Documenting the new world: a review of Middle Eastern representation in the 53rd Venice Biennale

Laura Trelford

Documenting the new world: a review of Middle Eastern representation in the 53rd Venice Biennale   Documenting the new world: a review of Middle Eastern representation in the 53rd Venice Biennale
The Kiosk, UAE Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2009   Lamya Gargash, UAE Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2009

The presence of a number of Middle Eastern artists in the Venice Biennale and its 2009 satellite exhibitions can be seen as the culmination of a growing level of exposure for Middle Eastern artists internationally over the past two years. For the first time, a serious, grown-up space has been handed over to the United Arab Emirates to display the best they have to offer ‘off their home patch’, as well as a number of excellent showcases of art from the region.

Ideas of a journey to the east permeated the biennale in many different levels; the best place to start came in an unusual space – the Dutch Pavilion by Fiona Tan. A self-titled professional foreigner, like many expatriates the world over - Tan’s work is fascinated by changing geographies and discoveries of new worlds. Her commissioned dual-screen film Disorient takes the form of the narration of Marco Polo’s travel log juxtaposed against stunning shots of varying contemporary environments in the locations he is describing, from Venice to the Far East. Shots fluctuate between lush, rich spices and fabrics to sheer poverty in many people’s lives. The project makes an immediate trajectory from Venice to the East.

The experimental nature of the biennale’s theme: Fare Mondi: Making Worlds should have fueled a momentum throughout the city to attempt to define where these new worlds are in the twenty-first century. The active nature of the verb, in the present tense, hints at an investigation taking places by curators the world over – how to fit the work of artists rising from diverse parts of the globe into the already long established (relevance to today now much disputed) contemporary canon of art history. If any part of the world can be seen to be physically creating microcosmic worlds, it is surely Dubai – the World project by Nakheel is still on track, and according to their website 94% of their islands are sold, interestingly with the exception of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and a few others.

The claustrophobic and mesmeric installation by Pascale Marthine Tayou from the Cameroon in the Arsenale could be of any historical time frame. Entitled Human Being, it displays mankind at its most primitive but also possibly its most creative. A project produced by Thyssen-Bornemizsa Art Contemporary and displayed in the Doge’s Palace and Arsenale entitled The Ethics of Dust by Jorge Otero-Pailos, creates a record of dust which has settled on historic buildings across the globe. Particles are collected via the technology of Latex and collectively becomes an eloquent archive of the effects of time and humans on inanimate structures. Such a record would be unachievable in Dubai where buildings are pulled down as soon as their initial rationale becomes replaceable; despite being a city made on a foundation of dust and sand, it is one currently lacking a culture of preservation. This is an issue addressed by many Dubai-based artists, particularly eloquently by the featured artist of the UAE Pavilion, Lamya Gargash in her previous Presence project which documented abandoned houses before demolition.

An artist famed for her installations which often comment on the transience of the home and human experiences, Mona Hatoum is subject to a solo exhibition at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia. Containing stand-alone classic works familiar to any who have seen her work recently in London (Parasol Unit), Berlin or Amman (see article by Reem Fekri in this journal, February edition) the artist has also made several subtle interventions in the museum’s permanent collection. This was a common strand in exhibitions in the city – most eloquently practiced in the Museo Fortuny: eclectism and cacophony always at play in this beguiling palazzo through a trilogy of exhibitions during the past three years curated by Axel Vervoordt. The final show in the series pared art down to its basest minimum in the subtle, abstract In-Finitum.

An exhibition where the curatorial premise was entirely to investigate artistic exchange across national borders, East-West Divan: Contemporary Art from Afghanistan, Iran & Pakistan. It took over another space in Venice fueled with history and dust – Jacopo Sansovino’s Scuola Grande della Misericordia in the magical sestiere of Cannaregio. We are physically miles away from Giardini, even walking through the Scuola you need to navigate Zilvinas Kempinas’ videotape pathway, TUBE in the Lithuanian Pavilion downstairs and then find the beacon of Shezad Dawood’s iconic neon chandeliers, a fitting contemporary take on tradition which would work anywhere in Venice. Work ranged from grand, iconic portraits by Khosrow Hassanzadeh to intimate miniature work. Curated by Jemima Montagu of Turquoise Mountain, the exhibition was steeped in literary and oral traditions, creating an alternative canon for Persian art.

