ZAHIDAH ZEYTOUN MILLIE
| ARTIST | FOUNDER & CURATOR ‘MANGROVES FROM THE WATER’ EXHIBITIONS | RADIO SHOW HOST |
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I am a multidisciplinary artist whose work navigates the delicate boundaries between life and death, humanity and Nature, influenced profoundly by poetry, mythology, history, science, and philosophy. My artistic practice, spanning technical, physical, and traditional forms, seeks to forge meaningful connections between communities and the natural world. As an artivist and founder of the Mangroves from the Water (MFTW) campaign, I am dedicated to reshaping perceptions of mangrove ecosystems. This initiative, began in 2013, aspires to instil a sense of responsibility towards these crucial environments. Recent explorations in immersive media, including film and sound recordings from Nature, along with an illustrated short story, reflect my commitment to expanding the accessibility and impact of my work, thus amplifying its potential to foster environmental activism and deepen public engagement.
(1 Nov 2024 – 1 March 2025)
Australian Muslim Artists 2024 Art Prize and Exhibition, Islamic Museum of Australia.
Recent Projects
Canoe Art Installation (2024)
Crafted Canoe: hessian, straw, metal frame, 3m x 50cm
Painting: Acrylic on canvas, 213 x 136cm
Silk Prints: two prints on silk of the original painting with reversed version, each 139 x 2.22cm
Wooden Base with Arabic Calligraphy: circular wooden base, 3m diameter, laser cut Arabic letters
Sketch and colours.
This installation reflects my immersive experiences through sound, texture, and imagery, capturing the essence of sketching within mangrove ecosystems and offering a personal interpretation of these unique, biodiverse landscapes. Central to the work is a painting of mangroves as seen from a canoe, symbolising my profound connection to nature. Here, roots transform into Arabic calligraphy, intertwining cultural heritage with the natural world.
The handcrafted canoe, adorned with artistic tools in place of fish, symbolises a symbiotic adaptation to the environment. It is surrounded by calligraphic texts, creating a narrative space. Concealed pockets within the canoe represent a special vessel for art-making, safeguarding creative tools, while the canoe itself embodies an extension of my physical self—a vessel through which I intimately engage with the mangroves.
A circular wooden base, connected to the painting by a rope, evokes the concept of cyclical time. The reversed silk prints further explore this theme, representing the reconnection of past, present, and future, drawing inspiration from Indigenous worldviews. Tyrian purple—a colour historically connected to the ancient Phoenicians conveys spirituality, mystery, and heritage, reflecting my Syrian identity and resonating with the Islamic appreciation for symbolic colour.
The Seed of Life (2024)
Seeds: Seven small casted seeds, tree branch, Three large casted seeds.
Photos: Included are 24 photos capturing the intricate beauty of mangroves and the stages of a growing seed. These images reflect the resilience, growth, and ecological significance of mangroves, aligning with my ongoing exploration of nature’s cycles and environmental themes in art.
Glass: Glass casting facilitated at 1000 Degrees Studio, using recycled Oceanside Compatible glass
I have observed, sketched and photographed the development of a growing mangrove shoot from a seed which has occurred through kayaking trips to the mangroves over the last three years. I have also cultured a germinating seed in a small glass jar in my studio.
I authored The Gini Fatouhah: A Tale About Mangroves, published by the Sharjah Institute for Heritage in 2023. The story is part of a holistic, multi-dimensional art practice that includes landscape paintings created from a kayak, an integral method in my current work. Inspired by the peace and tranquillity of the mangroves, mythological stories, and the need to elevate their reputation and promote conservation efforts, Gini Fatouhah, the guardian of the mangroves, plays a symbolic role rooted in UAE storytelling traditions. The project intertwines painting, drawing, and photography, reflecting my environmental advocacy in the UAE and highlighting my sustained commitment to addressing the challenges facing mangroves near my home in Umm Al Quwain. The landscapes, painted from a kayak within the mangrove forest, were created using watercolour to capture the essence of the environment, while the artist Géraldine Chansard later added images of Gini Fatouhah using natural earth watercolours. The story gained international attention at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in June 2022, where it resonated with visitors, furthering its mission to promote environmental awareness and cultural heritage.
Mangroves from the Water (FTW) 360-degree Film.
Mangroves from the Water: 360-degree Film, Nyaal Cinema, Deakin Waurn Ponds Campus.
(19–20 September 2024)
This short video showcases my art practice in the mangroves – actually, a journey to the self. The French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty eloquently developed a practice called phenomenology, which closely resembles my bodily approach to painting in the mangroves. Phenomenology prioritises describing lived experience with precision as it presents itself; the “inside and outside are inseparable” (Merleau-Ponty 2005, p. 474) – exactly as I have narrated this short film. I’m going to show you the visible and tell you about the invisible.
