Hayati is an ongoing photography-based archival work centering the stories of queer Southwest Asian and North African women and gender-nonconforming individuals living in the US, as well as their safe spaces.
This work originally began as a senior undergraduate Honors thesis at Emory University, where it was awarded highest honors in May of 2023 and whose written portion was published in June. As of today, I have recently moved to NYC in the pursuit of expanding this work further post-graduating, by continuing to feature more individuals from the identity, creating a photography book series, as well as curating new exhibits and installations. Throughout my travels, I captured over 11,700 digital photos, 10 rolls of analog film, 30 polaroids, as well as an hour-long interview with each participant – the exhibit photographs from Atlanta demonstrate the first installation of the work, which only featured a small amount of everything I have to share with the world. This is the story of Hayati:
About a year ago, I went on the Internet in search of queer Middle Eastern(/Southwest Asian) and North African (MENA/SWANA) support groups. Hayati was born when, after hours of searching, I realized there were not many spaces carved out for people like me. In the first iteration of this work, six queer MENA women and gender-non-conforming individuals from around the United States – from The Bay Area to Nebraska all the way to New York City – shared with me their safe spaces and stories.
The public record of individuals of our identities is abysmal and often difficult to access. Queer MENA studies remains a field that is wildly niche and scarce in its resources. There is much progress to be made both in MENA and Western spaces, in the treatment and representation of these individuals within our societies. It is my firm belief, however, that in order to have these conversations, we need to know about their existence first. This project aims to be an initiating catalyst in this necessary discussion. In its first exhibit form, the work is presented in a series of “double-portraiture” in which a portrait of the individual and their safe space are placed back-to-back and suspended throughout the exhibit space. Accompanied by a polaroid diary, we step into the rich, intimate, and enlightening lives of the queer SWANA community around the United States.
‘Hayati’ is an Arabic word which, in a literal sense, translates to “My Life.” Colloquially, it is used as a term of endearment – often in the same context as you would in calling someone “my love.” While on my travels, I asked each individual featured to share with me their “Hayati.” Though their ages, locations, and lives all are unique in spectacular ways – the similarities possessed via our identity was an energy that became more and more palpable as this work progressed.
Being able to see not only that these people exist, but exist in very real spaces, all around us, is a feeling that I hope this composition amplifies. Additionally, the dual nature of this form matches the nuanced nature of the identities featured – and the “double” identity that we as queer Arabs often have to take on – choosing between appealing to the people from our culture or those who understand our queerness. Because the photos are placed back to back, they will never be able to be viewed simultaneously – aiming to re-create that feeling of back and forth by making the audience do that movement physically. Hayati, at its core, illustrates that people of this identity do in fact live all around us, in very real places. Even further, we deserve to be seen and talked about, publicly.
Hayati Exhibit at The Hatchery, Atlanta, GA (up for viewing until November 2023):
