Converging Territories #31

Lalla Essaydi’s Converging Territories is a photographic series that reflects upon the position of Arab women in society – with a focus on her native country of Morocco. By capturing women and girls within private spaces, she intentionally toed the line between reclamation at their own hands and confinement at the hands of the patriarchy.

In this example, Essaydi takes it one step further by blending her subjects into their surroundings – she drapes them from head-to-toe in the same fabric that forms both the makeshift ‘wall’ and flooring, all while facing them away from her lens. Her message is further emphasised by the fact that every component is adorned in Arabic calligraphy applied using henna – an aspect that has become a signature of her visual practice. The artist’s utilisation of private space and her unconventional union of henna (deemed inherently feminine) and calligraphy (deemed inherently masculine) in this portrait, among others within her oeuvre, aims to eliminate the boundary of gendered traditions and serves as a literal representation of converging territories.