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Video Interview with Lara Baladi at B21 Gallery, Dubai

Published July 18th, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Lara Baladi, Surface of Time (2007)

Watch Cairo-based photographer and multimedia artist, Lara Baladi discuss her show entitled, “Surface of Time” that was on view from February 18 through March 13, 2008 at B21 Gallery in Dubai.

Baladi has exhibited her work throughout the Middle East, Europe, Japan and the United States. Her work is included in a number of contemporary art collections including the Fondation Cartier in Paris, the Museet for Fotokunst in Copenhagen and the Pori Art Museum in Finland. She recently partipicated in the 2007 Sharjah Biennial.

Click here to see images from Baladi’s show, “Surface of Time.”

Requires Quicktime 7 or later and a DSL/Cable connection or faster.

Andreas Gursky at the Sharjah Art Museum

Published December 13th, 2007 in Exhibition. 0 Comments

Paris, Montparnasse, 1993 by Andreas Gursky

For the first time in the United Arab Emirates, photographer Andreas Gursky’s work is on view in a solo exhibition at the Sharjah Contemporary Arab Art Museum through January 29, 2008. Featuring 42 monumental photographs that have been completed over the past twenty years, the work is engaging and at times overwhelming due its scale and colossal nature. Using such subject matter as modern factories, international stock exchanges, major concert events as well as supermarket products, Gursky re-interprets the familiar using an unusual elevated vantage point, that at its most powerful, forces the viewer to reconsider the subject at hand. In some of his works, Gursky also utilizes the possibilities of digital manipulation to present seamless imagery that simultaneously presents multiple perspectives forcing the viewer to question the nature of a photograph. If you are in the Sharjah area, this show should not be missed.

Hassan Hajjaj at The Third Line Gallery, Dubai

Published November 25th, 2007 in Exhibition. 0 Comments

Hassan Hajjaj’s Blue Boy

The Third Line Gallery presents the work of Hassan Hajjaj in an exhibition entitled, “Noss Noss” on view November 22 – December 13, 2007. In this seemingly glamorous and fun exhibition, Hajjaj uses photography to create poignant visual statements that examine issues of identity within a North African context. Recycled bicycle tires, tins of food or used batteries sourced from the markets of Morocco are used to frame the images—reinforcing the underlying social paradoxes that these juxtaposing photographs and found objects create. Hajjaj comments about his work, “I feel like it is a celebration of my culture, everything, from the food, the smells, colours, sounds, hot, noisy, sunny world.” However, while these witty mixed media works may in part “celebrate” contemporary life in Morocco, it also raises the question for the individual, “who am I in this age of globalization?”

Book Announcement: With/Without

Published November 6th, 2007 in Announcement and Book. 0 Comments

withwithout-cover.jpg

With/Without: Spatial Products, Practices and Politics in the Middle East is for anyone interested in the social makeup, design and architecture of Middle Eastern cities. Subjects range from the redevelopment of Martyr’s Square in Beirut; gated communities in Istanbul; Dubai’s mall culture; bridge building in Mecca; and the creation of a new Iraqi flag in the post-Saddam era. The underlying question in all of these inquiries is: how do spaces and territories form fundamental ideas about individuals, communities, and worlds?

Edited by Shumon Basar, Antonia Carver and Markus Miessen With/Without features essays, interviews, and documentary photographs from contributors Mauricio Guillen, Yto Barrada & Simona Schneider, Brian Ackley, Issandr El Amrani, Pelin Tan, Richard Allenby-Pratt & Celia Peterson, Kevin Mitchell, Hugh Macleod, Deena Chalabi, Dr Saad Bashir Eskander, Rem Koolhaas, Kai Friese, Ursula Lindsey, Senan Abdelqader, Clare Davies, Stephan Trüby, Markus Miessen, Shumon Basar, Erandi de Silva, Antonia Carver, L.E.FT, Nader Vossoughian, Keller Easterling, Lara Almarcegui, Philipp Misselwitz, Susanne Schuricht, Armin Linke, George Katodrytis, Fawwaz Traboulsi.

Price: $25 / Dhs90 / £12.99

With/Without is distributed in the UK and Europe by Central Books, in the USA by D.A.P Distributed Art Publishers and in Lebanon by Levant Group.

Enquiries for the Middle East and USA, email info[at]bidoun.com.

