ayman kaake

rūḥ al-rūḥ – jan-e janān

TESTING THE WATER

Testing the water, part of Rūḥ al-Rūḥ – Jan-e Janān, West Space Gallery, 2026.

rūḥ al-rūḥ – jan-e janān unites Elyas Alavi, Ayman Kaake, Ali Tahayori, and Kia Zand—artists tied to West and Central Asia—assembling queer identities as testimony. In West Space’s gallery they share inherited, imposed, spoken and unspoken histories, framing a dialogue on queer freedoms predating the Western gaze.

Testing the Water is a performative video exploring identity, faith, and societal expectations, centering the queer body as resistance. The artist wears an abaya—a Lebanese religious garment, not cultural dress—previously shown in Misbaha, inscribed by over 200 people who recounted sacrifices to meet societal norms. These voices create a contemplative interplay of personal and collective experience.

The piece confronts inherited "shame" around gender and sexuality. Belly-dancing—once forbidden to the artist—and the whirling dervish are reimagined as acts of resistance, exposing the performative demands of society.

Ayman Kaake, Testing the Water, 2025, commissioned as part of rūh al-rūh, jan-e janān, 2025, West Space, Melbourne. Sheer fabric, directional sound, single channel video, 10min, 40 secs. 4.5 x 1.5 x 1.5m.

rūḥ al-rūḥ – jan-e janān is supported by Creative Australia.