A thorny subject blossoms with roses

Diagnosed with a debilitating neurological disorder, the young Saudi artist Amani Alsaad channelled her pain into a uniquely personal exhibition, on show at London’s annual Nour Festival until Saturday.

Amani Alsaad drew roses, butterflies and wrote quotes from the Quran on MRI scans to create her artwork. Courtesy Nour Festival

“So, this is my head,” announces Amani Alsaad, as she introduces me to her uniquely personal exhibition, Taking Care of the Roses. Many important works are the product of an artist’s troubled mind, of course, but this one is a little different.

Born in 1990 in Riyadh but with roots in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah – “My dad’s family are all in Dubai and Abu Dhabi now,” says the artist – Alsaad’s family moved to the UK in 2002.

Two years ago, the Saudi-born, London-based student began suffering excruciating pains “like a brick hitting my head”, followed by days of debilitating migraine-like symptoms. Then the disturbances became more dramatic. “I started losing control of my movements,” she recalls. “My hands, I can’t write and sometimes when I’m walking, I can’t feel my legs and I’d have to just sit on my knees. So then I freaked out. I went to the doctors and said: ‘Is there something wrong with my brain?’”

Several specialists suggested different causes for the ailments, the most worrying diagnosis being multiple sclerosis. Struggling with both the symptoms and the uncertainty, Alsaad’s studies became virtually impossible, but the budding designer found solace in some novel artistic pursuits. The resulting creations not only altered her attitude towards the continuing trauma, but went on to win an enviable public platform – a modern tale of triumph over adversity.

Fighting fit

The outwardly reserved young artist admits to being “kind of a fighter”.

“The main thing that got me into doing the designs is that I didn’t have the proper medical programme to view my X-rays at home,” she admits. Eventually, the impatient outpatient managed to access those MRI scans using photo-editing software and took action. “I was so frustrated, I thought: ‘I’ll do a design on them, instead of just trying to figure out what’s going on.’ And when I started adding the roses and the butterflies, I thought: ‘You know what, it really looks better. What if it were roses and not a disease?’ If you have a rose, it might prick you and it’s fragile, so you have to take care of it.”

They were still just sketches when Alsaad discovered that the annual Nour Festival – London’s high-profile celebration of Middle Eastern culture – was soliciting ideas from new artists. With the deadline rapidly approaching, she submitted those nascent designs, and after a long wait, word finally arrived: she was in.

Keeping the faith

Throughout the two-month festival, which concludes on Saturday, the inside of Alsaad’s head has been on show at the Chelsea Theatre, a new attraction along the fashionable Kings Road. The decorated scans – featuring roses and butterflies positioned where the pain is most prominent – are displayed in separate light boxes, each also featuring a relevant quotation from the Quran. “I looked for quotes for everyone,” she explains. “It’s not like you have to believe in that faith. It’s having faith in yourself.”

To provide further context, standing in front of the light boxes is a doctor’s desk on which are placed various medications and syringes. They may look slightly sinister but are a positive symbol, signifying that Alsaad’s ailments have now been successfully diagnosed, hopefully. The scarier symptoms were caused by a brain infection: serious but treatable – and preferable to the more alarming prognoses.

At 18, she suffered a stroke – “I woke up and couldn’t move the left side of my body,” she recalls – but recovered to resume her studies. And while attending Birmingham City University, she became increasingly interested in issue-based installations.

Art of the matter

Her important final-year exhibition, Look Right Through Me, caused quite a stir. Displayed at Birmingham’s Waterhall gallery, it used an innovative “veil” technique to address the roles and perceptions of Muslim women. While Alsaad had been warned by a tutor that the subject could be provocative, the fiercest disruption came from an unforeseen source: feminists. “They were shouting at me, they were angry at women accepting [the hijab],” she explains.

Even the hugely personal current project suffered some curious abuse: a hollowed-out book she fashioned to house those syringes was ripped apart by one errant visitor. Otherwise, the response has been overwhelmingly upbeat. The exhibition has had notable visitors, from Saudi dignitaries to survivors of serious illness, and there are plans to extend the idea.

“I thought I might do some more – print them as flyers for hospitals,” says Alsaad. “I could leave them lying around for people to find – write positive quotes on them – so when they’re waiting to see the doctor they’ll think, ‘That’s true, why am I not positive about it? I’ll try that too. Take care of the roses’.”

• Taking Care of the Roses is at the Chelsea Theatre, 7 World’s End Place, Kings Road, Chelsea, until November 30

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