Subject to constant political constraint, the Middle East is on constant defence regarding its complicated heritage. Amongst the masses are a host of talent, pitching abstractly to the western world not to tarnish congenial populations with the same brush. Working amongst the angst is Art Dubai co-ordinator, Ms, Reem Fekri. Studying at the renowned St. Martins, Ms Fekri holds an impressive portfolio of written work, media speculation and artist history.
Globally anticipated has been the opening of the Burj Dubai, in its 828 meters of glory, lays monumentally haute of art. Taking the time out of the speedy upcoming Art Dubai Fair in March, Ms Fekri, talks Middle East, politics, fashion and fascination.
Q: What first attracted you to the integral world of art?
RF: I studied fine art at Central Saint Martins and realised that I didn’t enjoy making art as much as I liked writing about it. I did a couple of internships in galleries in London, before doing my MA in the management of the arts. It just continued from there on. I’m one of those people that love the field I work in, and wouldn’t want to do anything else!
Q: Why Art Dubai? Why not the Met in New York or Tate London?
RF: They are both very different and operate on very different structures. The Met and Tate are national galleries that operate all year round, and have a constant rotation of exhibitions, whereas Art Dubai is a contemporary art fair, that occurs once a year, through a plethora of events that materialize for one week, the main focus being contemporary commercial galleries that exhibit their represented artists. I find the whole idea of building up to the event interesting as one is constantly faced with challenges.
Q: Is there an obvious synergy between the world of art and Middle Eastern culture that cultivated you to work in such an area?
RF: I’m from the UAE, and have studied the arts – so it is a simple combination of my heritage and my passion. As a child growing up, the arts were virtually non-existent – and I now have first hand experience of watching is grow and diversify. I think my colleagues and I are very lucky to be part of this development and growth of cultural infrastructures in the region.
Q: What response do you hope to achieve being involved in Art Dubai?
RF: To provide this region with a good source of contemporary arts education, and to continue with making the fair bigger, better and more diverse through curating projects, and artistic discourse.
Q: An archived interview with Zoulikha Bouabdellah saw you propose the question, ‘who are your largest influences’, is this variable taken into account when sourcing artists for the fair?
RF: Zoulikha was one of the recipients for the Abraaj Capital Art Prize last year. When going through the selection process for the prize, it isn’t a major factor that is taken into account with the selection committee – but it is always interesting to see whom or what influences artists– and it often ranges from philosophers, contemporaries, through to musicians and politicians.
Q: Do you consider yourself an objective critic when writing for the art Dubai journal or do you draw on personal preference and experience?
RF: It depends entirely on who or what I am writing on, particularly in a region that is sensitive such as this one. Sometimes, I need to be careful with what I say in review, as it might be offensive to someone else, but a lot of the time when I am doing interviews I often try to draw questions from personal experiences.
Q: Do you have any parallel projects running along side your work at art Dubai?
RF: I do some freelance writing for various publications that are MENASA based, and this summer I will be curating a programme for an art collective that are based in ‘neutral’ waters between Israel and Palestine.
Q: Studying the world of art is a new trade to me, what artists would you recommend I look up?
RF: I have lots of respect and admiration from artists from the MENASA such as Sama Alshaibi, Naiza Khan, Gonkar Gyatso, Rameshwar Broota, Ali Reza, and Hassan Hajiaj.
Q: As this is a fashion website musing question to finalise, what’s in your handbag?
RF: Sadly not much; A fountain pen, a couple of dollars, a cosmetic essential; cocoa butter lip balm, travel memorabilia; an old airplane ticket stub, sunglasses, my purse, and my notebook, (always have that to jot down inspirations, new artists, concepts and designs that can be utilised- you often discover magnificent art in the most unsuspecting of places).