The stunning first floor rooms of Palazzo Contarini hosted an evening in honour of the new Sharjah Art Foundation – watch this space – while the ground floor was taken over by Saudi Arabian artists in a repeat of the London blockbuster exhibition Edge of Arabia. Entirely at home in the cavernous space with its low wooden beam ceiling, iron latticed windows sitting very comfortably next to the nostalgic Maharem (Tissues) of Ayman Yossri Daydban; the effect of Shadia & Raja Alem’s installation was heightened by being juxtaposed against stained, mottled brickwork. For me, the work of co-curator Ahmed Mater Al-Ziad Aseeri stole the show, his eloquent ‘Magnetism’ at the entrance through to his better known Illumination I & II – painstakingly over-worked found x-rays through which he seeks to strip down and analyze the human form. He was made all the more real to me by a documentary video of him talking to camera while navigating the streets of Abu Dhabi in the ADACH Platform for Venice. Abdulnasser Gharem also came to fame in the most recent Christies auction in Dubai, and the themes evident in his textured work Concrete II where rubber stamps punctuate familiar objects related to traffic are further explored in the mediums of video and photography later in the exhibition. To conclude, Edge of Arabia is a rounded, visually attesting and accurate portrayal of the current state of art coming out of Saudi Arabia and seen in the historically significant Venetian palazzo makes the progress of a new arts scene all the more poignant.

Ironically the satellite ‘national’ presence which had the most force of all the group exhibitions around the city was Palestine C/o Venice on the Giudecca. The moving opening ceremony with a moment of silence for Gaza and heartfelt words from commissioners and curators alike made it all too clear that a void of national soil can be the most powerful position for any citizen of the world. The tremendously effecting sound piece Ramallah Syndrome by Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti brought one to the heart of the violence and confusion still very present in the current crisis. The exposition of the 3rd Riwaq Biennale project proved again that new worlds can be created in the most unexpected parts of the world.

The levels of self-reflection and investigation inserted into the UAE Pavilion by curator Tirdad Zolghadr were very refreshing and unexpected. Historical reference points permeated the show which seeks to discuss the nature of the ‘World Fair’ and relate the biennale to previous expositions of new nations in other contexts and timeframes. The archetypal precursor is the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, which heralded the opening of the Victoria & Albert Museum a year later. To revert back to such models is an encouraging way of investigating the UAE art scene, proving to us that there is logic and reason behind the order of events in our cultural agenda. A fair (such as Art Dubai) coming first and preparing the way for museums and indeed the establishment of fine art institutions – the Royal College of Art in its current carnation was another result of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park; and the UAE is yet to have an exclusive school of fine art for post-graduate level. (see accompanying article on the current UAE arts graduates) This natural order of things is commented in the illuminating series of catalogue essays through its quotations from archival material of past events. A reminder of the Robert Smithson comment that: ‘museums are ruins-in-reverse…memory traces of abandoned sets of futures’. Antonia Carver acutely described the atmosphere and lush settings of proud one-star hotels in Dubai captured by Lamya Gargash on display in the UAE Pavilion as demonstrating ‘the moment of expectation’ – the precise feeling the UAE delegation shared when arriving in Venice. These initial excited expectations for many new arrivals in Dubai are quashed once reality sinks in; luckily that was not the case for us in Venice.

