Sharjah Ceilings

Susan Hefuna’s multilayered drawings, photography, sculptures, installations, films and performances explore the intersection of place and identity. Her use of repetition, structure and abstraction reveals how cultural and spatial contexts shape our worldly relations. ‘Sharjah Ceilings’ (2014) is a series of 30 ink on paper drawings made specifically for Hefuna’s exhibition Another Place at Sharjah Art Foundation (2014). The drawings emerged from her memories of spending time at the heritage house Bait Al Serkal and experiencing the sunlight passing through the small cracks in the wooden ceiling. ‘Sharjah Ceilings’ echoes the grid-like structures found in her renderings of mashrabiyas—traditional windows in Arab homes, characterised by intricately carved wooden latticework that offers ventilation while maintaining privacy. The drawings reflect Hefuna’s preoccupation with in-betweenness and further her longstanding exploration of thresholds while emphasising the tension between public and private realms.

^{*Currently exhibited at}^{MKM Museum Küppersmühle}