Reparation and Healing through Materiality in the Work of Aya Haidar

a tactile and personal response to the destruction caused by a massive explosion in Beirut.Contextually, embroidery physically repairs the fabric and has overt connotations of fixing or mending-actions inherent to the nature of fabric.On August 4, 2020, 2,750 tons of confiscated ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut, wreaking mass havoc.The explosion killed at least 220 people and injured over 7,000.This horrific day was further impacted by governmental failure, mismanagement, and obstruction of the resulting investigation.Compounding the tragedy was its occurrence at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.Figure 1 Ouda.Embroidery on linen by Aya Haidar, 2024.41 x 32.5 x 5 cm.From the Shattered series.https://www.ayahaidar.com/portfolio/shattered-2024.Aya Haidar reimagines spaces damaged by the blast.The series Shattered offers a restorative response to a deadly event.In this series, Haidar first prints black-and-white photographs-taken after the explosion by her friends and family-on linen fabric.She then adds colorful hand embroidery to highlight the broken pieces of destroyed objects.Her prismatic line creates a cacophony of accumulation, countering the starkness of the images with a sense of hope and healing.These works use mending to unveil their emotional impact.