12|04|2025 – 24|05|2025
Ar’a is a new exhibition by visual artist Natalia Ossef that shows the preliminary result of recent travels and artistic residencies in Turkey, Egypt and Kenya. The exhibition title Ar’a implies ‘earth, soil and foundation’ and is derived from Aramaic, the language of her ancestors. Natalia Ossef her experiences within the visited landscapes are the breeding ground for her artistic research. She listens in silence and enters into dialogue with the surroundings. During the exhibition Ar’a a video of an onsite performed ritual is shown. Furthermore the artist displays drawings, textile and clay works, in which she connects elements of nature, historical layers and contemporary developments and views how new meanings can be generated.
Born in the Aramean region of Syria, Natalia Ossef feels a connection to a culture that has been balancing on the verge of disappearing for centuries. This connection with her native soil is constantly growing and manifests itself in her work, which focuses on the earth: as a place of origin, as a source of life and as a symbol of remembrance. The myths, the feminine and the deeper layers of her identity flow together in it. The way landscapes, habitats and crafts are intertwined with past times fascinates Natalia Ossef: which rituals and actions survive? What is the magic that still flows through these places?
In the introduction to his book Orientalists (1978/2022), Edward Said writes: ‘My argument is that history is made by men and women, just as it can also be unmade and rewritten, always with various silences and elisions, always with shapes imposed and disfigurements tolerated.’ Said’s reasoning inspires Ossef. History is shaped by people, but equally it can be unravelled, rewritten and reimagined. This is an important fact in her artistic practice. Through inspiring conversations, traveling, and organising residencies and exhibitions, she tries to connect with forgotten parts of history. Ossef emphasises silence and hidden layers and engages in on-the-spot dialogue with stories, symbolism and landscape. By exploring layered language, craft and forgotten rituals, new perspectives emerge that resonate with her roots.
Impression of the exhibition Ar’a
1. from left to right: In other realms before returning, 2023 | Primal Images (9 x), 2023 | photo Re-enacting A Vision, Egypt, 2024 | front: Seeds / Origin installatie, 2025| 2 Installation Between Worlds, 2024 | dried flowers, plants and water colour on textile | clay on paper (4x) | Egype | Primal Images (2x), 2023 | 3. detail Installation Between Worlds, 2024 | 4. Primal Images, 2023 | 5. Video still Re-enacting A Vision, Egypte, 2024