Introduction

As soon as I walked into the exhibit for She Who Tells a Story, I felt the weight of the artwork that was displayed. A lot of the works of art dealt with issues surrounding oppression, especially of women and girls. One of the most impactful, in my opinion, was Mother, Daughter, Doll Series by Boushra Almutawakel. It clearly showed how more and more extremist many countries are becoming in their pursuit to suppress and subdue women, making them less human.

Work

Still, in an effort to keep this relatively light-hearted, I decided to go with another series I particularly enjoyed. I will be exploring A Girl and Her Room by Rania Matar. It was a piece that immediately stuck out to me, and became one of my favourites in the exhibition. It is a relatively “simple” series: photos of teenage girls/young female adults in their bedrooms.

I enjoyed what Matar was trying to convey, and I feel that it was one of those works of art where I understood right away what the intentions behind the artist were. Every girl’s sense of style and individuality shone through their decoration, and yet they all felt similar. It was interesting to see how individual culture mixed with universal themes. They were all girls. Growing up. Discovering the world. Trying to find their place. They were just like me. Just like my friends and family. Just like all of us. Different, and yet so similar.

(Because I think it's not nice to take pictures in museums, I looked up the photographs online. The pieces below are, if memory serves, the selection shown in the exhibit. Credit where credit is due: http://raniamatar.com/portfolio/girl-and-her-room/index.php)