Nidaa Badwan

ONE HUNDRED DAYS OF SOLITUDE

Nidaa Badwan created her photographic series, One Hundred Days Of Solitude were produced in her 100-square-foot room in Gaza, in the Palestinian territories. She confined herself at home for more than 20 months, transforming her space into both sanctuary and studio. In her isolation, she created drawings and textiles, covered the walls with pattern and color, and rearranged elements to stage a series of photographic self-portraits. Withdrawing from a conflicted external context, she produced lush, quietly defiant images of her own alternate reality.

The series’ title evokes Badwan’s process as well as the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez’s novel 100 Years of Solitude (1967). Although she photographed in solitude, Badwan initially circulated these images via social media, crafting a dispersed community of support.

ON VIEW

One Hundred Days Of Solitude; Code:3, 2014. C-print, edition 3 of 4.
One Hundred Days Of Solitude; Code:4, 2014. C-print, edition 3 of 4.
One Hundred Days Of Solitude; Code:6, 2014. C-print, edition 3 of 4.
One Hundred Days Of Solitude; Code:16, 2014. C-print, edition 3 of 4.
One Hundred Days Of Solitude; Code:19, 2014. C-print, edition 3 of 4.

All works courtesy of the artist and Postmasters Gallery, New York.

LOCATION

Gallery 4 – True Farr Luck Gallery

“The photos are all made with natural light. Sometimes it took three or four weeks to make the right photo, with the right light and details. Because for me, photography is not just a click, but it is an art that can contain many other arts. I also studied theater, sculpture, painting, music, the physics of light. And I put everything together inside the frame. –Nidaa Badwan

ON GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ’S NOVEL, “ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE:”

The beauty of this book is that there is a city (Macado). Inside this city is a house; inside this house, there is a room. It looks a lot like my situation, or my room: Inside this house, inside this city, isolated from the world.
 

ON THE ROUTINE HARASSMENT OF WOMEN BY HAMAS MILITIAS IN GAZA:

It happens with women who are ‘”different”, who do not walk on a straight line, to those who try to walk off the track…but no one talks about this, because those who undergo it are shamed.
 

ON SEPARATING LONELINESS AS UNIVERSAL AND DEEPLY PERSONAL

Loneliness is a very personal thing…people can feel differently from one another. Under occupation, or without occupation. When you’re alone, you do not ask yourself what’s out there.
 

ON SOLITUDE AS A VIDEO GAME

In the first level I was locked inside my room, inside a closed city, and there I had my world. But now the opposite has happened. Now I have the whole world, free, all open, but but I do not have a room. I do not have my room.
 

Excerpt from conversation between Nidaa Badwan and David Streever for RVA Mag: “Breaking Out of Her Room: Groundbreaking Work by Nidaa Badwan for the ICA Opening” (RVA Mag No. 22: April 4, 2018)

Born 1987, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Lives in Monte Grimano Terme, Italy

Nidaa Badwan is a Palestinian artist and photographer widely known for her artistic and peaceful protests, most recognizably, her work One Hundred Days Of Solitude. Badwan received her BFA from the Fine Arts Department of Gaza’s Al-Aqsa University.

Select solo exhibitions: Olmastroni Gallery in Sienna (2018); Mo.Ca. Museum in Monte Grimano Terme, Italy (2015-2016); Postmasters Gallery in New York (2016); Les Ateliers De Couthures in Aquitaine, France (2016); Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center in Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine (2016); and Palazzo Graziani, Republic of San Marino (2015). Select group exhibitions: Institut Valencià d’Art Modern in Spain (2018); SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin, Germany (2016); and Trapholt Museum in Kolding, Denmark (2016). Collections include: 21C Museum, Louisville. Select awards: Village of the Liberal Arts Award (2015), and Harmony Amon Peoples Award (2015). Badwan is currently a professor at the University of Design of the Republic of San Marino, Italy.