The pavilion found many methods of investigating the current state of art practice in the UAE and indeed the nature of a national pavilion in a biennale rather cleverly with elements other than straight-forward artworks. The brilliant audio guide written by Shumon Basar started off this process, further examined through Hannah Hurtzig / Mobile Academy in Kiosk for useful knowledge. Instead of conducting live forums, Nation Builders allows visitors to listen to key figures in the development of the UAE’s cultural projects in conversation at their own pace. Personalities such as Sultan Al Qassemi, Mishaal Al Gergawi and Zaki Nusseibeh with his daughter address fundamental questions we all want to hear the answers to. It is a way of extending the lifespan of the pavilion – I know I personally caught snippets of plenty of talks during the opening few days –conversations such as Daniel Birnbaum addressing John Baldessari, Catherine David with Rem Koolhaas and Sir Norman Rosenthal on a panel arranged by T-B A21, but the kiosk project were the only discussions I listened to from start to finish. Another live element which you did need to catch at the opening session was the Jackson Pollock bar. This is a reenactment of the first UAE Pavilion Press Conference, also part of Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum in March, when it was a clever, tongue-in-cheek reference to this groundbreaking moment just three months in the future when the UAE would export itself to the gladiatorial arena of Venice. The reassuringly hypnotic and gentle tones of Dr Lamees Hamdan, Commissioner and clipped, lucid timbre of curator Tirdad Zolghadr are mimed by well-known Dubai-based actors, Nanaz Azari and the photographer Rodin Hamidi.

The artwork we did see in the pavilion happened to be some of the strongest work to have come out of the UAE; and to me it didn’t matter that there were crossovers between artists represented in the pavilion & ADACH Platform for Venice across the water. All exposure is positive for these artists regardless of any deeper message that was perhaps inadvertently delivered. Hassan Sharif’s experimental performance projects as a Byam Shaw School of Art graduate in the 1960s shown in the Pavilion were taken up again upstairs in the ADACH Platform, where we saw his pupil Mohammed Kazem producing similarly experimental work, and that Sharif’s storeroom from the Flying House was brought over to Venice plastic spades, flip flops and all was pure genius. The passage of time worked in reverse with Ebtisam Abdul Aziz; her more recent number and colour games proceeded in ADACH Platform by her more famous Autobiography sequence of photographs categorizing her performance in a number suit that was a project for Sharjah Biennial in 2007.

Catherine David is working with Abu Dhabi on a long term contract, so the ADACH Platform can be viewed as one of a series of steps the curator is making in categorizing the Emirates. More a documentary investigation than a display of artwork, the ADACH space was of a far grander scale than the UAE Pavilion across the water but its message a follow on from Rem Koolhaas and teams Al Manakh seen in Venice and Istanbul in 2007 and being updated via a website and new publication due March 2010.

Surely if anywhere can re-invent the past or generate a new canon for contemporary art practice, it is a nation as new on the block as the UAE. It is building up a strong arts infrastructure – local design agency Traffic proved their skill at designing a top-class pavilion – districts such as the DIFC Gate Village, Al Quoz and Bastikya, especially during Art Dubai, prove that there is a thriving contemporary arts scene; as of course did the size and variety of personalities in the UAE Pavilion delegation, committed enough to travel to Venice. So why did we all go? One level was certainly to support our adopted nation, and celebrate the arrival of our internal arts community on the international stage. As Tirdad’s research in the UAE Pavilion catalogue explains, the world fair has had three eras - industrialization, cultural exchange, and since 1992 nation building. The plans for the UAE are laughably ambitious, utopian indeed – but both the UAE Pavilion and ADACH Platform continued a tradition of de-constructing stereotypes of the Gulf that began with the Dubai Next exhibition at Vitra during Art Basel 2008. Alongside this investigative curatorial practice, it is important that we hold regular showcases of current practice, such as Emerge: Ways of Worldmaking by Zayed University (see interview in this journal). The exhibition is a simple expose of the best young artwork being produced in the UAE with little pomp and circumstance; and I encourage all future visitors to Venice this summer to make the 5 minute vaporetto journey (number 20 from San Zaccaria) to San Servolo.


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