The video visualizes the nightmare of internment and torture without the usual use of the Islamic male body. The “bride” is symbolic of a space between two realities, of neither a past nor a future. She defines an indeterminate state.
Guantánamo’s Bride, 2009 – TRT 11:00 mins
Sama Alshaibi is Assistant Professor of Photography at the University of Arizona. Alshaibi received her M.F.A. in Photography, Video & Media Arts at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Born in Basra, Iraq to an Iraqi father and Palestinian mother, and now a naturalized US citizen, Alshaibi’s recent works investigates “borderlands”, including her own hyphenated identity, as critical sites in physical and psychological terms. In her work the language of war and exile is prominent, a restless protagonist struggling against the double negation of her homelands. Selecting among her multiplicitous and polarized identities, Alshaibi’s own body puts to test issues of access, privilege and constraint. The work is an articulation of these negotiations between body, disputed land(scapes), and shifting political realities.
A multi-media artist, Alshaibi exhibits internationally including South Africa, The Middle East, the United Kingdom, China, South and Central America and the United States. Her work has recently appeared in Nueva Luz, Frontiers, and Social Dynamics. She is represented by the Empty Quarter, Dubai and Selma Feriani Gallery, London.
Sama Alshaibi – Tucson Arizona
17 Days Video Series 
Sad video and you can feel how the woman is feeling entrapped. Very eerie images, but beautiful at the same time. The orange flowers floating in the aqua water and being placed in the fresh dirt are gorgeous images.
The audio aids in the eeriness. The sounds of the chains dragging is one of the strongest things that stuck with me after watching this video. The vibrant dress of the woman, placed against the dull brown background is beautiful despite what this video is about. Everything about this video is successful.