2017 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

Prosopagnosia, also called face blindness, is an impairment in the recognition of faces. It affects millions, including Brad Pitt. Face blindness is like dyslexia. Just imagine not being able to recognise their parents’ faces. Prosopagnosics have difficulty in putting a face ‘together’. Art is heavily dependent on recognition. From the Mona Lisa to Girl with the Pearl Earing, the world’s most beautiful art can be easily recognisable by the faces in the picture. So if art reflects life, our idea was to create art that reflects a unique, and remarkable condition that affects millions. We created portraits that distorted perception on facial recognition and to explore the effects that a hereditary condition can have on cultural and personal identities. Idea was brought to life at Dubai Art Week – the region’s biggest arts event. The portraits of the people had to resemble people of the Middle East, and South Asians.