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The National
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Weekly UAE museum and gallery guide: Must-see exhibitions by Sama Alshaibi and Shilpa Gupta
A new wave of solo exhibitions is rolling across galleries and institutions in the UAE. Diasporic experiences represented by flowers, paintings ruminating on psychological states through fables and a project aimed at capturing the palimpsest-like nature of Baghdad, here are four exhibitions to see this weekend. The title of Sama Alshaibi's solo exhibition at Ayyam Gallery is drawn from the Arabic word for palimpsest. The Iraqi-Palestinian artist is presenting a series of mixed-media collages and video works that present Baghdad as a site of fragmented narratives and memories. Alshaibi travelled to the Iraqi capital between 2021 and 2023, using LiDar technology to document its streets, landmarks and marshlands. She captured structures and the flow of daily life. The works featured in the exhibition are drawn from data mappings, archival materials and photographs. Together, they form a thoughtful exploration of a city that is constantly adapting to new geopolitical realities. Monday to Friday, 10am – 6pm; Saturday, 12pm – 6pm; until May 30; Ayyam Gallery, Dubai Maitha Abdalla's works bloom from the seams between the real and the uncanny. The Emirati artist, whose practice spans several mediums, often uses folktales and myths to explore themes such as psychology, social conditioning and gender. Her solo exhibition at Abu Dhabi's cultural foundation reflects upon these topics through a mix of painting and sculptures that toe the line between the figurative and the abstract. Saturday to Thursday, 9am – 8pm; Friday, 2pm – 8pm; until August 30; Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi In her first regional solo exhibition, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons references the flora and fauna of Latin America, the Middle East and Africa to examine experiences of diaspora. The Cuban artist touches upon experiences of unity and longing in her works. Her paintings and sculptures are vibrant, brimming with hibiscus, sugarcanes and guava leaves. The works come together as an arresting exploration of the connection between landscapes and collective memories. Monday to Saturday, 11am – 7pm; until Thursday; Efie Gallery, Dubai Shilpa Gupta: Lines Of Flight at Ishara Art Foundation Shilpa Gupta's first solo exhibition in the Middle East is being held at the Ishara Art Foundation. It presents a large body of work, produced since 2006. The artworks, though ranging in medium, all have a central preoccupation in that they challenge the notions of border, terrestrial and political. Some drawings highlight works by poets from around the world who faced persecution, showing how their writings transcended demarcations. A room-filled installation, titled Listening Air, meanwhile, features songs of resistance, emanating from microphones that move across the space. Monday to Saturday, 10am – 7pm; until May 31; Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai
Arab News
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Highlights from Art Week Riyadh
Wael Shawky For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ 'The Gulf Project Camp' This work is part of the award-winning Egyptian artist's ongoing titular series. Its full title is 'The Gulf Project Camp (after 'Hajj (Panoramic Overview of Makkah)' by Andreas Magnus Hunglinger, 1803)' — a nod to its inspiration from the Austrian orientalist's rare early-19th-century drawing of Islam's holiest city. The project as a whole 'investigates the Arabian Peninsula and its modern history through the lenses of migration, trade, petropolitics, religion and tribal alliances' and 'sheds light on specific regional and historical moments: the Utub migration; the establishment of the Emirate of Diriyah, the first Saudi state; and the rise of Wahhabism,' according to a guidebook for the 2019 Sharjah Biennale. 'Historical treaties, conferences, speeches and experiences of war are rendered in the artwork through imagery and the use of various industrial materials, such as tarmac, graphite and metal dust.' Anahita Razmi 'No National Flag Uses a Gradient #1' Razmi is a German-born artist of Iranian and German descent whose practice, she has written, draws on her background to explore 'contextual, geographical, and ideological shifts — with a focus on shifts between an 'East' and a 'West.'' She added that she is interested in 'a fluid, transcultural approach to contemporary art and its histories and references,' as well as 'in work that is producing testing grounds for possibilities of import/export, hybrid identities, and the constructions and ambiguities of cultural representation.' This work was created in 2022 and is a perfect representation of those interests, seemingly representing the lack of room for nuance in nationalist symbols and rhetoric. Safwan Dahoul 'Dream 42' This work forms part of the Syrian artist's ongoing 'Dream' series, which Dahoul began back in the 1980s. According to Ayyam Gallery, the series explores 'the physical and psychological effects of alienation, solitude, and longing that punctuate the human experience at various stages in life.' 