Samia Taktak Zaru is a contemporary multi-media artist, designer, painter and sculptor renowned throughout the Arab world.
She was born in Nablus in 1938. She studied Fine Arts at the American University of Beirut. Afterwards the artist moved to Washington where she did her post-graduate studies in the Corcoran School of Art and the American University 1961.
Samia studied under sculptor Basbous and attended Art Education Specialist UNESCO/ UNRWA Seminars in Beirut, Lebanon.
Samia became the first woman to experiment in mixed media creations as a welder/sculptor, whether scrap metals, stone, wood, yarn or paint; she would always see beyond the simple image and transform it into a masterpiece of creativity that would leave the viewer with a sobering thought.
She likes to search for identity by trying materials that relate to human beings and life such as: wood, dyes, ropes and the remnants of Palestinian embroidery, as an expression of the beauty of her culture and land.
What distinguishes this artist is that she blends the abstract art with handy crafts. In her art work we can see that she uses various art materials like: acrylic, oil and water color, and wooden blocks. She molds her metallic sculptures and embroiders her own embroidery, which she uses in her art.
The artist uses bold colors and strong lines to communicate the tension in her work. She also integrates Palestinian embroidery and printed fabrics into her paintings, to help bring out a celebratory tone.
Among her most prominent pieces are the metal sculpture of the Haya Center (1964) and the AlHusain Gardens Seven sculptures (2000). She has participated in International and Arab Exhibitions, winning medals and awards in Iraq, Egypt and Kuwait. She has held one-woman shows in Europe, Asia, USA and the Arab world and has participated in many group exhibitions. Presently she works in an open studio-workshop and displays her work in Amman, Jordan.
Zaru’s works are included in the collection of the Jordan Royal Court, The Jordan National Gallery, The Museum of Women in the Arts DC, the President Reagan and President Carter Library Museums, the Vatican Museum, the Iraqi Museum of Modern Art, the Rockefeller Art Collection and The Russian Modern Art Museum in Moscow as well as in private collections in Jordan.
Zaru is a founding member of the Jordan National Gallery and the Artists Association and a pioneer of Installation Art in the Arab World since 1986. She had the first installation in 1988 in Amman on an area of 1000 square meters. She also works on the revival and development of traditional design in the Arab and Islamic World in her capacity as a consultant and speaker at seminars on Art and identity in design development in arts and crafts (Ircica).
A lecturer and an expert on art curricula tailored to Arab culture in schools and universities, Zaru is one of seven International experts with UNESCO to set the policy for the enhancement of arts in education.
She yearns for a future where art is the international language that will make long lasting bridges of understanding and tolerance amongst nations and hopes Arab art will spread around the world.
Samia Zaru´s art work
Source:
http://artweekamman.me/speakers/
Further reading:
http://www.mei.edu/content/samia-zaru
