DUBAI: Last month, Syrian-French artist Bady Dalloul was shortlisted for this year’s Ithra Prize. In his solo exhibition “Self-portrait with a cat I don’t have” — which runs at Dubai’s Jameel Arts Center until Feb. 22 before moving on to Lisbon, where it opens in September — Dalloul “repurposes everyday materials … to create surprising dialogues across cultures and genres,” the show catalogue states, adding that he, “importantly, connects non-Western cultures … outside of conventional Eurocentric delineations and gaze.”
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Dalloul was born and raised in Paris. His Syrian parents were also artists. This, he told Arab News, meant he had “room to express myself (creatively) without feeling uncomfortable about it” but also that he was “surrounded by their struggles” and came to understand “what it means to devote your life to a passion that doesn’t pay.”
He continued: “So I also grew up with this idea that, if I’m doing it — if I also choose to make it my living — it requires a reason; a very deep meaning. And I should be ready to sacrifice a few things.”
It wasn’t until he was almost 30 that Dalloul felt ready to commit fully to that sacrifice. That meant he was entering the art world at a time when Syria was in the global media spotlight.