'Dream 42,' however, is a notable departure from the earlier works in the series, which always featured a female protagonist, who often 'takes on the form of a despairing woman in isolated interiors.' Her disappearance from this particular work 'could be understood as her final transcendence of a stifling world,' the gallery wrote, noting that in later paintings she is depicted as 'a sort of angel.' Neïl Beloufa 'Double Standard — canyon' The French-Algerian artist and filmmaker's works, according to Francois Ghebaly Gallery, address 'themes of geopolitics, technology, urbanism, and ideology through layered projects that combine video, sculpture, social participation, and often dynamic processes like sensor activation or algorithmic control.' This particular piece, as the title suggests, is illustrative of Beloufa's interest in dichotomies, such as reality and fiction, or presence and absence. 'Combining dichotomies allows him to deconstruct our belief systems and presconceived ideas,' We Art Partners have written of Beloufa's work. 'He tries to confront his audience with his own stereotypes to demonstrate their unbelief.' The work is part of the artist's 'Double Standard' series, which forms, according to a catalogue from his solo exhibition in Basel's Kunsthalle, 'an aesthetic world expressed through gaming-inspired forms and the language of digital imagery.' Lamya Gargash 'Arches Light, Old Jubail Market, Sharjah, UAE' The Emirati artist has long been inspired by inhabited and/or abandoned spaces, 'as well as cultural heritage in a time of rapid change,' according to Dubai gallery The Third Line. In her photo series 'Kun' (which translates as 'To Be'), from which this work is taken, Gargash 'connects the cities of Sharjah, Dubai, London and Bath through carefully curated gold draping gestures captured within each frame to create a unique bond,' Maraya Art Center's catalogue for her solo exhibition there stated. 'This draping, golden fabric is placed into various spaces, guided by the Qibla, a modified compass indicating the direction of prayer. Gargash uses the Qibla to symbolize direction, spirituality and unity. The gold fabric covers and conceals elements in its path; this inclusion breaks the silence of the still frame, drawing attention to focal points and bridging the gap between what is considered sacred and secular.
What's On
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- What's On
Alserkal Art Week 2025: Welcome dissent with A Wild Stitch
No neat stitches at Alserkal Art Week… Alserkal Art Week is back in the new year – in great news for all the art enthusiasts, culture crawlers and fine philosophy fiends – and this year, the week-long programme invites you to lose yourself and discover a new meaning of rebellion with A Wild Stitch , the theme of this stint. Running from April 13 to 20, this edition comes as a challenger to singular perspectives, as always responding to the need of the hour and the region, and reaffirming it's role in sparking a flame of unabashed, bold conversation around the present. Singularity is a fallacy, but why? Why do we need perspectives of variety, of multiplicity, hybridity? Through this curation, take an alternate look at narratives that refuse to be neatly stitched into submission. The flagship exhibition The highlight of the week, the flagship exhibition of this edition is Vanishing Points debuting new works by Pakistani artist Imran Qureshi, presented for the first time at Concrete. Curated by Nada Raza, the exhibition is all about miniature art and showcases photography, video, painting, and site-specific installations by Qureshi. Qureshi is a leading figure from the acclaimed Lahore school of contemporary Indo-Persian miniature painting, renowned for his innovative reimagining of this classical form. He captures the layered cityscapes of South Asia, where Mughal and Sikh architecture merge with the post-industrial present, rejecting the singular, narrow gaze of European perspective, by collaborating with skilled practitioners. Public Art Commissions Curated by independent writer and curator Fatoş Üstek, this year's public art commissions across the Avenue include Between a Beach and Slope , inspired by Emirati artist Nujoom Alghanem's poem of the same name and Indian artist Shilpa Gupta's light-text sculpture in The Yard, Still They Know Not What I Dream , gives form to silence and resistance. The commissions will be accompanied by talks by the artists and curator, live block-printing workshops,and a film screening. Majlis Talks Curated by Stephanie Bailey, the Majlis Talks hosts a special edition of Crit Club, a performance project. Framed as a sports tournament, the talks invite participants into a site-specific arena to dialogue and debate on unrealistic questions and impossible positions—drawn from conversations within the UAE art scene. Gallery Exhibitions Alserkal Art Week brings together artists from the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, with 16 galleries presenting exhibitions that confront histories of displacement, resilience, and identity. Some of these include Cuban artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons' I Am Soil. My Tears Are Water, Zawyeh Gallery's British-Palestinian artist Bashir Makhoul's The Promise, and Ayyam Gallery showcasing Iraqi-Palestinian Sama Alshaibi's photographs, reconstructing Baghdad's shifting landscapes through LiDAR technology and archives, bodies and identity. Discover the rest of the programme here… Alserkal Art Week, Alserkal Avenue, Apr 13 to 20, @alserkalavenue Images: Supplied > Sign up for FREE to get exclusive updates that you are interested in
