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Expo 2020 Dubai will shine a light on potential solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges, but the thought-provoking installations won’t only belong to the scientists and professors.
Five provocative art pieces from four local and regional contemporary artists are now on display at Expo’s Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion, with each demonstrating a specifically Middle Eastern response to the subject of sustainability.
The commission coincides with Art Dubai (details of which you can grab by clicking here), and you can catch the projects in person during the Pavilion Premiere event, which runs until Saturday April 10.
So, who are the quartet of creatives adding an extra layer to Expo 2020 Dubai?
Emirati Zeinab Alhashemi’s work explores the hidden connections and geometry found in nature as a universal language.
Takween examines how the responsibility of humans and our planet are interdependent, with the two halves of the piece merging together to become one – what appears to be separate are in fact parts of the same, suggesting that man and nature thrive together.
Among the UAE’s first generation of contemporary artists, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim hails from Khorfakkan, a coastal city in the UAE surrounded by rocky mountains, and his deep connection with the environment is evident in his work.
Hugs is an interactive installation forming reflective walk-through space where visitors are asked to examine how their values impact their decisions, especially when it comes to big questions such as the environment.
Fellow Emirati Mohammed Kazem combines technological and traditional methodologies in an ongoing exploration of his environment, whether social, political or natural.
His first piece for the Sustainability Pavilion, Directions, represents the geographic co-ordinates of worldwide visitors to the Expo site. Kazem’s work inspires them to think about and create innovative solutions for a more sustainable future.
Kazem’s second piece, Measuring, challenges common architectural norms of understanding a space. His perception of the space, influenced by both memory and mood, determine its dimensions, satirising the presumed accuracy of any spatial relationship.
The work invites viewers to reflect on the shifting nature of something as rational as ‘measurement,’ making us aware of both of our place in our environment, and how we value it.
Meanwhile, Ayman Zedani is a visual artist from Saudi Arabia whose work sits at the crossroads between installation, sound, photography, video and science.
His new piece, Terrapolis, is a digital monument to all the contributors to the Sustainability Pavilion. It uses a designed digital algorithm to transform their identities into digital organic entities that live in a simulation that reflects life from a parallel reality, blurring the distinction between life forms.
The burning question of sustainability just became a little more visual.
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