If there is a stamp of recognition for any burgeoning art scene, it’s most probably entry into the Venice Biennale. The world’s most famous and prestigious art event will be in its 53rd year when the UAE makes its grand entrance in 2009.
For the first time, UAE artists, curators, designers and thinkers will be given a platform at an event that truly defines internationalism in art. Occurring every two years, the Venice Biennale brings together works by the world’s most acclaimed contemporary artists. The focus of the event is on the nationally hosted pavilions of art, with artists carefully selected to evoke something of the wider consciousness of a place.
For the UAE’s debut, the pavilion has been titled It’s not You, It’s Me and features works by Emirati photographer Lamya Gargash. At the curatorial helm is Tirdad Zolghadr, a celebrated art critic, professor and filmmaker. He’s been instrumental in devising the central themes that the pavilion hopes to convey about the UAE.
Zolghadr has suggested that the playful name of the show could mean ‘Look, it’s the UAE’s turn now.’ ‘The UAE Pavilion (designed by Rami Farook) will be unapologetic about documenting the nation,’ says Zolghadr, ‘while the Pavilion as a whole can be seen as an exhibition about exhibition-making, reflecting on the very act of national showcasing.’
Lamya Gargash, the artist featured centrally in the pavilion, is known for her Presence series of works where she photographed the abandoned homes of her native Dubai. Gargash unearthed the strange trend of leaving and moving that she found to be a part of Emirati culture. Discovering abandoned homes that are, more or less, intact, as if their previous occupant had got up one morning, walked out of the house and never returned, Gargash captured something forlorn about these former homes, a strange desperation for newness. In the series specially created for the Biennale, titled Familial, Gargash continues her explorations into the interiors of Emirati life. In Familial, she attempts to explore notions of hospitality among Emiratis, the aesthetics of that hospitality and how it might influence the interior design of local homes. The pavilion will also feature a number of works by Hassan Sherif, Tarek Al Ghoussein and Huda Saeed Saif.
The Venice Biennale runs from June 7 – November 8. For more information on the UAE Pavilion go to www.uaepavilion.org.
