Arab Domains is a follow-up to Female Power Stations: Queen Bees (1996-2000), a project in which I portrayed fifteen women who were senior executives of 1997 Global Fortune 500 corporations in the United States, Europe and Japan. These executives contributed to the project by permitting me to photograph their office boardroom tables and home dining room tables.
In 2001 Female Power Stations: Queen Bees was presented to Mrs. Al Kaylani, chairwoman of the London-based Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF). Later that year I proposed a similar project focusing on Arab women business leaders, and Mrs. Al Kaylani agreed to collaborate with me on Arab Domains.
In each Arab country Mrs. Al Kaylani and I searched for the most successful and powerful female business leaders. All participating women are of Arab nationality, and at least one woman from each Arab country is included in the project. The AIWF and I approached about fifty Arab Women Business Leaders to participate in the project. Finally thirty-six women from eighteen Arab countries (Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen) participated in Arab Domains.
In preparation of the trip I send out a questionnaire to the women as well as a letter how to prepare for my visit. I requested to photograph their boardroom table at the headquarters and their dining table at home. The meeting table had to be empty and the dining table had to be set up in a way that she was expecting important guest to come to visit (table cloth, flowers, beautiful plates, etc., but no food).
Jacqueline Hassink
New York – September 2006