Challenges of the future and painful reminders of the past are among themes explored by three UAE-based artists in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi’s Manarat Al-Saadiyat. New commissions by Emirati artists Maitha Abdalla and Hashel Al-Lamki, along with American Christopher Benton, now based in Dubai, are included in “Beyond: Emerging Artists,” a section of the now-wrapped up Abu Dhabi Art fair.
“Beyond: Emerging Artists” was curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath and is running beyond the end of the fair until Dec. 4, 2021. Bardaouil and Fellrath told Arab News that the three artists’ strong links with Abu Dhabi allowed them to examine the city’s history and diversity, as well as its challenges and opportunities. The artists rely on media ranging from painting to sculpture, soundscapes, video works, found objects and site-specific installations. Abdalla’s commissions are part of a series of works that “negotiates the wild nature of women that social forces have often attempted to tame,” according to the artist.
“In my work, I am interested in storytelling and folk tales, and for this exhibition I was inspired by the book ‘Women Who Run with the Wolves,’ by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, an American psychoanalyst. She talks about how in every woman there is a wild creature and that this creature is powerful. She calls it wild woman and says this creature is an endangered species,” Abdalla said. Fair Director Dyala Nusseibeh told Arab News: “The work is amazing — from performances that revolve around notions of female wildness to sculptures and paintings that provoke discussion around what’s considered right and wrong behavior and thought in communities.”
Benton’s installation of a chained palm tree also fosters debate around labor economies and the appropriation of Middle Eastern culture in the US. The artist’s film “The Kite Has Come” features archival images of Zanzibar from 1860-1910 — when the world’s last slave market operated in the city — and explores how slave histories in past centuries resonate in today’s world.
Meanwhile, Al-Lamki examines the rapid pace of change in the UAE, particularly evident in his hometown of Al-Ain. The artist, who founded the art group Bait 15 in a residential neighborhood in downtown Abu Dhabi, uses natural pigments collected from regional locations, referencing traditions that are under threat from new technologies and consumerism.
“The extravagance of the glitter and dyes in his paintings alongside the use of batteries, star stickers and popcorn in his sculpture, contribute to a sense of spectacle and futurism, but also a note of wistfulness for what is left behind,” Nusseibeh said.
