulain Dhivehi Raajje.” These paintings were based on his childhood memories of life in the Maldives.

MARIYAM OMAR's work focuses on human interactions within the society, with her primary medium being painting. Her installation works are based mainly on human rights issues. Her solo exhibition Untitled Works was held at the National Art Gallery in 2011. Her installation Departure from Logic and Humanity is featured in the ArtAsiaPacific Almanac 2014 Volume. She has exhibited her work in exhibitions including XOPI Exhibition of Public Enquiry in 2012 at Malé City Hall, The Maldives Exodus Caravan Show curated by SØren Dahlgaard in Venice in 2013, Berlin’s Import Projects Gallery, the Bangladesh Biennale, the Nasandhura Palace Hotel, and the Loama Art Gallery.

MOHAMED IKRAM is a music producer, engineer, and fine artist. He intuitively sketches and draws to reflect on his personal nature in Maldivian society and in a larger political context.

CARTMAN AYYA, or Ali Rishwaan, is a Maldives-based artist and graphic designer. He has displayed his art in various exhibitions and venues, including Hulhumale Central Park, the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, SAARC Artists Camp 2019, His solo exhibitions have been shown at Lecute Store, Gloria Jeans Cafe, Angsana Velavaru Resort, and Sharjah Institute of Culture. He is currently Vice Chairperson at MAC.

NADEE RACHEY is a mixed-media artist based in Malé, Maldives. She received a Diploma in Visual Arts and a BA in Fine Art Photography from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia. In Malé, she works with acrylics and watercolors, and is renowned for her wall murals of Maldivian marine life. Her murals are on display at several luxury resorts, including Cheval Blanc Randheli, Summer Island Resort, and Herathera Island Resort.

MEYNA HASSAAN (or Hassaan Mohamed) is a Maldivian vocalist/composer. He released his first hit album, “Maldives Fantasy,” in 1992, followed a short time later by his second album, “Maldives Ecstasy.” His third studio album “Euphoria” was never officially released but is now available to stream. Hassaan's latest album is titled “Oevaru.”

DIONYSIAC was founded by the late Nael Nasheed and Neha Noogully as a performance art and dance collective. Many of its performances center on the public and private struggle of Maldivian women.

BEATZ CREW began in 2018 when a few passionate dancers joined to explore the art of dancing. Residing in Maldives, the members have been working on themselves and a crew to showcase their talent locally and internationally on all social platforms. The crew has collaborated with different artists in the industry and is well-known in the dancing community in Maldives. Current members include Salim, popularly known as Bugxy, Mauzam Riyaz, and Rafhan

MARY HALYM is a self-taught botanical artist. Most recently, she was one of the organizers and featured artists of the Fabulous Art Show 2024. She works with various techniques, often using fabric, watercolor, paper, and various flora and fauna.

NASHIU ZAHIR hails from Malé. He is a poet, writer, and music critic. His work has been published in the Passengers Journal and Vestal Review.

NUR DANYA SHAMUN is a Maldivian abstract artist and interior designer. She is passionate about designing to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change through assimilation and the creation of climate-responsive spaces. Her art uses mixed media and unconventional techniques such as impasto, sgraffito, and block printing.

RAYA ALI, a.k.a. Echnoid, is a DJ and musician from the Maldives.

RAYYAN MOHAMED, known locally as Rydey, is a Maldivian music producer and lyricist, especially active in the hip-hop music scene. He joined Symbolic Records in 2016 as a music composer and became the company's senior producer and the Head of Audio Production. His lyrics pertain to social issues, mental health, and abstract contexts. Symbolic Records is the first hip-hop music label in the Maldives.

SYMBOLIC RECORDS is the first hip-hop music label in the Maldives.

LITTLE FARATAS N' MONKEY is an anonymous band from Maldives. Different artists collaborate on different projects. The core of the band is the sound room of a video production house.

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