TARIQ DAJANI
Photographer, printmaker, freethinker
STATEMENT
“It is only with the heart that one can truly see.
What is essential is invisible to the eye"
~
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "The Little Prince"
When I am drawn to a work of art, I instinctively know how it makes me feel. So I realise that I engage emotionally before any rational thoughts of what, how and why come into play. This tells me that art, for me, is primarily an emotional experience.
What I seek is beauty and simplicity, to celebrate the aesthetic, silence the noise and to transcend the mundane, everyday realities. I try to allow fragments of memories and feelings to feed into present experiences, and to explore what resonates within.
I want to express a feeling of the night, not to just see it as it is.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in the UK to a Palestinian father and English mother, Tariq Dajani’s early experience of life in Europe and the Middle East gave him a valuable perspective of cultural and ethnic diversity. An early creative interest in music and art later led him to photography and printmaking.
Over a period of 25 years, Dajani learned his craft working in advertising and design and on art projects and exhibitions. He gradually developed a style that resonated with the truth and emotion that he was seeking. Recurring themes in his work relate to identity, belonging, and his Arab heritage.
He has exhibited in numerous shows internationally, and has won several awards. His prints are owned by art lovers and collectors worldwide, and are included in several public and private collections.
A photographer, printmaker and freethinker, Dajani divides his time between Jordan and Spain working on art projects and tutoring in photography and photogravure printmaking. He combines creative interests with a healthy lifestyle connecting to nature and working on his organic farm in Spain with his partner and their family of Saluki dogs and Arabian horses.
WHAT OTHERS SAY
"There is a strange-making in much of Dajani’s work, a way of making perfectly ordinary things seem quite strange and extraordinary. Such work leaves the viewer feeling touched, moved, disturbed, with a whole complex of emotions, desperately wanting to know more.” ~ John Wood, poet, photographic historian & editor
“Tariq Dajani is a photographer and printmaker. He is mostly known for his poetic portrait studies of the Arabian horse and the hunting falcon. Beautifully observed and mastered, the work displays intellectual depth and emotional maturity. It is contemporary while invoking something of the European Masters.” ~ Barbara Rowell, gallery owner, Jacaranda Images
A FEW LINKS
"Tariq Dajani", Rfotofolio
“The Art of Filāḥa”, Collier Brown, Lensculture
"A thing of beauty", Matthew Teller
"Photographic Studies of the Arabian Horse", Horse Times
Caballo Árabe (in Spanish)
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
"Drinkers of the Wind", Ahlam Gallery, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2024
"On This Land", Jasmin House, Amman, Jordan
2020
"Drinkers of the Wind", Katara Arts Centre, Doha, Qatar
2019
"Kitab al-Filaha", Casa Árabe, Córdoba, Spain
"Hikāyāt (stories)", Jacaranda, Amman, Jordan
2018
"Kitab al-Filaha", Casa Árabe, Madrid, Spain
"Drinkers of the Wind", Showcase, Dubai
2017
"Kitab Al-Filaha & La Alpujarra", Biblioteca de Andalucia, Granada, Spain
2015
"Kitab al-Filaha", Jacaranda, Amman, Jordan
2014
"El Asil y El Noble", Kasser Rassu, Marbella, Spain
2013
"SAQR, the hunting falcon", Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
2011
"SAQR, the hunting falcon", Jacaranda, Amman, Jordan
2009
"Above Wadi Rum", Jacaranda, Amman, Jordan
"ASIL, the Arabian horse", The Empty Quarter, Dubai, U.A.E.
2008
"ASIL, the Arabian horse", DRC, Dubai, U.A.E.
"ASIL, the Arabian horse", Zara Centre/ Jacaranda, Amman, Jordan
"Arabhästen", Galleri Hippo, Stockholm, Sweden
"Skin", Galleri Z:e, Stockholm, Sweden
(DIFC Installation), The Empty Quarter Gallery, Dubai
Creek Art Fair, XVA Gallery, Duba
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
"Expressions Unveiled", Eiwan AL Gassar Gallery, Doha, Qatar
"Shadow and Light", University of Iowa, USA
"The World is a handkerchief / El mundo es un pañuelo", Coral Gables Museum, Florida, USA
2022
"The World is a handkerchief / El mundo es un pañuelo", Impact12, Univeristy of Bristol, UK
"Gratitude", Cervantes Centre, Image Festival Amman, Jordan
"Trees Stir in their Leaves", Alice Chaiten Baker Interdisciplinary Gallery, Center for Creative Photography (CCP), University of Arizona, USA
"The World is a handkerchief / El mundo es un pañuelo", Ace, Buenos Aires, Argentina
"Shadow and Light", Al-Mutanabbi Street project, Fisher Fine Arts Library, University of Pennsylvania, USA
2021
"Retrospectiva: una década de reencuentro con el mundo árabe", Casa Árabe, Córdoba, Spain
"The Gallery", The Gallery Building, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Agawami International Miniture Print Exhibition, Shikoku Island, Japan
"III International Mini Print Cantabria", Instituto Cervantes, Bordeaux, France
2020
"III International Mini Print Cantabria", Santander, Spain
"The World is a handkerchief / El mundo es un pañuelo", Blackburn 20 |20 Gallery, NY, US
2019
"Skin of the Print", Oxmarket Gallery, Chichester, UK
"The World is a handkerchief / El mundo es un pañuelo", London Print Studio Gallery, UK
"Shadow and Light", Al-Mutanabbi Street project, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival, UK
2018
"Kitab al-Filaha", Impact10, Santander, Spain
2013
"An Eye for an Ear", Photography Open Salon, ChinaHouse, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
2012
"An Eye for an Ear", Photography Open Salon Arles, France
2010
"Playground", Lumas, Gallery, Köln, Germany
2009
"Three Dimensions", The National Museum of Bahrain, Manama
"My Name is Robot", The Jam Jar, Dubai
2008
"Art Abode", XVA Gallery/Harvey Nichols, Dubai
2005
"Capture", AoP Gallery, London, UK
2003
"03", AoP Gallery, London, UK
2001
John Kobal Photographic Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
2000
"Landmarks", AoP Gallery, London, UK
1999
"Edge", AoP Gallery, London, UK
1994
"Freedom Now", Photographers' Gallery, London, UK