Photo by Asyrique Asyraf Thevendran/The Gazelle

When thinking of famous cities and their vibrant art scenes, Abu Dhabi does not normally come to mind, nor do Emirati artists generally feature in conversations about up-and-comers in the world of contemporary art. However, that certainly does not mean Abu Dhabi does not have a burgeoning art scene, and, while not as established as the likes of Paris and Florence, the city has an allure and charm of its own.

Hot off the hype from the Abu Dhabi Art festival, the Emirati Expressions: Realised exhibition currently showing at Manarat Al-Saadiyat certainly aims to defy the stereotypes surrounding art in the Arab world. Bringing together six different artists to create works of art, this year’s exhibition attempts to showcase that, while it is still growing, the UAE art scene certainly has potential.

With media spanning canvas, sculpture, print, video and even gold, each exhibition draws the viewer in, while an accompanying paragraph explains the nature of each piece and its significance for both the artist and the wider community.

 

The exhibition starts off with two sets of metal sculptures composed of a variety of interlocking circles created by artist Layla Juma. Emphasizing the idea of twins, both sculptures are almost identical and set at right angles to each other. The sculptures are reproductions of Juma’s original renderings and drawings. Next is an exhibition engulfed in darkness with pools of light streaming from various display cases. “Naked Sweet Potato”, by artist Abdullah Al Saadi, has already been exhibited once at the Emirates Palace. However, the work of art was not yet complete then, as Al Saadi’s original vision called for decorative elements in 18 carat gold. The finalized installation, complete with gold decorative pieces, is now available for viewing.

Further down is a set of canvas paintings by Mohamed Al Mazrouei. The paintings span a variety of subject matters but tend to revolve around the themes of women, perhaps a tribute to his mother who died when he was younger, and Christianity, as one of his parents was Christian while the other practiced Islam.

This painting was sophomore Khadija Toor’s favorite piece.

“He painted images of faces, and I felt that work really resonate with me,” said Toor. “I think he was going through a little [bit] of an identity crisis, because his mother was Christian and his father was Muslim, and I liked his paintings because I felt they were painted with raw emotion.”

“Directions”, by artist Mohammed Kazem, is the first piece that strays from physical art into the realm of video. Visitors to the exhibit step into a dark chamber and are greeted with a 360-degree view of the ocean and a panel on the floor displaying the video’s corresponding GPS coordinates and time of capture. The artist has long had a fixation with GPS coordinates and conceived the idea for the exhibit when he was lost at sea for half an hour on one of his trips.

Freshman Dinara Iskara enjoyed this work.

“My favorite art piece was definitely a tie between the Etisam’s ‘Bubble Freedom’ and Mohammed Kazem’s ‘Walking on Water’ because [Kazem’s] piece is so immersive,” she said. “[I] actually felt the floor swaying beneath my feet.”

Photo by Dorothy Lam/The Gazelle

The exhibit continues with a combination art piece of sculpture, video documentary and photography, depicting artist Etisam Abdulaziz painting a sphere from the inside. The sphere is on display alongside video and pictures of her as she completes her work.

Last but not least, a massive photochromic print covers a wall, depicting what looks like a mountain with a hole through it. This piece, by artist Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, is the only work that wasn’t fully realized. Ibrahim’s work deals mostly with land art. In the rendering reproduced at the exhibit, he imagines a project to create a hole in the mountain that stands in front of his house through which he could view the sun set every day.

The final room contains a small exhibition of the mockups and renderings that artists created in the process of imagining their final pieces. A model of Kazem’s immersive “Walking on Water” piece stands next to various documented collections and part of Al-Saadi’s “Sweet Potato” works while a screen plays a series of interviews with the artists on loop. It is perhaps here that visitors to the exhibition get a true sense of the amount of work and creative energy that went into making the installations.

“I feel like events like Abu Dhabi Art and the exhibition really help in reaching out to people with different interest,” Toor said. “However, I do wish to see more [work by] local non-Emirati artists being displayed.”

Emirati Exhibitions: Realised is showing at Manarat Al-Saadiyat from Oct. 30, 2013 to Jan. 18, 2014, daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Manarat Al-Saadiyat is about a 30 minute, 20 AED cab ride away.