5 Minutes with fashion critic Ana Honigman
It’s that time of year again where runways are buzzing with fresh fanciful ideas, across the globe fashionista’s and writer’s alike conjugate, thrashing out their ideals on fresh faced fashion. From London to New York and more recently where this feature interviewee has been fraying away her days; Stockholm. Amid the snow snap, Ms. Ana Honigman spent and hour or two indulging my questions from the attraction of Middle Eastern culture to just how hard it takes a critic to take criticism.
Born in Critiquing fashion has been her trade for over 15 years, writing for the likes of Interview.com, Middle Eastern fashion magazine ‘Alef’ Vogue to more politically diversified texts such as ‘The Guardian’. Dia sat down for a sneak peak into the life and tales of Ms. Honigman including her dismissal of Middle Eastern scepticism.
Q: What first attracted you to writing?
AFH: I honestly can't say. I always wanted to be doing what I am doing now. Both my parents are very erudite, literary people and I grew up in a household that revolved around reading and discussion. I've always been an avid reader of fiction but I was particularly obsessed with magazines from very early on. I even made four issues of my own "magazine," called Elan, when I was seven. It even had made-up ads and a masthead, where I was editor-in-chief as well as my own intern. In fact, I guess I'm still my own intern.
Q: As a born New Yorker, surrounded by the founding epitome of fashion, what was the appeal in working for a Middle Eastern fashion magazine such as ‘Alef’?
AFH: It was more the political reality of post-9/11 New York than my childhood there which gave birth to Alef. I became the founding art editor at Alef through my best friend at the time and college suite-mate, a critic who writes for Vogue India amongst other publications. He likes to remind me that he's my best friend in both intimacy and quality. But we were new friends when Alef began right after September 11th. At that point, Porochista, who is Iranian-American, was keen to impress chic Western readers with the elegance, sophistication and creativity of Middle Easterners, as a counter-point to the image being created and perpetuated in the American mass media. I was really close with Porochista, so I jumped on the opportunity. I now write about Middle Eastern fashion and art.
Q: Could you describe a typical day working for a fashion magazine?
AFH: As a freelance art and fashion critic, most of my days are spent at in front of my computer. Usually I'm at my laptop from 11am to 3 or 4am. Sometimes, I am in a hotel or an airport. Usually I am at home. Often, I'll break to bike across the city to a Pilates class. I am still finishing my PhD. I usually file at least one piece for publication every day. And I take way too many breaks to watch Law & Order episodes or Coen brother's movies on-line.
Q: You have association with more political publications such as ‘The Guardian.’ What techniques do you use to differentiate your styles of writing?
AFH: Mostly word count and the scope of my readership influence how I write. I have a lot of very supportive and engaged editors across the range of publications where I write, and I rarely feel politics are injected or rejected into their response to my filings. However, when I was writing about contemporary art for The Guardian, I was also reading for my PhD in Oxford with the University, and although I was living off-campus and also writing regularly for the art press and mass-media publications, I was still surrounded by a very academic form of discourse.
The Guardian offered me a fantastic opportunity to reach a wide audience and learn to express myself plainly and in a more causal, chatty voice. Having a flexible but consistent and coherent voice is invaluable for any writer. I usually trust my editors' decisions and there is always somewhere else where I can expand on.
Q: From my recent readings in to Middle Eastern fashion, refinement and quality is favoured over ‘fast fashion.’ From your experience in the fashion field, how accurate would you suggest this is?
AFH: In my experience, Middle Easterners simply do not shy away from conspicuous consumption. They are interested in whatever is overtly opulent. "Fast fashion," is definitely not an interest in the region, nor vintage. Most chic consumers are focused on the lingua-franca of international luxury brands but they are also eager to cultivate their own local talents, such as the sensual and elegant Essa. I have yet to cover Dubai fashion week, or a fashion week in the region…but I would love to and I'd leap at the invitation.
Q: I’ve recently been asked to write a review on an upcoming Middle Eastern inspired fashion magazine called ‘Unfair’, I found it to be quintessential yet innovative in a contradictory sense. What do you think their appeal is to the masses in the Middle East that ‘Alef’ lacked?
