Art Dubai

The work emerges from the artist’s reflection on the continuity of traditional crafts despite their prolonged isolation, and from a spiritual thirst to revive these practices and reintroduce them within a contemporary context. Through this process, Hawsawi evokes the logic of thinking through the hand and a spirit of inherited generosity, practices that, across generations, have contributed to the formation of rich cultures and civilizations.

For Hawsawi, crafts and handmade practices carry a deep emotional and spiritual connection. Wicker, in particular, lies at the heart of this relationship through the traditional broom made from it. The craft is closely connected to her mother’s family, Al-Khusfi, who became known for it in Makkah. Her great-grandfather practiced the trade, purchasing brooms from women, importing and exporting them, and selling them to King Abdulaziz.

The artist brings this inherited craft memory into her contemporary practice, exploring the customs, traditions, and everyday practices passed down through generations, and the knowledge embedded within the body and place.

The work focuses on the relationship between craft and the body. Through repetition and practice, the craftsperson’s movements become an extension of the work itself, transforming the body into a vessel for the memory of craft and a means of transmitting it. Hawsawi therefore approaches craft as a spiritual bond and a reference to the authenticity of the past, drawing from its methods and gestures to reshape them in the present.

For the artist, giving through the hands carries a sacred value.