Sama Alshaibi

Sama Alshaibi: Sand Rushes In, the first book by this rising artist, presents work from Silsila, a video and photographic installation that premiered at the 2013 Venice Biennale, as well as other series. Alshaibi's lyrical multimedia work explores the landscape of conflict: the ongoing competition for land, resources and power in West Asia and North Africa, and the internal battle for control. Additional material, selected from the artist's series Negative's Capable Hands, Collapse and Thowra, is presented in the context of "Silsila," meaning "chain" or "link" in Arabic. The desert, border and body are of the geopolitical issues and histories used by the artist, linking the Arab-speaking world. Alshaibi operates between the United States and West Asia/North Africa, with much of her work inspired by and shot on site in landscapes from the western Sahara of North Africa to the eastern Arabian Desert on the edges of Iraq—highlighting the contrast between desert and oasis.