From corporate success to Cannes spotlight: UAE artist and entrepreneur's incredible journey

Gulf News

UAE resident Raisa Mariam Rajan, the CEO of a facilities management company who moonlights as an artist, was sceptical when an email inviting her to showcase her work at the Contemporary Art Cannes Biennale (CACB) reached her inbox.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/arts-culture/from-ceo-to-cannes-uae-artist-and-entrepreneur-recounts-her-inspiring-journey-1.95974610  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #Dubai #Indian

Transcript

00:00I'm here to represent UAE's year of sustainability. So my artwork is completely sustainable

00:06and it's got a relation with the culture of UAE.

00:13Good morning, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News. I'm the entertainment editor.

00:18Today, I have a very interesting personality all the way from Cannes. She's a Dubai-based resident

00:22and an entrepreneur, but she's also an artist. Apparently, her artwork has been

00:27chosen by the Cannes Art Biennale. You are the first, perhaps, among the few

00:34expats from Dubai who have been chosen to showcase her art. Great day. I think it's a

00:40matter of pride for you. I know you are at the Cannes. How is it? What's the atmosphere like, Raisa?

00:46It's very much exciting, I must say that, because I'm here to represent UAE's year of sustainability.

00:52So my artwork is completely sustainable and it's got a relation with the culture of UAE where

01:00I have created my artwork with ropes, which is, you know, because there is a meaning behind the

01:05rope also. So basically, the name of the artwork is called Reflection, showing the womanhood of

01:11around the world. I have created my artwork with ropes, the hair. The woman's hair is created with

01:18the rope, which means that around the world in the previous culture, in historical culture, we

01:24have heard that, you know, women used to spin ropes and create stories. You know, they used to

01:32share their happiness, their stories or whatever their experience were. So my artwork, Reflection,

01:38is actually made out of rope, glasses and waste newspapers.

01:44It must be such a proud moment for you as well because you didn't, it's the first time that you

01:49are in the festival as well, right?

01:51It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Everybody should experience this, you know, that feel, you

01:56know, that where you and so many, so many different culture people are coming here. You get to meet a

02:01lot of people, even in the art itself. I think it's maximum of 30 artists that was here for the

02:08art Biennale. I'm proud to say that, you know, our artwork that which was representing year of

02:15sustainability, it was very different because it was with collage and mixed media. It was standing

02:20out and got a lot of appreciations.

02:23How did UAE shape you to become the artist that you are today?

02:26UAE has supported me a lot. Like, I can say like simple examples itself. It's like, you know, I've

02:33done a lot of exhibitions in UAE and Dubai culture has supported twice a lot in, you know,

02:39exhibiting and encouraging me and there are a lot of advices that they have given. They have

02:44guided me a lot. I'm very happy with it. I've done Guinness World Record in Abu Dhabi. Overall, UAE

02:51has been really good. I mean, it's a great platform for all the artists and I think we should be

02:57very proud of UAE. I'm proud of UAE.

02:59What has been the recurring, you know, comments that have come after they saw your

03:04exhibit, your art installation? It's about women being in shackles and then breaking away from it,

03:09right?

03:11Yes, yes. Very much. So, that's the experience that I would like to share here now. When my artwork

03:17was exhibited, many women came forward and then they were looking at the artwork. So, I will just

03:24briefly explain about my artwork so it's easier to connect. So, basically my artwork has got

03:29one side of a woman. A woman who is showing her femininity, you know, in a very subtle way. A

03:36submissive lady, you know, very shy or you know, like how you would say, Virginia is the angel in

03:44the house. Like how it's explained in that. So, the one side woman, how she is being for ages,

03:53from the centuries how women have been. That's what is one side it is showing and I've shown

03:58her dress which is actually taken from a recycled tailoring shop which I've taken. In that also,

04:05there are small mirrors which is showing the actual woman. You can see that, you know, the

04:10femininity I've represented with pink, the rope, the hairstyle is like with the rope. Both the

04:15ladies, I have two women in the same artwork and one is the actual lady and other one is the

04:20reflection of the lady. So, the main actual lady, her hair is made out of ropes and her hair is

04:26very subtle and very it's got a feminine like a wave kind of a feeling which you see you will

04:32get it very connected but on the other side and her face, the lady in pink, her face is made out

04:40of you know burnt papers. What I mean by burnt papers is the pain that women have been going

04:47through for ages. You know, it's showing one side of the woman what we have gone through and how

04:53we are evolving from there. When I was just checking the articles before long, long years

04:58ago, I've checked, seen that you know it was said decades ago that in 2023, by 2023 there will be

05:05an equal, you know women will be equal. In newspapers, the articles were there long ago in

05:112023 and I was like I picked up those articles because I am representing womanhood, purely

05:19sustainable, in 2023 and it's got a lot of connections. So, I was like I should pick the

05:25articles, whatever I have picked up, it's in context with whatever is there in my mind about

05:32the women or whatever the issues that women face around the world and on the other side, you will

05:37see a woman, her faces are same with the burnt newspapers showing that women have, those are the

05:45pain that women go through and how they come out of it. I have created her face with the

05:52cracked glasses which means that every woman is cracked from inside but they evolve, they come

05:59out of it like a phoenix from the ashes, you know. So, they shine, they shine out, they shine like

06:06anything. So, when you come in front of my artwork, you will see on the glass works, yourself. So,

06:11the experience that I felt from here when I had people coming and watching my artwork,

06:18they looked at themselves and actually there was one lady who I was explaining, her eyes were

06:22really filled and then she told me like you know Raiza, I am able to connect a lot with what you

06:28said and you know I am that one piece. I said actually it's the story of all the women around

06:34the world. We have come out of it. We are outshining. Even if we are broken, we are outshining and you are sparkling. You are the best.

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