Amani Al Thuwani Kuwaiti-Ukrainian, b. 1989
Biography
Amani Al Thuwaini believes that the cultural duality she inherited through her Kuwaiti and Ukrainian roots greatly influenced her unique awareness of identity and culture, impelling her to explore this in her work. This duality offers a unique perspective, whereby she can often see through the eyes of the ‘other’, consciously becoming the spectator; observing, analyzing and absorbing the varying facets that form cultural identities. Using an interdisciplinary approach, Al Thuwaini combines individual and collective narratives with symbols that are open to differing cultural interpretations. She reveals the juncture where identities converge and exposes behaviors and rituals that are often taken for granted. Themes of luxury and socio-politics relevant to Kuwait and the Gulf region are emphasized in her work.
Employing mixed media and two-dimensional forms within her work, Al Thuwaini aims to expose this cultural collision by incorporating insinuations of modernism, superficial display, commodity fetishism and gender. Her resulting works are a candid response to the commodification and changes of traditions and customs; hybrids that represent a far more ‘globalized’ ritual.
Amani Al Thuwaini holds a Bachelor degree in Architecture from Kuwait University, which has influenced her methodical approach of collecting information and meticulous approach to designing and creating artwork. In 2017, she received her MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London. Subsequently, she was shortlisted for the Warsteiner BLOOOM Award in 2017 and in 2018 she was selected to attend the International Designer’s workshop at the V&A Museum, London.
She has exhibited extensively throughout London and Kuwait and has also shown her work in Prague, Dubai, Brazil and Bolivia.
Exhibitions
Art Fairs
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Art Paris Art Fair
Booth I12 - 'Promises' sector 3 - 7 Apr 2024Hunna Art Gallery is proud to announce its participation in Art Paris Art Fair 2024 as part of the ‘Promises’ sector focusing on young galleries...Read more -
Menart - Brussels
2 - 5 Feb 2023Unique in Europe, Menart Fair (ME.NA for Middle East and North Africa) is an international modern and contemporary art fair dedicated to the art of...Read more
Essays and Publications
Press
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At Art Paris 2024, a Focus on ‘the French Scene’
Artnet, March 14, 2024 -
(Visit Dubai) Exhibitions: Eyes Wide Shut
Visit Dubai, August 13, 2023 -
(Le Quotidien de l'Art) MENART, un pont vers le Moyen-Orient
Jade Pillaudin, Le Quotidien de l'Art, February 18, 2023 -
(The National News) Eyes Wide Shut, co-curated by Océane Sailly, explores female trauma and healing
Vamika Sinha , The National News, July 11, 2022