a visual journal of maldives

The Wardrobe by Fathmath Zuhura (Dhury), 2006

by domu on 19 December 2006 — Posted in mvj

This is an installation produced by Maldivian artist Fathmath Zuhura (Dhury) after participating in an international women artist residency organised by Theertha International Artists’ Collective in Colombo, Sri Lanka in August 2006. Dhury is one of the most perceptive artists I have come across in Male’. Entirely self-taught (apart from the art lessons she took at Ameeniya School) Dhury has talent in her family too. Her grandfather was a renowned calligrapher in the country (Thabah ALi Fulhu).

When I first met Dhury in 2005 she had already been working for many years producing souvenir art, decorating dresses as well as making some very hyper-real, illustrative works (also for tourists). But she had also begun a process of abstraction and experimentation with more creative forms. Two of her first abstarct paintings - both inspired by Maldivian cultural elements - were first exhibited at Maldives Contemporary 2005, the first exhibition held at the National Art Gallery, Maldives.

In July this year, Dhury had a chance to visit Colombo to work with a group of artists from Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. She made a conceptual leap during this residency in that her work is now no longer limited to canvas but she has expanded her ideas onto completely a different media; dresses on which images are painted.

The Wardrobe, the installation she did at the end of the residency, comprises of two dresses depicting life in two different circumstances. One portrays a ‘rosy’ picture; showing the bliss that comes with a protected upbringing. This bliss is also ignorance. The second dress shows the violence in society. In one of the most graphic illustrations I have recently seen from a Maldivian artist, the illustration on this ‘darker’ dress shows a man thrashing the brains out of another person, a girl like figure who it seems has multiple eyes, resembling some kind of monster from a Greek myth.

MW 2006

The Wardrobe - Installation View, Goethe Institute, Colombo, 2006