The Body Keeps the Score

“The Body Keeps the Score” is a solo exhibition by the artist Hadeyeh Badri at the Tashkeel gallery in Nad Al Sheba from April 12 – May 11, 2017. Having worked with her mentors Roderick Grant and Dr. Alexandra MacGilp over 8 months, Badri chose to explore the intimate and personal account of losing her late aunt, Shahnaz Badri.

Dealing with the loss of a loved one is never easy. From keeping their possessions and reliving the memories to the detached exchanges with hospitals and medical staff, the experience can be full of contrasts and rather devastating. Local artist Hadeyah Badri explores this emotional time through her exhibit entitled ‘The Body Keeps the Score,’ drawing from her own experiences while safekeeping her late aunt Shahnaz Badri's belongings out of an innate fear that she would be forgotten.

The work, always in between the clinically impersonal and the subjective, medical correspondence like emails and letters from physicians, looks at old photographs and organic materials to signify the struggle of tackling with loss, illness and ritual practice. Those suffered have emotional ways of discussing issues that enclose them with discomfort and uncertainty. Meanwhile, doctors have a clinical way of describing the state of sick bodies; verbal and written reports are cold, detached, and sharp. The contexts and practices that are embodied in Hadeyeh’s work speak clearly to aspects of the human condition that demand our close attention lest we sacrifice our unique subjectivity in the face of institutional authority. At once critical and intimate, this work is a demonstration of finding hope in the reflective practice of the everyday.

Tashkeel is a contemporary art organization based in Dubai that facilitates art and design practice through studio facilities, artists’ residencies, exhibitions, events and professional as well as recreational workshops. As part of its commitment to supporting locally-based designers, Tashkeel runs the annual Tanween Design Programme, supporting UAE-based designers to develop a range of products that exemplify design innate to the Emirates. Tashkeel also hosts the Critical Practice Programme, a project that aims to provide sustained and empowering support to artists to develop their work in an environment that encourages progressive experimentation and cross-discipline exchange. The programme feeds into Tashkeel’s exhibition schedule with participating artists exhibiting their work in the Tashkeel gallery.