Emirati artist Afra bin Dhaher unravels the mysteries of the mind in Hymns to a Sleeper

In her exhibition Hymns to a Sleeper, Afra bin Dhaher combines photos with poetic captions that lead the viewer on a journey into the unconscious mind.

Soliloquy. Courtesy Afra Bin Dhaher and Tashkeel

Afra bin Dhaher likes to play with perspective. On a literal level, the photographs that make up her exhibition Hymns to a Sleeper, are simultaneously flat and three-dimensional.

The everyday objects – chairs, carpets and ceramics – set against a fluffy pink backdrop are shot in such a way as to blur the distinction between background and foreground, and appear to float out of the frame. An exotic blue parrot that inhabits them is a mysterious addition, which adds to the confusion.

Bin Dhaher’s portraits employ a similar effect. She has created several female characters who pose lying on the floor, and are photographed from above. This creates the illusion that they are suspended in the air and gives the exhibition its intended dreamlike quality.

Put together, the portraits and the still-life images create a story, which Bin Dhaher maps out for the viewer in extended poetic captions that accompany each piece. Traversing the exhibition, therefore, becomes a journey – and set on the tranquil stage of Tashkeel’s gallery – the show leaves you feeling as if you have wandered through the pages of a storybook.

“It was my intention to create an immersive experience,” says Bin Dhaher, a 25-year-old Emirati. “And the playfulness in terms of perspective was also intentional. I think that is the designer in me – I always have the person who will be experiencing my work in mind.”

Bin Dhaher, who graduated in 2012 from the University of Sharjah in Visual Communications, has long had an interest in design and digital photography. To combine the two in such a poetic way has taken more than a year of concentration. She is the first graduate of Tashkeel’s Critical Practice Programme, which provides artists with sustained critical and discursive support to develop their works in an environment that encourages progressive experimentation.

For 12 months Bin Dhaher has been working under the mentorship of Andrew Starner, a lecturer at New York University Abu Dhabi, who specialises in theatre art and performance. Bin Dhaher was particularly interested in working with Starner because of this expertise.

“The whole exhibition is like a performance,” she says. “I wanted to ask the question: if my photographs could talk, what would they say?”

Hence the poetic captions give voice to her characters: the women – each named after the colour of their scarves – and the many birds that populate the images.

The most elusive character is White. She is seen once in a work called Soliloquy, in which she is talking to the stars – but after that her name is mentioned in the captions but is not seen again. This is part of the performance aspect of the show because, aside from the photographs, there is also an installation featuring an empty chair facing a panel of window screens upon which a pair of closed eyes has been projected. It seems that White takes the role of the viewer and she is asleep. The images around her, therefore, are her dreams – and in dreams, anything is possible.

“Is being in someone’s dream an interpretation of how it is to experience art?” Bin Dhaher asks in response when I enquire about the role of the sleeper. This is an interesting idea and lends further weight to what is already an impressive show. The answer, it seems, is up for debate and that is the whole point.

Hymns to a Sleeper offers a quiet reflection to the pensive viewer and immersion to the voyeur.

If you want to analyse Bin Dhaher’s work, there is plenty of opportunity to do so – but if you simply want to enjoy the visual dance, it will not disappoint. This is a strong exhibition from a home-grown artist that certainly warrants a visit.

• Hymns to a Sleeper runs until March 3 at Tashkeel Gallery, Nad A Sheba, Dubai. www.tashkeel.org