Finissages can evoke mixed emotions, as they signal the conclusion of an event, but they can also be unforgettable experiences. This is especially true for major biennale events, where visitors are offered more opportunities to engage with the artists’ works through special lectures and live performances.
During the last week of the 60th International Art Exhibition in Venice, which concludes on November 24, 2024, attendees will have the chance to witness several unique events, including a live performance by Ahmed Umar of his work "Talitin" (The Third). Umar returns live at the Biennale, after presenting his performance in April, at the opening of the exhibition with Sudanese singer Alsarah.
Born in 1988 in Sudan to a conservative Sufi family, the cross-disciplinary artist is currently based in Oslo. His early life was split between Sudan and Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
As a gender-fluid queer man, Umar's Kushite heritage – which held space for queer culture – often conflicted with the strict environment of Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is forbidden. In 2008, Umar moved to Norway as a political refugee, seeking safety and freedom.
Umar earned his Master's degree in Fine Arts from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2016. Since then, his practice has focused on themes of tradition, identity, gender expectations, and the tension between masculinity and femininity. He expresses these concepts through various media, including ceramics, jewelry, performance, and printmaking. In recent years, he has also emerged as a prominent figure for queer individuals with Muslim backgrounds in both Norway and Sudan.
In his photographic series "Carrying the Face of Ugliness" (2018), Umar drew inspiration from a Sudanese saying used to describe someone who does something unconventional, confronts an issue, and takes the blame. In these images, Umar is pictured alongside other Sudanese members of the local LGBTQ+ community, each covering their face with his face. These photographs were later transformed into murals adorning Oslo Central Station, Oslo Airport and Ski Train Station.
At the 60th International Art Exhibition in Venice, Umar presented the video "Talitin" (تَالِتٔن; The Third). The title references a local insult ("being the third of the girls") directed at boys who show interest in so-called feminine activities.
In the video performance, Umar reenacts a traditional Sudanese bridal dance that marks the culmination of weeklong wedding celebrations. This dance serves as a display of the bride's beauty and wealth, and it is meant to court and entice the groom.
Umar reclaims this role and practice, drawing from the women in his family whom he observed performing these traditions. The accompanying song praises the bride's family, while Umar, adorned with a long wig and jewelry collected from Sudan, New York, Oslo, and Cairo, and wearing a leather skirt sourced from an antique market in Omdurman, performs the dance with sensuality.
Umar's dance is simply mesmerizing: his body moves in harmony with the music, the accessories he wears enhancing his movements and highlighting them in a sensual manner. The viewer is captivated by the video, falling in love with the dancing figure that comes to symbolize a union of genders.
In this dance, gender expectations and the concept of machismo dissolve: while traditionally performed by a bride, here we see a queer artist interpreting it with both delicacy and sensuality. Umar's body expands to blend both genders, inviting the audience to revel in the joy and sensuality of transcending the heteronormative duality.
It is surprising that Umar has not yet been invited by any fashion house to collaborate during a runway show, but it is likely that we will be hearing more about him as he has been going from strength to strength.
Recently, he was awarded the 25th Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel 2024 for his installation "Glowing Phalanges / Forbidden Prayers".
Yet we may also hear about him in connection with costumes and fashion: Umar often creates costumes for his performances that combine his Sudanese origins with Norwegian inspirations, like a "thoub," a traditional Sudanese women's dress made in Hallingdal, that he had embroidered in Khayamiya, Egypt, by skilled tentmakers (View this photo). Additionally, he designed costumes for a modern interpretation of an 1853 ballet performance inspired by Adolph Tidemand and Hans Gude's painting "Bridal Procession on the Hardangerfjord" (1848), performed in March 2024 at the National Museum in Oslo.
You can see Umar performing "Talitin" live on November 23rd and 24th at 4:30pm at the Sale d'Armi E of the Arsenale in Venice (to attend the performances in the programme, visitors must possess a valid admission ticket to Biennale Arte 2024).
Image credits for this post
All images in this post by Andrea Avezzù
Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia