The exhibition “Time That Grows Slowly” at Dom Art Projects feels especially significant within Dubai’s current cultural moment because it pushes against the city’s usual associations with acceleration, development, and spectacle.
Rather than treating time as productivity or forward motion, curator Alexander Burenkov frames time through vegetal rhythms — growth, decay, regeneration, and coexistence. The exhibition asks whether contemporary urban life can momentarily attune itself to plant consciousness, as the German ecological concept umwelt describes an organism’s subjective experience of the world.
That conceptual shift is reflected in both the artist list and the show’s structure.
Artists and Themes
The exhibition brings together a notably transnational group of artists, including:
- Maha Alasaker
- Srijon Chowdhury
- Odonchimeg Davaadorj
- Patricia Domínguez
- Tabita Rezaire
- Shaima Shamsi
- Nadia Waheed
Many are exhibiting in Dubai for the first time, which reinforces the institution’s broader goal of positioning the city as a meeting point for ecological, philosophical, and postcolonial artistic discourse rather than only a commercial art hub.
A Counterpoint to Dubai’s Pace
One of the most compelling aspects of the exhibition is how directly it responds to Dubai itself.
Burenkov describes the show as a “tool kit for slowing down” within the emirate’s hyper-urban environment. The exhibition effectively turns vegetal life into a philosophical framework:
- plants do not optimize,
- they do not rush toward goals,
- they persist through repetition, exposure, and interdependence.
That idea connects strongly with broader conversations happening globally in contemporary art around ecology, burnout, climate anxiety, and non-human intelligence.
Parallel Presentation: Petr Kirusha
Alongside the group show, Petr Kirusha presents work developed during his residency at Dom Art Projects.
His paintings and drawings document:
- Dubai’s changing urban landscape,
- the psychological atmosphere during heightened geopolitical tensions,
- and the unstable visual conditions of digital-era perception.
Kirusha’s practice explores painting through illumination itself, LED glow, pixel vibration, and artificial night light — creating an interesting contrast with the vegetal temporality explored in the main exhibition.
Why This Matters for Dubai’s Art Scene
The exhibition signals a broader evolution in Dubai’s contemporary art ecosystem:
1. Research-driven programming
Shows are becoming more conceptually rigorous and internationally networked rather than purely market-oriented.
2. Ecological discourse entering Gulf institutions
Themes of climate, sustainability, and interspecies thinking are increasingly central to exhibitions across the UAE.
3. Expanded artist support
Dom Art Projects’ decision to provide studio space for UAE-based artists responding to geopolitical instability reflects a growing institutional emphasis on long-term artistic infrastructure rather than short exhibition cycles.
4. Digital and physical art are no longer separated
As co-founder Alisa Bagdonaite notes, the institution sees digital practices as embedded within contemporary reality itself, not as a separate category.
Exhibition Details
Dom Art Projects
- Exhibition: Time That Grows Slowly
- Dates: May 13 – September 13, 2026
- Location: Al Khayat Avenue, Dubai
- Concurrent event: Participation in Art Dubai 2026
The exhibition ultimately positions vegetal life not as decoration or metaphor, but as an alternative model for thinking about time, memory, coexistence, and survival in an increasingly accelerated world.