SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)
Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, and organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), the 16th edition of Abu Dhabi Art will host its largest edition with 103 galleries representing 31 countries.
The exhibition is taking place on November 20–24 at Manarat Al Saadiyat, curated by Odessa Warren and Carine Harmand, Otra Orilla (Another Shore) offers insights into the connections between Latin America and the Arab world by contemporary artists.
It features artists such as Emilia Estrada, Alia Farid, Francisca Khamis Giacoman, and Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez, alongside a new commission by Mandy El-Sayegh.
Through moving images, textiles, and installations, the artists reflect on diasporic experiences, mapping landscapes, and historical narratives while intertwining personal and collective memory.
The exhibition further delves into shared political and poetic themes, revealing the rich intersections and parallels between Latin American and Arab contexts. The co-curators offered insights into the exhibition's vision and significance.
Warren explains, "We are showcasing five contemporary artists through different media: installation, textile, video, and moving image."
Harmand says the exhibition explores artists' diasporic experiences from the Arab world, particularly Palestine, and their work's themes of memory, reconnection and heritage, examining political, ecological, poetic, and historical connections.
Warren continues, "The significance lies in its focus on the connections between the Arab world and Latin America. These histories of migration to Latin America, particularly the Arab diaspora, are well known, but they have seldom been explored in visual art or contemporary discourse."
She highlighted the show's uniqueness being trilingual, focusing on South-South networks and Latin America-Arab connections.
Harmand said that the exhibition's underlying theme is one of solidarity, reflecting themes of migration, separation and deep connections.
Emilia Estrada, one of the artists featured in the Otra Orilla exhibition at Gateway, shared her thoughts on her art, saying, "My work is called inland is an invention from the shores."
"It is an installation of nine banners, but only eight are on display here, representing the municipalities and cities in Latin America founded under the name Palestina, from Argentina to Guatemala."
"It talks about immigration, occupation and also the experience of South America." Elaborating on her creative process, she explained the materials she used, "This is charcoal with cotton, and this is gold leaf. I usually use this technique in my other works as well. It is my language."
Explaining the use of charcoal and gold in her work, she spoke of the balance between darkness and brightness, as well as the unique behaviour of charcoal on fabric.
"It is about having a conversation between art traditions, visual arts, and how I engage with them," she said.
Estrada's work delves into identity, occupation, and historical narratives, focusing on Palestinians in South America and the role of immigration movements, particularly European ones, in shaping their experiences.