Mangroves from the Water Exhibition
Mangroves from the Water – part of PhD research exhibition (11–20 September 2024)
MANGROVES FROM THE WATER
Artists working to save the natural environment of the local mangroves
Mangroves from the Water (MFTW) started as an art campaign in the UAE in 2014 with a series of multimedia group art exhibitions over three years, and a 2017 Mangroves Festival. The art campaign continued globally from International Mangroves Day 26 July 2021, running till 18 August, in Geelong, Australia. Our latest exhibition was held at the National Mall in Washington DC during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2022. We had the honour to represent the UAE at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival from 21 June to 4 July.
Artworks
Portrait of Moonah Tree
Life is embodied network…… there is no “nature” or “environment,” separate and apart from humans.
David Haskell in Songs of Trees.
I depict the tree as an equal partner. As all life is connected, human and non human, I refer to the tree as a “she”, a “her”, as used in indigenous languages, and semitic languages such as Aramaic and Arabic, both spoken in my country of origin, Syria. I paint this portrait of a tree as I would paint faces of humankind; by my use of colour and facial lines.
152 x 101 cm, acrylic and kelp, sand and straw, 2023
View to Geelong
Running in and around Ceres and the beautiful Barrabool Hills overlooking the Barwon River and Geelong is a real joy. I discovered the area running and hiking in the hills, kayaking along the river and then painting the scene from the McCann’s farm. Sandra and Gregor McCann had kindly welcomed me every weekend in February 2021 to paint. I also enjoyed learning about the history and development of the area.
View to Geelong, Zahidah Zeytoun Millie, 104x145cm, acrylic, oil pastel and oil. 2022
GALLERIES
Glass Artwork
Since 2020, I developed a passion for working on glass and I’ve been attending glass workshops for almost a year. I find glass the best medium to represent the beauty of the mangrove roots, seeds and water. The medium is rich, like water, in how it reflects light and overlays of knowledge. These overlays help project a deconstruction of ideas.
Conversation with The Moonah Tree
In Conversation with the Moonah Tree I explore the beauty of this native tree which usually live by the margin of a lake and a little away from the mangroves.
This art work has been selected as one of the final selection for the Islamic Museum Art Prize 2020 (AMA) ”https://www.islamicmuseum.org.au/ama-2020-exhibition/
Mangroves from the Water 2012 – Ongoing Art Project
Mangroves from the Water (MFTW) started as an art campaign in the UAE in 2014 with a series of multimedia group art exhibitions over three years, and a 2017 Mangroves Festival. The art campaign continued globally from International Mangroves Day 26 July 2021, running till 18 August, in Geelong, Australia. Our latest exhibition was held at the National Mall in Washington DC during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2022. We had the honour to represent the UAE at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival from 21 June to 4 July.
The Self
This art work talks about my thoughts and feelings toward the daily destruction of the mangroves, which I witnessed daily while going kayaking or running in Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah. I had a period of time when I felt I was one of those mangroves trees especially when I painted or sketched them. I spent a long time with the mangroves and I feel I know them very well! I felt their pain too!
I faced waves of difficulty while working to protect the mangroves, and yet so much support, too.
For this art work I borrowed the myth of Daphne turning into a laurel tree! There is a certain satisfaction and a beauty, I feel, of becoming a tree! I wish I could be a tree!
The Self is located at the Sharjah American International School in Umm Al Quwain to be on display for one year, 2017-2018.
Coffee Morning 2016
The large size painting Coffee Morning represents my daily world amidst the expanse of the mangroves. The fish bowl, the sofa, pillow, the carpet are all features of my sitting room. The crab on the melting clock represents the time I have spent in the mangroves of Victoria and the UAE. The melting clock is a motif borrowed from Salvador Dali, while the crab is actually a familiar companion when I sketch from my kayak. Once whilst sketching a bird, I realised the presence of a small crab! I place written texts on the hair, the bird, the cup of coffee on the right hand side of the picture and on the sofa, the small vase with the daffodil flowers on the left hand side. On the sofa there are written texts on the world map upon the sofa. The texts are written in two languages: Arabic and English, based on selected poems and personal thoughts. The outline words which shape the flowers and vase are excerpts of William Wordsworth’s poetry about daffodil flowers.
ZAHIDAH 2012
My turning 40 and the death of my father encouraged me to look inside myself, being like Gilgamesh in a time of searching as he roamed, walking between lands searching for the meaning of life. I am treating my latest project, ‘Zahidah’, as a narrative, an opportunity to communicate how I have transformed over time. I am asking the viewer to associate particular events to a broad conception of events.
Symphony of the Myth of Life & Death.
The writing around the frame is examples of ancient Ugaritic letters from tablets of the ancient language first found at Ras Al Shamra (Ugarit, dated around 3500 BC), near my family’s town. I transliterated some Arabic letters to Ugaritic using them in the painting. It is fascinating that Arabic possesses the sounds of Ugaritic! The Epic Of Gilgamesh was of course first written in an earlier cuneiform Sumerian language.
RADIO SHOW
Arabic and English radio program hosted by me
Every Tuesday evening at 8pm
THE PULSE
94.7 FM