In Witness Whereof, 2018

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, 2018, 240 x 170 cm, Cotton thread embroidery on satin fabric

IN WITNESS WHEREOF explores the ethical basis of contractual agreements and the value of the individual.

A mutually agreed contractual agreement between the artist, Aya Haidar, and a local Pakistani craftsman, Alamdar Houssein Soujad Houssein, is laboriously hand embroidered by the craftsman, onto white fabric. The negotiated agreement, translated in the worker’s native language, Urdu, is a mutual understanding between both parties which outlines protection of labour rights, from working environment, working hours and salary, to ownership of artwork and visibility of labourer. The terms of the contract set up a more human exchange, one where the rights of the worker are protected in a bottom-up process, where even the native language of the agreement creates a level playing field between employer and employee.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF also asks us to question the production versus the conceptualisation of artworks, and the subsequent ownership of the artwork.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF is a wall hanging, hand embroidered in black thread onto white satin fabric, surrounded by a bespoke repeat-pattern border, made up of individual signifiers that identifies the components to the story.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF has been acquired by The Jameel Collection.