Ebtisam Abdulaziz
Number & Lifetime. 2005
Installation, photos, action
About the work
Two large photographs of hands and an alphabetically-arranged archive of hundreds of photographs of hands, each displaying the photographed subject’s hand and date of birth, thus revealing little information about the artist’s models and inviting viewers to use their imagination while relating at all to the photographed hand.
Over a period of two months, Ebtisam Abdulaziz approached people on the street and visited many offices and institutions, her aim being to photograph the hands of a broad spectrum of people with different backgrounds and engaged in different professional activities. "I wanted to show the mark of time, work and history on people’s hands, and create an archive that reflected the age and social differences of a portion of Sharjah’s population, highlighting in particular the differences between the old and the young, the healthy and the somewhat physically disabled, and people from higher social classes and the workmen who lead difficult lives and do extremely physical labor. Hands can reveal a great deal about a person’s history, and the mark of time’s passing seems registered on a hand forever".
During the opening of the 7th Sharjah Biennial, the artist set up an impromptu studio in her exhibition space. Here she photographed the hands of visitors and added these images to her archive.
From an article by Mahita ElBacha Urieta, in: Nafas Art Magazine, 2005
© Photos: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe
1ª parte del foto tour por la Bienal de Sharjah 7, 6 abril - 6 junio 2005. Presidente & Directora: Hoor Al Qasimi. Curador: Jack Persekian; Co-curadores: Ken Lum y Tirdad Zolghadr. 70 participantes.