DAAS in Sharjah - 2025

Shaden Almutlaq

How can confusion become a practice of belonging and resistance?How can confusion become a practice of belonging and resistance?

Biography

Shaden Almutlaq traces how dress becomes a site to question physical and emotional boundaries. Her process unfolds through the narrative form of a salfa: a layered narration of past events and observations that has evolved to describe the informal, intimate rhythm of conversations often associated with the majlis in the Gulf. Following salfa’s layered approach, which moves across scales of body, mind, and space, the work reflects on how lived experience and knowledge intertwine, making conversations both her subject and method of research. The gathering will be held as a collective reading in a majlis at Obaid Al Shamsi Heritage House, followed by a dialogue with guests.