Today's Edition
RABI HAMAMSAH (ABU DHABI)
Throughout the year, the 421 Exhibition Centre’s galleries hosted eight to ten solo and group exhibitions that focus on a range of disciplines, including visual arts, design and architecture, new media, literary arts and publishing, sound and sonic exploration, and performance.
Many of the projects presented are the result of programmes from the Abu Dhabi-based 421 such as the ones on Artistic Development or Curatorial Development and so forth. A number of off-site exhibitions also take place at partner institutions, offering emerging artists and creative practitioners’ access to new audiences and opportunities for engagement.
Artist Asma Belhamar on Monday presented a major body of work inspired by the UAE’s architectural history. Her solo exhibition is characterised by her evolving reflections on culture and national identity.
Belhamar told Aletihad in an interview that she contemplates the country’s history through its man-made landscapes by referencing three scenes from a music video released in the early 70s, titled “Esh Halkom Ya Arab”, by prolific Emirati singer Abdullah Belkhair.
“Each captured scene reflects a different cultural facet from that time. Some scenes in Belkhair’s music video are set in the vibrant Al Hamriya residential neighbourhood by Dubai’s Al Mamzar Beach, and are lensed through a national interpretation of modernity.
“My artworks reflect the concrete structures that feature both Western architecture and neo-Islamic patterns. Other scenes are an emotional mirror of the singer’s heartfelt performance. Set within a studio, the abstract melancholic void is reminiscent of rocky mountains, accented by the presence of two striking red arches bathed in a soft glow of orange and green spotlights,” Belhamar added.
In another location of Belhamar’s solo exhibition, a recognisable tradition of Khaliji music clips is featured, with a close-up view of a bougainvillea tree and a graceful palm tree. These vibrant natural elements, often found in Khaliji family albums and majlis wallpaper murals, embrace viewers with a sense of warmth and nostalgia.
“The musical accompaniment by Egyptian choral singers pays tribute to the golden era of music composition and education in the Arab world, in a way that offers a layer of Pan-Arabist sentiment,” Belhamar explained.
As visitors move through the exhibition space, they encounter the embodiment of the artist’s observations and experiments through a stunning “wall of relief” – an intricate tableau of mountainous rock formations is meticulously etched with neo-Islamic motifs that serve as a powerful visual metaphor for the UAE’s urban fabric, nestled in its natural geography.
“My work captures moments and the essence of time and motion in a tangible form, nodding to the cultural tapestry of the UAE, as it makes its mark on urban and natural environments,” she said. Belhamar encouraged Emirati women to be more involved in arts at all levels, noting that the UAE is facilitating everything to empower women in all fields and the art field is one of them.
“I see that Emirati women can easily be involved in art, as they are involved in all sectors. The UAE government also is empowering women to be part of social, economic, and cultural developments in the UAE,” Belhamar said.
The exhibition narrates the topographic evolution of the UAE, as influenced by Western classical modernity, contemporary traditionalism in Islam, and the historic trade relationships that shaped much of that landscape. Belhamar’s deft interpretation reveals the diversity and fragmentation of the design sensibilities that have made the nation’s aesthetic identity what it is today.
‘My work captures moments and the essence of time and motion in a tangible form...’
