Lida Abdul
| Lida Abdul | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Lida Abdullah 1973 Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Nationality | Afghan |
| Known for | Video, performance |
| Awards | Prince Claus Awards, UNESCO Prize for the Promotion of the Arts |
Lida Abdul is a video artist and performance artist from Afghanistan. She was born as Lida Abdullah in Kabul in 1973, fled the country as a child during the Soviet Invasion and went on to live in Germany then the United States.
Her most recent work has been featured at the 2005 Venice Biennale, Kunsthalle Vienna, Museum of Modern Art Arnhem Netherlands and Miami Cantral, CAC Centre d'art contemporain de Brétigny and Frac Lorraine Metz, France. She has also exhibited in festivals in Mexico, Spain, Germany, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Afghanistan.
Abdul completed a Bachelor of Arts in political science in 1997 and a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 1998, both from California State University. She also completed a Master of Fine Arts in the University of California in 2000. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles and Kabul.
Abdul fled Afghanistan in December 1979 with the threat of the Soviet Invasion, making her a refugee to India, Germany and the United States, and thus is an “artistic nomad". The Russian-Afghan conflict’s history goes back to 1838. Autocratic Russia (and later the USSR) had expansionist goals, continually competing with Great Britain for Central Asian territory. Historically, Afghanistan’s goals have been independence, maintenance of territory and the security of the throne. This contrasted with two great powers, Russia and Great Britain, competing for power in the Middle East. The Soviet Union and Afghanistan were “natural allies” during the Second World War. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan is considered the leading event of the Cold War. Soviet presence in Afghanistan was felt strongly in infrastructure. Afghan cities, notoriously difficult to travel between, were connected with a major road system with Soviet aid.
Abdul’s video and performance art is described as abstract and dream-like, and she uses film techniques such as blurring to evoke the mind, as well as an “epic scale". Her films are politically charged and use themes of hope and renewal to suggest her war-torn home country’s future of progress. While Abdul was made a refugee in 1979 after the Soviet Invasion, she was able to return to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban to revisit her home country, film, and meet with Afghan people to talk about their hopes for the future. She considers herself a Nomadic artist, because of her life growing up involved a lot of moving country-to-country and keeping her away form her homeland Abdul uses those feelings and emotions as inspiration or motivation in her art. Abdul creates political commentary, films that speak to themes of devastation, displacement culture, identity and bodies.
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