In a world where the heartaches of reality weigh heavy on our shoulders, Levitate offers a breath of fresh air — a chance to momentarily disconnect and explore the boundless landscapes of imagination.
From June 6 to 16, five Arab women artists from Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Palestine, will transport audiences into their imaginary playgrounds — a place where the ordinary transcends into the extraordinary and boundaries dissolve into oblivion.
Immersed in youthful wonder, windows become time machine portals, skies morph into psychedelic dreams, trees transform into climbing structures, strangers float as mysterious bodies, lamps resemble skeletal forms, and ideas materialise into tangible forms.
Within Levitate, curated by Hayaty Diaries, constraints dissolve, creating a space just above the ground for the mind to ascend into uncharted territories — an alternate state of consciousness, a coping mechanism for reality, a fleeting distraction free from guilt. It’s a space that rejuvenates and inspires, allowing us to confront and challenge the pains of our existence.
This exhibition invites visitors to journey through each artist’s fantastical world, inspired by tales passed down through generations, fictional stories they once loved, and dreams they conjured in real-time.
Levitate is a testament to the untamed places our imagination may take us — an invisible world we have been to, long to see again, or have yet to know.
Artists: Pippa El-Khadi Brown, Nour Ammar, Zein Majali, Myriame Dachraoui & Raya Kassisieh
Press release from Hayaty Diaries
Image: Pippa El-Khadi Brown. Day’s Journey Into Night. 2022. Oil, pastel and charcoal on canvas. 150 x 100 cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Hayaty Diaries
