00:00I'm here to represent UAE's year of sustainability. So my artwork is completely sustainable
00:06and it's got a relation with the culture of UAE.
00:13Good morning, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News. I'm the entertainment editor.
00:18Today, I have a very interesting personality all the way from Cannes. She's a Dubai-based resident
00:22and an entrepreneur, but she's also an artist. Apparently, her artwork has been
00:27chosen by the Cannes Art Biennale. You are the first, perhaps, among the few
00:34expats from Dubai who have been chosen to showcase her art. Great day. I think it's a
00:40matter of pride for you. I know you are at the Cannes. How is it? What's the atmosphere like, Raisa?
00:46It's very much exciting, I must say that, because I'm here to represent UAE's year of sustainability.
00:52So my artwork is completely sustainable and it's got a relation with the culture of UAE where
01:00I have created my artwork with ropes, which is, you know, because there is a meaning behind the
01:05rope also. So basically, the name of the artwork is called Reflection, showing the womanhood of
01:11around the world. I have created my artwork with ropes, the hair. The woman's hair is created with
01:18the rope, which means that around the world in the previous culture, in historical culture, we
01:24have heard that, you know, women used to spin ropes and create stories. You know, they used to
01:32share their happiness, their stories or whatever their experience were. So my artwork, Reflection,
01:38is actually made out of rope, glasses and waste newspapers.
01:44It must be such a proud moment for you as well because you didn't, it's the first time that you
01:49are in the festival as well, right?
01:51It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Everybody should experience this, you know, that feel, you
01:56know, that where you and so many, so many different culture people are coming here. You get to meet a
02:01lot of people, even in the art itself. I think it's maximum of 30 artists that was here for the
02:08art Biennale. I'm proud to say that, you know, our artwork that which was representing year of
02:15sustainability, it was very different because it was with collage and mixed media. It was standing
02:20out and got a lot of appreciations.
02:23How did UAE shape you to become the artist that you are today?
02:26UAE has supported me a lot. Like, I can say like simple examples itself. It's like, you know, I've
02:33done a lot of exhibitions in UAE and Dubai culture has supported twice a lot in, you know,
02:39exhibiting and encouraging me and there are a lot of advices that they have given. They have
02:44guided me a lot. I'm very happy with it. I've done Guinness World Record in Abu Dhabi. Overall, UAE
02:51has been really good. I mean, it's a great platform for all the artists and I think we should be
02:57very proud of UAE. I'm proud of UAE.
02:59What has been the recurring, you know, comments that have come after they saw your
03:04exhibit, your art installation? It's about women being in shackles and then breaking away from it,
03:09right?
03:11Yes, yes. Very much. So, that's the experience that I would like to share here now. When my artwork
03:17was exhibited, many women came forward and then they were looking at the artwork. So, I will just
03:24briefly explain about my artwork so it's easier to connect. So, basically my artwork has got
03:29one side of a woman. A woman who is showing her femininity, you know, in a very subtle way. A
03:36submissive lady, you know, very shy or you know, like how you would say, Virginia is the angel in
03:44the house. Like how it's explained in that. So, the one side woman, how she is being for ages,
03:53from the centuries how women have been. That's what is one side it is showing and I've shown
03:58her dress which is actually taken from a recycled tailoring shop which I've taken. In that also,
04:05there are small mirrors which is showing the actual woman. You can see that, you know, the
04:10femininity I've represented with pink, the rope, the hairstyle is like with the rope. Both the
04:15ladies, I have two women in the same artwork and one is the actual lady and other one is the
04:20reflection of the lady. So, the main actual lady, her hair is made out of ropes and her hair is
04:26very subtle and very it's got a feminine like a wave kind of a feeling which you see you will
04:32get it very connected but on the other side and her face, the lady in pink, her face is made out
04:40of you know burnt papers. What I mean by burnt papers is the pain that women have been going
04:47through for ages. You know, it's showing one side of the woman what we have gone through and how
04:53we are evolving from there. When I was just checking the articles before long, long years
04:58ago, I've checked, seen that you know it was said decades ago that in 2023, by 2023 there will be
05:05an equal, you know women will be equal. In newspapers, the articles were there long ago in
05:112023 and I was like I picked up those articles because I am representing womanhood, purely
05:19sustainable, in 2023 and it's got a lot of connections. So, I was like I should pick the
05:25articles, whatever I have picked up, it's in context with whatever is there in my mind about
05:32the women or whatever the issues that women face around the world and on the other side, you will
05:37see a woman, her faces are same with the burnt newspapers showing that women have, those are the
05:45pain that women go through and how they come out of it. I have created her face with the
05:52cracked glasses which means that every woman is cracked from inside but they evolve, they come
05:59out of it like a phoenix from the ashes, you know. So, they shine, they shine out, they shine like
06:06anything. So, when you come in front of my artwork, you will see on the glass works, yourself. So,
06:11the experience that I felt from here when I had people coming and watching my artwork,
06:18they looked at themselves and actually there was one lady who I was explaining, her eyes were
06:22really filled and then she told me like you know Raiza, I am able to connect a lot with what you
06:28said and you know I am that one piece. I said actually it's the story of all the women around
06:34the world. We have come out of it. We are outshining. Even if we are broken, we are outshining and you are sparkling. You are the best.
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