AFH: I have yet to see Unfair in the flesh but I am very eager to get hold of a copy. I can't comment before reading it but I have a lot of admiration for its goals and staff. I hope that it has what Alef didn’t, which is a reliable backer who supports its steady, responsible and ambitious growth. Alef had many excellent people contributing but we ultimately lacked real support and transparency from our investor.
Q: With regards to your recent article in 'Interviewmagazine.com' regarding Berlin fashion week, what angle do you always take when critiquing upcoming trends?
AFH: My way of viewing fashion is mostly influenced by my years studying, writing about and now teaching contemporary art. But besides that, my approach when reporting about fashion weeks away from what Amanda Fortini called "the axis’s of influence" in the New Yorker, is to try and put the catwalks into the cities' cultural, creative, political and historical contexts. That gives a bit more space to stretch and deepen my thoughts and really cover as much as possible, in very different ways. My main objective is to be generous not to hold emerging cities up to Paris-London-New York standards, but to let each environment determine my interpretation.
Q: A controversial topic always at the heart of the media during any fashion week is the ability of bloggers to report accurately, from a critic’s perspective. Do you have a personal opinion on the world of bloggers?
AFH: I appreciate many bloggers' work. I write for Diane Pernet's ashadedviewonfashion and it is one of the most pleasurable things that I do. It is particularly nice to write without the normal constraints of word-count or "objectivity" and just cultivate a diary-like intimacy with readers. However, a lot of bloggers actually seem too critical - in the "thumbs up/ thumbs down" sense. They do not feel the need to support their judgments with sustained and developed arguments. In that sense, they do the work a disservice.
Too many editors edit out negative opinions and I hope that stops. For that, I am really grateful that Diane lets me blog about my scrapped knees, my full-blown enthusiasm and my grittier reactions to fashion.
Q: Do you have a global preference on fashion?
AFH: I always try to track designers' growth and keep keen about their heritage while looking at each season with fresh eyes. This season, I was mostly disappointed in Berlin but I imagine next season will be better and I've loved a lot during past Berlin Fashion Weeks. There are people whom I am excited to see but I generally try to take each show on its own merits. And every city says it's causing an imminent threat to Paris, London or New York but none of those cities need to actually worry. Having said that, my favourite cities are the ones like Sao Paolo which really stick to their own identity, do not try and emulate the lions and instead present strong local labels with a distinct, thoughtful aesthetic. Those are the ones that can develop their own global influence in the future.
Q: And one for the website: What is one trend you would defiantly recommend for women to keep their eyes peeled for?
AFH: I dare any woman in the world to try not to wear leather leggings next season. I haven’t seen a city yet which isn’t awash with all kinds of leather leggings. Another i'm discovering is jewellery made to resemble or even made from human teeth and dental devices, like Jules Kim's grotesquely glamorous retainer necklace. I love it.
Just a few sneeks peaks of Ana and wahts in her bag!
Ann Honigman in all her glory.......
Her 'It'bag by by Dont Shoot the Messengers... I'm so jealous, I actually asked Ana how to but one! By personal order only guys... DAMN!!!
I read yesterday in Manchester Stylist that we as ladies spend £125 million a year on our eyes.... just our eyes .. well with mascara like this I can see why.. LUSH!
We all love Narrs, particularly loving the candy pink hot for this season indeed,as seen on McQueen!
1969-2010
A snap shot key ring, love love love this keyring recommendations where I may find one please........
An Apple a day and all that jazz (jazz shoes that is)......
Killer costume national platforms, perfect construction with the square toe, very Dior Couture 2007 and keeping them classic in black......
Who could live without 'theres an ap for that' I don't think so.......
Start spreading the News- business Bible and just becuase it has a chic blond with nuns on how controversial, if you wanna mock God mmmmm............
