Silsila

Silsila — Arabic for ‘chain’ or ‘link’— is a multi-media project depicting Alshaibi’s seven year cyclic journey through the significant deserts and endangered water sources of the Middle East and North African region. Through this body of work, the artist examines connections between different cultures that are under threat of displacement, recognizing shared global issues that need to be addressed. Inspired by the great 14th century Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta, Alshaibi loosely followed his ancient paths through the present-day Middle East and North Africa, to the islands of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, a nation slated to be the first to “disappear” by rising tides, and onto Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, another island on the brink of extinction with. Alshaibi establishes that this recognition of geological interconnectedness and human interdependence is essential to addressing environmental issues. According to the artist, the story of water and desert is an enduring paradox and starting point for broader and philosophical readings that place mystical and historical importance on the natural world and point to our uncertain ecological future. 

42 photographs (digital archival prints and c-prints mounted to Diasec) and 8 videos (either projected or "floating" in custom-made black Plexi boxes). 2009-2017.

“Sama Alshaibi uses photography to situate her performance art, which is independent of an audience, and that performance—an abstract manifestation of her personal and intimate experiences—gives a new dimension to her artistic practice. Unlike the fourteenth-century Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta, who is often referenced in Silsila, Alshaibi does not document the moment but rather lives it, in order to become one with a landscape threatened by ecological disasters. There are hardly any living beings in her images; instead, traces of life—the fruits of paradise, such as pomegranate seeds and dates, and the white feathers of birds—lend her images a spiritual and meditative quality that she shares with the viewer.”

Salwa Mikdadi, excerpt from “Silsila: A Desert Ritual and Spiritual Performance Independent of an Audience”, Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In)