Gallery Isabelle presents the third solo exhibition featuring Hoda Tawakol, an artist of Egyptian descent born in London and raised between Paris and Frankfurt.
Titled My Mothers The Siren, the Vessel, the Womb, the exhibition centres on a three-channel video composed of Super-8 film fragments from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, exploring the lives of three maternal figures: Tawakol’s mother, her grandmother, and her childhood caretaker. The footage, largely filmed by her grandmother, captures her mother’s flamboyant yet distant presence, Tawakol’s grandmother’s nurturing stability, and her nanny’s warmth. These layered narratives examine memory, identity, and maternal influence.
In Fragments of Return (2024-25), archival family photographs are transformed into photomontages overlaid with symbolic motifs, with tattoo-like ink markings exploring identity and defacement. The exhibition also features Tawakol’s sculptural works, including Lure (2024), soft textile forms evoking fertility and motherhood, and Nude (2025), which reimagines the female body through nylons, rice and resin. Hair (2011-2014) and Warrior (2010) transform synthetic hair into spectral outlines, confronting societal expectations of femininity.
Photos by Altamash Urooj.
By weaving film, photography, and sculpture, Tawakol reclaims the female body as a site of memory, resistance, and transformation, offering a deeply personal yet universal exploration of motherhood and femininity.
In Conversation with Hoda Tawakol
Your exhibition explores the concept of three maternal figures in your life. Can you describe them and their influence on you?
I was raised by three mothers: my biological mother, Honey; my grandmother, Toutou; and my nanny, Hosneia. My mother was an artist at heart but never pursued a career after her art studies. She was a free spirit—bohemian, rebellious, and unconventional—combining both excitement and instability. My grandmother, Toutou, was the stabilising force, deeply social and structured. She raised me until I was about five, offering warmth and someone to look up to. My nanny, embodied physical care—nurturing me with affection, love, and comfort. She wasn’t just a caregiver; she was another mother to me.
How do these influences manifest in your exhibition?
At the heart of the show is a six-minute film composed of Super 8 footage filmed by my grandmother from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. My brother rediscovered these films, and after our grandmother passed, we digitised them. Only five years later, when my mother passed away during COVID, I started putting a film together. Initially, the film was a personal grieving process for my brother and me. However, as I worked on it, I realised its greater significance. Omar Kholeif who wrote a fundamental essay on my work and on the film encouraged me to exhibit it, recognising its ability to resonate beyond my personal experience.
The film is presented in three channels—one for each mother—creating an immersive, overwhelming visual experience that mirrors my reality of being raised by multiple maternal figures. This sense of abundance yet absence is a central theme in my work.
Your exhibition also includes cutouts, collages, and masks. How do these pieces relate to your mothers?
The cutouts are based on archival black-and-white photos of my mothers. Some remain portraits, while others incorporate collaged elements like palm trees, shells, or octopuses, symbolising aspects of their personalities. I also “tattoo” their faces with drawings and spray-paint the rear-side of the cutout, creating a layered dialogue between memory, transformation, rituals and belonging.
The masks and hair sculptures delve into themes of femininity, identity, and societal expectations. Hair, particularly for women, carries complex cultural connotations—it can symbolise beauty, control, or even invisibility. In some cultures, it must be hidden; in others, it defines femininity and to a certain extent, hair is the prolongation of the female body. My grandmother and mother were not veiled, but the idea of hair as an object of control still resonated with me. In my work, I reverse the concept of the veil, turning it into a protective outer shell, transforming invisibility into defiance.
Photos by Altamash Urooj.
Given the deeply personal nature of your work, do you feel vulnerable presenting it to the public?
Five years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to show something this personal. But now, I see the importance of exploring what makes me to the person I am today. Memory, identity and the feminine are the backbone of my practice. The more I delve into these themes, the more I understand my artistic preoccupations—why I am drawn to the female body, gender dynamics, and nostalgia.
When I first saw the film projected in the gallery, I had to take a deep breath. It was no longer just my private memory; it had become part of a larger conversation. I was deeply moved when visitors responded emotionally to it. It made me realise that while the film tells my story, its themes of motherhood, loss, and remembrance are universal and anchored in our collective memory.
Your journey into art began later in life. What led you to make that transition?
Since childhood, I wanted to be an artist, but financial responsibilities prevented me from pursuing it. I studied business, completed an MBA, and worked in marketing for over a decade. When I became a mother, the overwhelming experience led me to reflect on my path. After my second child was born, I left my corporate career and enrolled the university of fine arts in Hamburg at 38. It was a profound turning point—an eruption of creativity that had been suppressed for years.
Art became my way to process personal experiences, especially my complex relationship with motherhood. My practice is not just about self-expression; it’s about preserving memory, exploring identity in a diasporic context with a focus on the female body.
About Hoda Tawakol
Hoda Tawakol’s practice blends wit and criticality, using vibrant textile collages, sculptures, and installations to explore gender and bodily control. Her work focuses on the female body—its transformations, distortions, and cultural inscriptions—balancing presence and absence, reality and abstraction. Engaging in diverse techniques like batik, tie-dye, and hand painting, she experiments with materials such as fabric, nylons, and paper.
Her 2023 solo exhibition at Dortmunder Kunstverein transformed the space into a symbolic palm grove, merging sensuality with resistance. Tawakol has exhibited internationally, with works in major collections, including the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation (UAE), the iSelf Collection (UK) and Weserburg Museum, (Germany).
Location: Gallery Isabelle, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai
Dates: 04 February – 28 March 2025