The National
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Discomfort and awe at Athar Jaber's first Dubai exhibition
Iraqi-Dutch artist Athar Jaber is marking his first solo exhibition in Dubai with a series of stone sculptures that evoke as much discomfort as awe. Busts show human faces with features that have been pummeled in or twisted out of place. Limbs, torsos and heads emerge with Hellenistic grace and detail from marble blocks that have otherwise been left coarse and unfinished. The body parts in Jaber's sculptures are severed and writhing. For him, they bare the weight of the modern world. The sculptures in the exhibition Vestiges, at Ayyam Gallery, are not new, with some having been produced as far back as 2014. Yet, Jaber says the exhibition presents the work that best embody his artistic intentions. 'This is the work that I compromised the least,' he tells The National. 'I feel they best represent me and the message I want to convey. I moved to the UAE just over a year ago. With Ayyam, we thought of doing a show. 'Galleries usually want to show the latest work, right? But I don't have a latest bodywork that is ready. I'm new to the local environment and the public still needs to get to know me. The work here is maybe 10 years old but it gives a good idea of what I stand for.' To understand Jaber's work, it is perhaps crucial to juxtapose it to the tenets of classical period Greek sculpture. After all, it was by copying ancient Greek works that Jaber honed his craft as a student in Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The sculptors of ancient Greece, specifically those who worked in the classical period between 510 to 323 BCE, often tried to represent the human body in its idealised form. This was likely influenced by Plato's theory of forms. The philosopher posited that there was a higher realm of existence that housed the perfect version of all forms. The chairs, apples and horses of this world were flawed and shadowy representations of the forms that existed in Plato's realm. This also applied to human bodies. The classical Greek sculptors chipped at marble slabs with that realm in mind, trying to achieve the ideal human form. In many ways, Athar has adopted an antithetical approach. Instead of rising towards Plato's realm of beauty and perfection, the artist is more interested in diving inward, using body parts to explore how we interiorise the ugliness of the world today. 'It speaks more to a state of being,' he says. 'An interior one of anxiety, of uncertainty, of unclear identity. I won't speak for everyone, but I think many of us feel that, right?' Born in Rome to Iraqi parents Afifa Aleiby and Jaber Alwan, both of whom are celebrated artists, Jaber has lived in several countries in Europe, as well as brief stints in Yemen and Russia. The experience, he says, has helped solidify an identity that goes beyond geographic borders. Yet, witnessing from afar the turmoil that has affected Iraq and the wider Middle East has left an indelible mark on his perception of the world – a mark he has sought to transpose in stone. 'People are sometimes disturbed or shocked by my work,' he says. 'But then look at what we have been fed through the media. Seeing what we've seen, I can't make beautiful things that just embellish and adorn.' Jaber says that he suspects there are many who feel the same way, and an idealised human form doesn't serve as an authentic reflection of this widespread interiority of anxiety at the state of the world. 'People need to see something that they recognise in themselves,' he says. 'I understand that many have seen enough ugliness, but if they see just beautiful sculptures, they feel even more detached from reality. You need to see something that represents you.' Jaber's work also addresses the margins between beauty and ugliness, creation and destruction. Several of his stone works brings to mind the destruction of Iraqi artefacts by Isis forces in 2014, especially with their beaten and disfigured pieces. 'I realised they were using the same tools that I used to create to destroy,' he says. 'They used the hammer and chisel, the angle grinder, the drill, all the tools that I use.' One piece, however, stands out in the way it emboldens the thin line between creation and destruction. If militants were using his tools to destroy art, he would use their tools of destruction to create. The piece of marble, vaguely resembling a head on a plinth, was formed by using a gun. Sixty four bullets were fired at the piece to bring it to form. The process was filmed and can be seen in the entrance to the exhibition. The work, Jaber says, presents a strange contrast. 'There is the contradiction of the beauty of the images,' he says. 'But it's something horrible that is happening. Like when you see buildings being demolished. It's horrible but we look and keep looking at them. There's that discomfort, where you're watching something terrible but enjoying it.' Vestiges is running at Ayyam Gallery until April 1
