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THE PEOPLE OF PATTERN PROJECT
This project was inspired in January 2016 when I was following the lead-up to the United States primaries. I felt numbed by the hatred spouted out by potential candidates and the blatant disregard of the media to remain objective and provide balanced coverage. The bigotry was, and continues to be, directly targeted towards women, Muslims, Mexicans, and a growing list of other groups. It became clear to me that this discourse of discrimination had to be balanced with knowledge and beauty by means of interactive art. If we have forgotten that we have our humanity in common, then I propose something else we have in common- fabric.
The People of Pattern Project highlights fabric and textile as a product of our earth, a manifestation of our imagination, a reflection of our environment and an archive of our stories. This project delves into a variety of cultures around the world and discovers them through their unique cultures, physical environments, artisans, textiles and the processes of making them.
MAPPING IT
Between June and December of this year, I plan to research and document a variety of textile making processes in seven different regions.
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Appliqué (Central America), Silk Weaving (Central Asia), Wax Printing (West Africa), Block Printing (South Asia), Floral Dyeing (South East Asia), Indigo Dyeing (South East Asia) and Hand Embroidery (Global).
RESEARCH & DOCUMENTATION
In each location I will be hosted by locals or artist residencies with whom I will collaborate with for me to meet artisans, to organize free workshops and to meet local arts groups. This process will be documented through visual essays and regularly featured on this website and through the Wellesley Underground Online Publication.
STUDIO & EXHIBITION
I plan to spend a considerable amount of time with artisans, individuals in arts groups/foundations/universities and time in the environment/nature. The intention of the journey is to allow the various cultures, textiles and methods of making them to inspire a body of work that would manifest itself into multi-media installations, photography, video, online publications, and lots of experimentation. Work created will be featured in a final exhibition in Spring 2017.
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Alia Ali (Austria, 1985) is a Yemeni-Bosnian-American multi-media artist and visual storyteller. Having traveled to fifty-three countries, lives in seven and grown up among five languages, her most comfortable mode of communication is through image and multi-sensory mediums. Her extensive travels have led her to process the world through interactive experiences. As a child of two linguists, Alia believes that the interpretation of verbal and written language has dis-served particular communities and presents more of a threat than a means of understanding.
Alia’s aesthetic interests stem from people, place, and the processes which unite and divide us, all at once. Her work reflects on the politics and poetics of contested notions surrounding the topics of identity, physical borders, universality, mental/physical spaces of confinement, and the inherent dualism that exists in everything. Her work blurs the lines between what we claim to be objective and subjective, illusion and reality, truth and interpretation.
Alia is a graduate of the United World College of the Atlantic (UWCAC) and holds a BA in Studio Art and Middle Eastern Studies from Wellesley College. Her studio is based between New Orleans and Marrakech. Her recent work has been featured at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Marrakech Biennale and will be on exhibit at PhotoLondon in May 2016.
PREVIOUS PROJECT: I SPEAK IN IMAGE
In 2014, Alia carried out an ambitious visual storytelling project called I SPEAK IN IMAGE, whereby she would only communicate through visual essays. She would document everyday processes and encounters within a limit of 1-10 images per subject leaving the caption free for interpretation of the viewer. The journey took on an infinity-shaped trajectory over the span of 100 days throughout Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal and India. Her work from this project was exhibited at the Colors of Saudi Forum under the Patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Sultan Ben Salman Al Saud, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, the Harvard University Center of Government and International Studies and Le 18 Art Space in Marrakech. Each exhibition was accompanied with a workshop intended for the general public, public school teachers, arts professionals. The workshops were done with the support of Harvard University, Cadi Ayyad University and the Marrakech Museum of Photography and Visual Arts. Her TED Talk can be seen online, as well as her voyage at ispeakinimage.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
People of Pattern Website: http://peopleofpattern.com
Alia Ali's Website: http://alia-ali.com
Previous Project: http://ispeakinimage.com
TEDxMarrakesh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq6NjxsnU_E
IMAGES OF PERKS:
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Pink Stripes, Cast No Evil Series
15x10 cm (6in x 4in) - Edition of 20
Printed on Hahnemühle Photorag Cotton Paper- 310gr
Signed by the Artist
$160
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Blue, Cast No Evil Series
15x10 cm (6in x 4in) - Edition of 20
Printed on Hahnemühle Photorag Cotton Paper- 310gr
Signed by the Artist
$160
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White I, Cast No Evil Series
90cm x 60 cm (35 inches x 23.5 inches)
Edition of 3 + 2 artist proofs - three available
Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Photorag 310 gr.
Signed by the artist and accompanied with a certificate of authenticity
$600 + shipping*
*Insurance and packaging is included in shipping cost
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Dots II, Cast No Evil Series
114cm x 76 cm (45 inches x 30 inches)
Edition of 3 - 2 artist proofs - three available
Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Photorag 310 gr.
Signed by the artist and accompanied with a certificate of authenticity
$1200 + shipping*
*Insurance and packaging is included in shipping cost
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Brocade I, Cast No Evil Series
106cm x 70 cm (42 inches x 28 inches)
Edition of 3 - 2 Artist Proofs - two available
Printed on Hahnemühle with Laminant and framed by the artist in textile
Accompanied with a certificate of authenticity
$2200 + shipping*
*Insurance and packaging in wooden crate included in shipping cost
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Liberty - Award winning Art Work (featured at Photo London and the Marrakech Biennale)
Cast No Evil Series
106cm x 70 cm (42 inches x 28 inches)
Edition of 3 - 2 artist proofs - only one available
Printed on Hahnemulle with laminant and framed by the artist in textile
$3600 + shipping*
*Insurance and packaging in wooden crate included in shipping cost
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Installation of Cast No Evil at the KE'CH Collective, Marrakech Biennale 6. 2016
