False Pools
The Mythology of the Virgin at Adhari
False Pools brings together a selection of Alsaie’s multimedia work, including drawing, sculpture, video, photography, and film, which focuses on the themes of transmutation, folktale, land politics, and a hauntological approach of the self. Through her work, Alsaie reveals, excavates, and subverts the origin story of Adhari in Bahrain. The iteration she focuses on is that of the young maiden virgin who, in being approached by a strange man in a palm tree grove, wails as her tears transmogrified into an everlasting spring. The name Adhari itself comes from the Arabic word Athra' which means virgin. Said to have magical properties, the spring holds great socio-cultural importance to the island. The photo series, False Pools documents spontaneous puddles around the island and reimagines them as the new site for the folktale. The jarring transposition attempts to present a binary between the magical and the mundane. In lieu of the since dried-up spring, the site of Adhari has since been converted into a public pool. False Pools invites a critical reading of the folktale as it questions cultural memory, artifact, and satire.
Photography, Sculpture, Poetry
(2020-Present)
The Mythology of the Virgin at Adhari
False Pools brings together a selection of Alsaie’s multimedia work, including drawing, sculpture, video, photography, and film, which focuses on the themes of transmutation, folktale, land politics, and a hauntological approach of the self. Through her work, Alsaie reveals, excavates, and subverts the origin story of Adhari in Bahrain. The iteration she focuses on is that of the young maiden virgin who, in being approached by a strange man in a palm tree grove, wails as her tears transmogrified into an everlasting spring. The name Adhari itself comes from the Arabic word Athra' which means virgin. Said to have magical properties, the spring holds great socio-cultural importance to the island. The photo series, False Pools documents spontaneous puddles around the island and reimagines them as the new site for the folktale. The jarring transposition attempts to present a binary between the magical and the mundane. In lieu of the since dried-up spring, the site of Adhari has since been converted into a public pool. False Pools invites a critical reading of the folktale as it questions cultural memory, artifact, and satire.
Photography, Sculpture, Poetry
(2020-Present)
