Arab artists use art to capture a world paused by coronavirus
Amid the global pandemic that has forced the world into a lockdown, Arab photographers and artists from across the Middle East are using creativity as a relief tool to tell the coronavirus story from their own perspectives.
Sayidaty.net has launched a digital archive of images relating to life in the times of COVID-19, shedding light on how artists are documenting one of the most significant shared human experiences in our recent history. The archive comprises visuals the artists are using to reflect thoughts and human connections in the age of social distancing. It is an ongoing project, featuring documentary photographers, travel photographers, artists, painters, and other creative talents who are going to great lengths to portray and express their individual perceptions of the ongoing pandemic. The project is a means to create a large-scale collaboration in documenting this unique time, and a way to showcase the many narratives that are currently unfolding around the world. At home, in quarantine, some photographers have turned their cameras on themselves and their families as they live through the lockdown together. Many are using their craft to seek out ways to show what life in quarantine is like, while also trying to make sense of the situation or distract themselves from reality.
Most of the creative mediums are in the form of photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, video, filmmaking, design and crafts.
The archive, a selection of images curated by the magazine’s editorial, shows how the pandemic is seen through the eyes of Arab artists, and how the world has been impacted by the pandemic.
The photos and detailed narratives aim to tell a complete story of the pandemic, but from different perspectives. Visuals may include real-life scenes from hospitals, deserted cities, volunteers at work, expressive paintings, drawings, the world outside our windows, and a world trying to escape the monotony of confinement.
The archive can be accessed at: http://www.sayidaty.net/corona and https://youtu.be/rEBgrEINXFU
HIGHLIGHT
Most of the creative mediums are in the form of photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, video, filmmaking, design and crafts.