Black is the New White

For Black is the New White, Kaabi-Linke staged a fashion photography shoot. Imitating a typical advert for a fake brand, a young male model wearing the kandura – traditional male Emirati clothing – is set against the Dubai skyline. The artist switches the usually light colored cotton fabric with the heavy black synthetic material of the abayas, traditional female Emirati dress. She makes use of this specific cultural code of the region where she grew up and developed her identity during her teenage years to challenge the global identity shaping triangle of fashion, tradition, and gender.