The Essential Veil
THE ESSENTIAL VEIL
medium: large format analog photography, 8x10 inch view camera & installation
exhibitions · selection:
- Paris Photo — Galerie 127 · 2018
- Mois de la Photo — Hôtel de Sauroy, Paris — Un Maroc raconté autrement, Galerie 127 · 2014
- Galerie 127 — Marrakech, Morocco · artist residencies at the Institut Français de Marrakech and Institut Français de Fez · 2009 — 2011
- Rencontres Internationales de la Photo de Fès · 2010
- Marrakech Art Fair · 2010
curator: Nathalie Locatelli
Installation materials by textile designer Brigitte Perkins
The Essential Veil is an artistic research on the diverse and rich symbolic meanings the veil possesses and how it is worn by different people from different cultural backgrounds today. Guided by the obsessional photographic work on women’s costumes in Morocco by famous French psychiatrist Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault (1872-1934) and through a personal documentation of the recurring semantical structures of the veil, Diana Lui unmasks the very essence of its multiple meanings, possibly finding the "essential or universal veil", hence giving clues to our complex existence.
Galerie 127 — Marrakech, Morocco · artist residencies at the Institut Français de Marrakech · 2009 & 2010
Le voile essentiel par Diana Lui
Les collaborations entre 2009 et 2011 avec les Instituts Français de Marrakech, de Fès et la Galerie 127 à Marrakech, m'ont permis de réaliser mon projet Le Voile Essentiel. Ce projet itinérant consiste en un travail photographique et artistique sur l'esthétique du voile et du drapé en relation avec le corps. Mon travail est une mise en rapport visuelle des significations diverses qu'induit le port universel du drapé et du voile dans notre monde contemporain. Le Voile Essentiel est inspiré de l'oeuvre photographique du psychiatre Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault (1872-1934). Passionné de draperie il a photographié au Maroc entre 1917 et 1920 les différentes manières de porter le voile.
Veil - 4
Nationality : Moroccan from Fez
Personal history : loves fine arts and drawn to photography,
dreams of travelling around the world to learn more about
different cultures, wearing a modern Moroccan haute couture dress
Occupation : physics and chemistry student
Location : at a friend's home, Assif district, Marrakesh
Veil - 3
Nationality : Moroccan from Fez
Personal history : loves the fine arts and drawn to photography,
dreams of travelling around the world to learn more about
different cultures, wearing a traditional Berber wedding dress
Occupation : physics and chemistry student
Location : at a friend's home, Assif district, Marrakesh
Le travail photographique que j'ai entamé au Maroc est un projet d'envergure qui tisse un lien entre des mondes variés par le biais de l'interprétation artistique. Il porte sur les costumes de mariage, les événements variés allant du rituel à la vie quotidienne, concernant les diverses régions du pays, se déployant des villes impériales jusqu'au désert de Drâa, passant par le littoral ainsi que les montagnes de l'Atlas. Cette interprétation photographique se situe par-delà l'étude purement ethnographique. Donner à voir de façon personnelle les diverses manières dont le voile est porté au Maroc de nos jours me permet d'en exprimer une vision artistique singulière. Mettant en avant l'écriture photographique au travers de laquelle je me définis, je reste en même temps fidèle à la réalité qui se présente devant mon objectif.
Veil - 1
Nationality : Moroccan of Berber origin
Personal history : mother of two children, wearing a niqāb,
a veiled costume imported in recent years from Iran
Occupation : cleaning maid, cook
Location : Riad Denise Masson, Bab Doukkala, Marrakesh
Veil - 6
Nationality : Moroccan of Arabian origin
Personal history : saw renowned Moroccan artist, Regraguia,
on television and decided to look for her, adopted by the artist
Occupation: student, artist
Location : at her home in El Hrarta, near Essaouira
Veil - 8
Nationality : Moroccan of Berber origin
Personal history : mother of two children,
wearing a traditional veiled costume from Marrakesh
Occupation : cleaning maid, cook
Location : Riad Denise Masson, Bab Doukkala, Marrakesh
Veil - 15
Nationality : Moroccan from Fez
Personal history : only child, was brought up by her great-aunt
until her death at age 15, terrible sadness after her great-aunt's death,
learned to sing professionally, wearing a complete traditional costume from Fez
Occupation : singer of the “malhoune” style, a traditional and popular singing style
Location : Dar Batha, Fez
Veil - 10
Nationality : Moroccan, father from Tata (south Morocco), mother from Fez
Personal history : dreams of going to the USA, participated in the Green Card Lottery,
wearing a wedding dress with a white cape called a "selham", a wedding costume
worn during the bride's journey from her home to the bridegroom's house
(while passing by the mausoleum)
Occupation : English literature student
Location : Dar Batha, Fez, Morocco
Chaque résidence est accompagnée d'une exposition composée d'une série de photographies ainsi que d'une installation. Mon intention est de donner à ce projet une approche artistique plurielle. Chaque installation consistera, selon la cohérence et les besoins du projet, en une interaction avec les diverses strates de la culture et de l'artisanat marocains. Ainsi, une grande place sera faite à la fabrication des tissus, donc aux couturiers, tisserands et brodeurs...
Veil - 9
Nationality : Moroccan, father from Tata (south Morocco), mother from Fez
Personal history : dreams of going to the USA,
participated in the Green Card Lottery, wearing a wedding dress
for the henna ceremony
Occupation : English literature student
Location : Dar Batha, Fez, Morocco
Veil - 14
Nationality : Moroccan, father from Tata (south Morocco), mother from Fez
Personal history : dreams of going to the USA,
participated in the Green Card Lottery, wearing a wedding caftan
called a lebsa del joher which means “attire in pearls”
Occupation : English literature student
Location : Dar Batha, Fez, Morocco
Veil - 11
Nationality : Moroccan from Marrakesh, Berber origin
Personal history : first in her family to become an actress,
wearing a traditional Soussi Berber wedding dress
Occupation : actress
Location : Dar Batha, Fez, Morocco
Veil - 12
Nationality : Moroccan from Marrakesh, Berber origin
Personal history : first in her family to become an actress,
wearing a Goulmima Saharian costume
Occupation : actress
Location : Dar Batha, Fez, Morocco
Mois de la Photo — Hôtel de Sauroy, Paris — Un Maroc raconté autrement, Galerie 127 · 2014
Performance and installation with henna powder · Institut Français de Fez · 2011Les produits fabriqués sur place comme le henné, les pigments de couleur issus des minéraux trouvés au Maroc, les miroirs de hammam, pourront également être utilisés selon la nature de l'installation. Ce procédé induit une mise en relation et un échange avec les artisans locaux qui de ce fait participent de manière active et impliquée à l'élaboration du projet artistique.
Institut Français de Fez · 2011© Copyright Diana Lui 2021-2022. All rights reserved.
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