Aside from exotic Daisy Duck with her dance of the seven veils, and the mute abiding second class citizen in a black burka, not many images spring to mind when thinking of an Arab woman. Arabiia is a caricature of media stereotypes typically associated with arab women. The convertible outfit is equipped with two servo motors and a switch. It enables its wearer to voluntarily choose which of two extreme representations fits her mood and audience.
arabiia from ayah bdeir on Vimeo.
Press
Puritan City - Geeky Fashion Show - February 2nd, 2006
Hyperexperience.com - Sexy Burka - February 2nd, 2006
United Press International - Fashion meets tech, new era under way - January 31st, 2006
MIT News - Students showcase ‘Seamless’ pairing of fashion, technology - January 26th, 2006
Notes from somewhere bizarre - Arabiia - January 15th, 2006
Rhizome.org - Re-dressing Religion - January 13th, 2006
Turbulence - Networked performance: arabiia - January 1, 2006
Village Voice - Don’t Call it ‘Project Runway, the Art Exhibit’ - September 27th, 2005
New York Times - Trickle Down Fashion, from the ground up - September 15th 2005
Gay City News - Dance and Design Converge - September 15th 2005
Shows
February 1st, 2006 - arabiia - Seamless Computational Couture II - Boston Museum of Science - Boston
October 1st, 2005 - Open Stitch - Location 1 - NY
