In the solo exhibition Her Adornment Qatari artist Haifa Al-Khuzaei explores the distinctive ways Qatari women have expressed beauty, femininity, and celebration through their appearance. Working in ceramics, she draws from the many elements that come together to create a woman’s look, from traditional garments and jewellery to embroidery, gold ornamentation, and the mashmoom worn in the hair.
Throughout the exhibition, these elements appear and reappear in different ceramic forms. Al-Khuzaei draws particular inspiration from garments such as the thoub alnashl and dar’a looking closely at their flowing forms and decorative details. She focuses on the visual language of the textiles: the arrangement of embroidery, decorative borders, and recognisable motifs such as the kajoo pattern well-known in Qatar as well as the use of zari, metallic thread woven or embroidered into fabric, which gives the garments their distinctive shimmer and richness of gold colour.
Alongside garments, traditional Qatari jewellery forms an essential part of this visual language. Pieces worn on the head, neck, and hands were carefully paired with clothing to complete a woman’s look for weddings and celebrations. Many of these designs remain valued and worn today. The mashmoom, aromatic leaves traditionally worn in the hair during celebrations, added another decorative detail, combining with gold tones and other festive elements to complete the overall appearance.
In Al-Khuzaei’s work, each decorative element complete the other rather than appearing as separate traditions, the garment with its embroidery and zari, the jewellery worn across the body, and the mashmoom placed in the hair all become part of a single expression of adornment.
Through the exhibition Her Adornment, Al-Khuzaei translates these details into ceramic form. Each artwork reveals different elements associated with celebration.
Curated by Mooza Al-Kuwari