Budoor Al Riyami, installation artist in Muscat, Oman
For me, it is as important to conduct dialogue with my audience as it is to express my personal beliefs and emotions through my art.
I was born and brought up in Muscat, Oman; my mother is a teacher while my father is an artist.
I wished to study fine arts at the Sultan Qaboos University but ultimately completed a degree in art education. I learnt all different kinds of art, such as painting and sculpture, in order to teach it. That knowledge of different art forms has helped me today for I am able to use it to work with and combine various media in my installation works.
After completing university, I taught art to school children with special needs for two years. It was a very positive experience in that it taught me to be patient. I felt it was a message from God to be appreciative of all that I had been given in life as well as to respect the differences around me.
I then worked as a designer of school books in the Directorate General of Curriculum Developing, English Language Curriculum Department, Ministry of Education for three years before assuming my present position of art specialist/adviser in the Student Affairs Department, Ministry of Higher Education.
I organise art exhibitions and conduct art workshops for students studying in the Ministry of Higher Education's colleges across the Sultanate. I also host a radio show, in which I interview well-known Arab art personalities and hold critical discussions about art.
My passion for art is an ongoing process.
I initially painted and created collages before progressing to sculpture. I wanted to create a kind of art which encouraged people to think and ask questions while engaging with my artwork.
I began to receive prizes for my works of sculpture; however, I subsequently became interested in doing something with the sculpture itself. I did not want it to be merely standing in the room: it had to have a spatial relationship with the room.
I later discovered that this desire to transform a particular environment or space through an artwork or several artworks was called installation. I was therefore working with installation without realising that I was doing it.
I then started to learn more about installation with the help of local artist friends and visited exhibitions in the region and in Europe. These visits also helped me gain exposure to different kinds of contemporary art.
I enjoy working with installation as it combines different artistic media: photography, sculpture, painting and video art in one work. I can set up the installation in one week but conceptualising it takes about three to four months.
My initial efforts were shaky as I was still finding my way around the world of installation art. I worked on honing my technique - because you cannot just rely on the strength of your ideas or the media that you are going to use to realise those ideas.
For example, with video art you must be fully conversant with the techniques involved in shooting as well as the lighting, script and quality of the film. Similarly, dealing with photography required me to be familiar with cameras and their technicalities.
Installation art allows me to combine various media to articulate a particular statement.
I used glass and papier mache to create sculptures and incorporate writing into an exhibit entitled 'Digital Mummy'.
I wanted to comment on how technology nowadays threatens to imprison users … we have literally been mummified by technology, whether it is spending hours on the internet or mobile phones.
A mummy is an embalmed body and yet the body is not alive; we are inside the world of internet yet we are also not actually alive within its confines. A pen scratching against the paper while writing is alive whereas there is a lack of 'soul' when fingers type on a keyboard.
There is no such thing as right or wrong when it comes to interpreting art.
I don't want to impose my views on the audience and would prefer that they form their own interpretation of my artwork.
I also do not believe in creating works which become conundrums for the audience: I would instead like to communicate a particular message to the audience while allowing them their own space in which to formulate their individual interpretation.
I feel strongly about (representing) my Omani cultural identity through my art.
I may not use Omani symbology in my work, yet you can still sense Oman through the bright colours, the heat of the sun, the warmth of the soil and the Omani culture - these aspects are Oman in me.
I disagree with creating artwork that corresponds with the traditional Orientalist perspective through which West perceives the Middle East, associating it with camels, desert and date palms.
There are many more definitions to being Omani and Arab than these references. I will not box myself into a category - for example, of being merely Omani or woman or Muslim; it is much more complex than that. I am firmly rooted in Omani soil but am constantly absorbing and assimilating myriad influences from all over the world.
I like to shock people, although albeit purposefully, rather than resorting to sensationalism.
One of my recent works was for an exhibition whose theme was 'Street and City'. The image that occurred to me was of cleaners in orange uniforms sweeping grey concrete streets.
Orange is such a dominant and conspicuous colour, yet you often don't notice the cleaners in the streets.
Furthermore, despite orange's association with cheerfulness and positivity, the cleaner works glumly; you often don't register his presence while he also does not register yours.
Instead, you may find him conversing with his broom, which is more than just a tool for him - it is human in a way, like his family or friend.
I wanted to convey the notion that cleaners are human beings as much as any of us and are worthy of respect. I set out with my camera and explored Muscat in search of them.
The cleaners were often surprised when I asked whether I could photograph them with their brooms. I was interested in them actively participating in my work, rather than being passive subjects unaware of being photographed.
I also gave them new brooms and took away the old ones to place inside a glass box similar to those in which museums display ancient relics.
For the cleaner, while using the broom, it was alive for him, containing all his secrets, like a confidante: it was as important as an object in a museum.
