I WENT AWAY AND FORGOT YOU

Dana Awartani, I Went Away and Forgot You. A While Ago I Remembered. I Remembered Iʼd Forgotten You. I Was Dreaming, 2017, Mixed media installation with sand and natural pigments, single-channel video, with no sound, 22 minutes © Dana Awartani

I Went Away and Forgot You. A While Ago I Remembered. I Remembered I’d Forgotten You. I Was Dreaming, (2017) a mixed-media installation by Dana Awartani, celebrates traditional Islamic design while exploring the cycle of creation and destruction. Over several days, Dana meticulously assembles a geometric floor pattern using locally sourced sand, dyed with natural pigments derived from stones and plants—honouring traditional artistic techniques. Inspired by Islamic tilework, once common in Arab and Islamic homes, the work reflects cultural heritage.

Set in an abandoned house in Jeddah’s old quarter, where her grandparents’ generation once lived, the accompanying video captures Dana sweeping away the sand tiles. This act symbolises the erasure of cultural identity due to unchecked modernisation, urging a balance between past and present rather than rejecting progress. The house itself reinforces this message—built in the late 1950s, it marks Jeddah’s architectural shift from traditional Hejazi styles to Western-inspired aesthetics, abandoning local heritage.

Through the interplay of floor and projection, Dana presents a cautionary tale on preservation, advocating for geometric aesthetics as a universal language of beauty and harmony, and highlighting the need to honour tradition alongside modernity.