Serious message in Peaceful Perspective: Aya Charife speaks on her d3 installation

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Aya Charife is a Lebanese-Palestinian conceptual interior architect, jewellery designer and artist based in Dubai. She is a winner of multiple prizes for her work, including the RADO Star Prize Award 2019 — Middle East 1st Prize for Innovation, for her submission of the Takyeef, a natural air conditioner. More recently, she was conferred the International Green Apple Award for best practices on a national level, representing Lebanon and the UAE, in an event held in the Houses of Parliament, London.

During Dubai Design Week held at d3 (Nov. 7 — 12), her installation Peaceful Perspective was commented on due to its scale, colourful mein and its ability to convey a serious message through playful means. Aya Charife reminisces about her work    

How did you get the plan for Peaceful Perspective?

As far as the conceptual design was concerned, the main element was the idea of a project and a story that revealed and illustrated a futuristic vision and amplified feelings for the audience they could experience.

Peaceful Perspective was an advocate for combating environmental noise pollution issue by creating a link between the surrounding habitat and how we choose to live in it. For proper alignment with nature, I feel we require silence.

Why did you name your installation Peaceful Perspective?

When we choose to reorient ourselves towards an event that changes our current view of things, we have to enter into a peaceful state to seed and cultivate new ideas. In the midst of noise, they may not come to being. To possess this new state, the perspective needs peace to refocus. Hence the title.

Did the telescope – the one you use to see stars closely – inspire you?

The visual aspect of a telescope relates to only getting a close image of a particular region of space, the stars, for example. But to view the vastness in all its beauty, you require isolation from surrounding visual and auditory noise to be able to develop your own music and carry that rhythm into the next desired physical and mental state.

My inspiration was mainly children who attempt to escape a quarrel by retreating into a peaceful world of their making by covering their ears. This natural behaviour for mental self-defence teaches us adults to adopt the same, and delve deeper into the peace of things by isolating it from surrounding noise, which impacts in a negative manner.

 Aya Charife is based in Dubai.

The large, moving pieces seemed more like amplifiers of noise than those that would mute it. Can you comment?

The bulky elements of Peaceful Perspective were meant to visually lure the viewer into a den of discovery for what lay beyond its bulk. The playful aspect of the elements allowed the viewer the freedom of choice and selection of perspective.

Every step towards the installation unveiled the deeper sounds of our desires, hopes and dreams. It took us into a journey far beyond what lay immediately ahead, for a clearer view of what is of true value to us.

It was the city of Dubai that could be seen through the objets d’art. Hardly a peaceful perspective. Can you comment?

Dubai is a vibrant multicultural international city that never sleeps. The peacefulness of my installation isolated the viewer into the silence of self-reflection, giving him a moment in time to travel into the dreams he desired. We could have found ourselves asking the question ‘what if’? What if there was peace all over the world? What if the children of Gaza lived one single day without the fear and noise of bombs and artillery shells? What if our wishes and dreams could become a solid realities?

If the intent was to hush Dubai’s signature sounds, what was the music that Peaceful Perspective played?

We cannot hush the sound of existence, but we can play out loud our fears and hopes every now and then to reconsider what truly matters in life and where we are heading. The city has its own music that it plays constantly and we get used to the sound. Try changing the track: it will give you a new perspective every single time.

Were there hidden stories in the work? If so, can you share them?

The Palestinian part of me recalled the dreams and hopes of children of Gaza who are currently sharing a single dream, the dream to live in peace or to just live. The beauty of modern civilisation speaks silently about the beauty of the city of Dubai by reminding you of how structures stand close together. It reminds us of how close our dreams are to each other’s.

Why were the biodegradable materials used?

The materials were selected for the purpose of sound isolation and advocating for the reduction of noise pollution. The environmental issue resulted in the use of fully biodegradable acoustic panels that surrounded the head of the viewer and created a tunnel for visual focus.

The installation was fixed on a steel abstract arabesque structure, which was rotatable for providing playful features with several layers that allowed horizontal movement. Every element created was taken from nature and given back to it.

Why did you make the installation so colourful?

The many colour sections indicated cultural backgrounds and age groups living in Dubai. It was democratic, in the sense everyone could enjoy the installation. It diminished social orders and enabled all categories of people to formulate their own peaceful perspectives.