Palestinian Identity: The Work of Tarek Al-Ghoussein

Published June 14th, 2007 in Article. 0 Comments

Untitled 2 (Self Portrait Series)

Going home for many awakens nostalgic feelings and fond memories of childhood. But for the Palestinian, the identity of home is often highly contested. Many Palestinians who have lived within the region or who have ties to the area often feel displaced as they struggle with notions of national identity and strive to retain their heritage. In his psychologically and politically charged photographs, Tarek Al-Ghoussein addresses issues of identity, displacement, and obstruction while referring to his Palestinian roots and the psychological impact of not being allowed within the borders of Palestine.
>>Click here to read more.

A Milestone for Dubai: The DIFC Gulf Art Fair

Published March 22nd, 2007 in Exhibition and Article. 0 Comments

Visitors admiring artwork

Nadim Karam public art detail

Specatators watching artist

Success of an art fair is usually determined by the amount of sales that it generates. For many who are passionate about the arts and live in Dubai, the DIFC Gulf Art Fair, which took place March 8-10, 2007 at the luxurious resort Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai, meant much more….>>Read more at:
http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/islamic_world/articles/2007/difc_gulf_art_fair_2007

Announcement–Sharjah Biennial 8, April 4 - June 4, 2007

Published March 4th, 2007 in Announcement and Exhibition. 0 Comments

sharjahbiennial81.jpg

The Sharjah Biennial 8 (SB8), inaugurates on April 4th, 2007 in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Biennial’s theme proposes art as a way of creating a better understanding about our relationship with nature and the environment, whilst considering its social, political, cultural and subjective dimensions in an interdisciplinary way. SB8 will focus on the renewed role of art in addressing a wide range of issues that alarmingly affect human existence on earth. The Biennial is aware of the critical ambiguity of its subject matter, and of the fact that it is part of the product-producing and -consuming society, and of the constantly growing tribe of biennials, that year after year, encourage a number of artists, curators, audiences and artworks to travel around the globe. Still, SB8 needs to be critical and will attempt to implicate all sectors of society into questioning our social, political, and ecological praxis.

Participating Artists
Ignasi Aballi; Lida Abdul; Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla; Lara Almarcegui; El Anatsui; Roy Arden; Vladimir Arkhipov; Mireille Astore; Lara Baladi; Noor Al-Bastaki; Taysir Batniji; Marjolijn Dijkman; Bright Ugochukwu Eke; Sophie Elbaz; e-Xplo (Rene Gabri, Heimo Lattner, Erin McGonigle) with Ayreen Anastas; Touhami Ennadre; Mounir Fatmi; Peter Fend; Franz Gertsch; Abdulnasser Gharem; Simryn Gill; Tue Greenfort; Group Tuesday (Fadi Abdallah, Bilal Khbeiz, Walid Sadek); Graham Gussin; Khaled Hafez; Henrik Håkansson; Anawana Haloba; Ilana Halperin; Mona Hatoum; Susan Hefuna; Uschi Huber; Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim; Alfredo Jaar; Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev; Marya Kazoun; Amal Kenawy; Leopold Kessler; Suchan Kinoshita; Joachim Koester; Christina Kubisch; Deborah Ligorio; Claudia Losi; Lutz & Guggisberg; Tea Mäkipää; Hassan Meer; Gustav Metzger; MindBomb; Abdul Rahman Al Ma’aini; Maha Mustafa; Jesus Bubu Negron; Jacques Nimki; OMA/ Rem Koolhaas & Reinier de Graaf; Cornelia Parker; Pablo Patrucco; Dan Perjovschi; Dan Peterman; Marjetica Potrc; Michael Rakowitz; Ibrahim Rashid; Noguchi Rika; Budoor Al Riyami; Raeda Saadeh; Abdallah Alsaadi; Huda Saeed Saif; Michael Sailstorfer; Tomas Saraceno; Joe Scanlan; Zineb Sedira; Anas Al-Shaikh; Ranjani Shettar; SOI Project; Samir Srouji; Simon Starling; Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger; Rirkrit Tiravanija; Mierle Laderman Ukeles; Sergio Vega; Luca Vitone; Shatha Al-Wadi; Camille Zakharia; Ahmed Mater Al-Ziad.

SB8 Programme
3 April, 2007: Press Preview
4 April, 2007: VIP Opening
5 & 6 April, 2007: Symposium at Expo Centre, Sharjah

From 5 April – 4 June 2007:
Exhibitions Opening Hours:
Saturday to Thursday: 9am to 9pm
Friday: 3pm – 9pm