av û nan hevpar e di nav me de
Êvar Hussayni
Artist + Archivist
The WANAWAL
The West Asian and North African Women’s Art Library (WANAWAL) is an alternative archival practice and library that exists as a digital and physical collection. By questioning the dynamics of archiving, WANAWAL seeks to reshape narratives, away from the ongoing impacts of colonial practices on collective memory.
Collaboration, connecting with artists, and allowing them to control the way their contributions are engaged with or displayed is integral to WANAWAL, with an encouragement of transparency of being in a constant state of learning and unlearning. In carefully growing the library and the practice that guides the WANAWAL approach, WANAWAL has been able to reach a place of experimentation and adaptation to nurture ideas around collective memory as a liberation practice.
Collaboration, connecting with artists, and allowing them to control the way their contributions are engaged with or displayed is integral to WANAWAL, with an encouragement of transparency of being in a constant state of learning and unlearning. In carefully growing the library and the practice that guides the WANAWAL approach, WANAWAL has been able to reach a place of experimentation and adaptation to nurture ideas around collective memory as a liberation practice.
Êvar Hussayni 2025 Copyright © All rights reserved.
Êvar’s personal multi-disciplinary practice focuses on Kurdish genealogies, colonial violence in archives and their relationship with the trajectory of Kurdish feminisms and Kurdish identity. In her analysis of archives, she investigates the psychological impact of the archived material; how might archives perpetuate violent histories? What role does archiving play in shaping freedom - specifically that of occupied people and lands? How far does the current archive privilege particular narratives and create bias in the collective memory? Through broadening the range of methodologies she employs in her work, Êvar’s endeavour is to assess the implications of archival structures for Kurdish identity formation.
Art Work:
Chewing, Swallowing Part 1 + 2
Tama xwînê ji ava hinaran te / The Fruit of the Dead Tastes of Blood
my mum, my aunt
Kurdistanê
‘don’t worry i won’t forget you’
“av û nan hevpar e di nav me de, tu xwişka min î û ez xwişka te me” (water and bread split between us - you are my sister and i am your sister)
Sê xaltî li ber avê
Kurdish Girls Swimming
TEXTS