Middle Eastern Biennials: What Stage Are They At Now?

by Anton Krasilnikov

Middle Eastern Biennials: What Stage Are They At Now?

11 Nov 2024

The art of the Middle East is vast, with an incredible number of talented artists — and, thankfully, the world is starting to notice. But we would love to see these artists highlighted even more because they truly deserve it. Anton Krasilnikov, founder of the DaDa Travel project, spoke with contemporary art curator and cultural theorist Denis Maksimov to discuss the names we should know right now, where Middle Eastern art currently stands on the global art map, and what to expect from the upcoming biennials in Sharjah (from February to June 2025) and Jeddah (from January 25 to May 25, 2025).

— Are biennials in the Middle East recognised in the global art community, or are they not yet?

— The biennials in the Middle East are definitely growing, and their recognition is on the rise because most of these projects are not facing the obstacles that normally are present in Europe and other parts of the world — they are budget constraints.

The ambition in the Middle East is to really mark the region on the map of contemporary art, and they are inviting the most outstanding and interesting curators (like Natasha Ginwala), commissioning the most important and famous artists to make the projects that they would otherwise not be able to realise in any other part of the world. So, the Middle Eastern biennials are definitely worth seeing precisely because of their scale and freedom!

This year, the Sharjah Biennial is curated exclusively by women from the Global South. And the Islamic Arts Biennale is ruled by the director of the Al Thani Collection (the collection belonging to the royal family of Qatar), Amin Jaffer, who is on a mission to elevate the level of the event from the peripheral to really important.

— How has the art market in the Middle East developed in recent years? Is it attractive to international collectors?

— The art market in the Middle East is mostly homegrown, and most of the art fairs that are being organised there, like Art Dubai and Art Fair in Abu Dhabi, are oriented toward the local buyer and local participants as well. So, at the art fair, you would see the international galleries trying to cater to the local clientele and bring forward works that would interest the local collecting community.

Albeit that being said international participation is growing in these art fairs as the hosts are heavily investing in marketing and promotion, inviting more and more collections and art world actors from all over the globe in very preferential conditions.

And despite the fact that local art fairs are still homegrown events, not even close in comparison to Art Basel or Frieze, and they are also rather regional in importance, still international collectors are finding them more and more interesting to attend because they could see the local artists and the works by the international galleries they know, which are specifically catered for this region. It is something that you will never see otherwise in any other place.

International collectors are showing their faces in the region, but they visit mainly for the network. The art market in the Middle East needs time to develop; it is not something that happens overnight, but the ambition is there.

Art Dubai 2024. Installation view. Photo: Spark Media

— How can the work of contemporary artists from Arab countries be characterised in general? Are there any common trends, and if so, what are they?

— I would not say that it is possible to characterise any of the contemporary artists’ works in general, but the common tendencies are split among two main vectors.

The first stands from the group of artists educated in the West, mostly in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in such institutions as the Royal College of Arts or Slade School of Art in London, or Yale or NYU. Those artists are trying to address the issues that are important in the Middle East, such as the agenda of local politics and socioeconomic tensions, through the prism of Western critical methodology.

They are imbuilding the Arab context into critical dialogue and conversation with similar comparative issues in other regions, which definitely plays an important role in normalising the agendas that are often exoticised and being shown as something unique.

The second vector is an attempt to employ the decolonisation theories and to look at the context of Middle Eastern art as something that needs to be separated from the context dictated by New York and London art scene globalities. It is the effort to identify the local authentic ways of artistic expression.

Outside of those two primary vectors, there are a lot of local movements; for example, some of them are trying to reinstate or reframe local craftsmanship in fine arts.

— Contemporary art of Arab countries and contemporary Islamic art — what are their points of intersection?

— The point of the intersection of these two classes of art (if they could be defined in this way) is, of course, the fact that they come from the same region and from the same cultural context. The point of divergence, though, is that contemporary Islamic art stems from the Islamic art tradition: calligraphy, bookmaking, manuscript-making, architecture, and painting, which are the different traditions of the Islamic religion.

While the contemporary art of the Arab countries is mostly focused on the critical attitude to deciphering and analysing the problems of the contemporary arts, visualising and showing the cleavages and the tremors within the social fabric. So, basically, those critical agendas and issues are also only present within what is called Western art or global art. So, I would say that the core difference here is that in contemporary Islamic art, the focus is on reinterpretation of tradition and bringing these traditions into the future, making out the tradition and new forms of expression. While contemporary art is primarily focused on the critical understanding of contemporary reality.

Series of sculptures W.A.B.A.R. by Monira Al Qadiri. Desert X AlUla 2024. Instagram: @moniraism

— Which artists are most interested in working with cultural code?

— I would highlight Monira Al Qadiri from Kuwait and Mounira Al Solh from Lebanon. Sara Rahbar, who works with the presence of American imagery in the Gulf context and her flag works, approaches the subject of American neocolonial and neo-imperial agenda in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Then, of course, there are champions like Palestinian artist Emily Jacir, who, especially in the context of what is happening right now in the Middle East, becomes more and more important with the work that she embarked on more than 20 years ago. And in general, the very positive side of the local art scene is the active participation of the female artists. Most of them studied abroad, but more and more studies were conducted at local universities or subsidiaries of foreign universities, like NYU or Yale in the Gulf.

Finally, the Gulf Cooperation Council works with art futurism and looks at the perspective of contemporary Arab art as a way of imagining an alternative future without having to rely on the global picture of contemporary art presented by Western cultures.

Flag #15, With these eyes; Flag #44, I am the echo of your screams; Flag #57, Justice for all. Source: sararahbar.com

— How are digital platforms and new technologies impacting the Middle East art scene?

— I wouldn’t say that there is very much of a difference between the digital platforms that are being used by artists in the Gulf region and any other different regions. It is still Instagram (the main social network for the artists).

Yet there is one special thing to highlight: the Gulf region, especially Qatari institutions and Emirati institutions, is very much focused on what will happen in the arts next. Therefore, such digital languages like NFTs or any forms of digital art, virtual reality, and augmented reality are definitely ahead of the curve in the region, for example, in Europe or in the United States.

Here, they are on par with the artists in China, for example, who are also trying to use the digital technologies that are becoming available to us with the accelerated speed of technological progress. There are many NFT platforms, and there are special digital art museums that are being founded in the Gulf region as we speak and in Saudi Arabia as well, so that would be a tendency that is interesting to highlight.

— How can a person who is little familiar with Arab culture prepare for a meeting with contemporary art by artists from Arab countries? And is knowledge of the local context necessary — or will it not be difficult for a European viewer familiar with contemporary art in general?

— I would say that actually, the attitude of Tabula Rasa, or just entering the space and looking at art is always the best attitude. I don’t think that you need to prepare heavily to face the context. I would even say that, in many cases, it is actually rather counterproductive because that might instil some sort of bias into the mind of the person who is trying to face a new artistic context. So, I would rather invite you to arrive at events like biennales and art fairs with an open mind, look at things as they are, and learn as you go.

But what definitely could help in relation to understanding and being aware of the Gulf and the general context of the local art is reading the news, being aware of the discourse. Most of the high-quality artists from the area are trying to think through the moment, trying to approach reality and reinterpret the traditions that are alive. Therefore you could definitely pick up a book on the history of the region. You could pick up a book on the history of the 20th century, the history of Western colonialism, the history of Arab movement, for example, the history of liberation of those countries from the colonial mandates. That would definitely help you understand certain fault lines that are being approached in the practice of the artists. And in relation to more traditional context and to Islamic art, we could always look at the just traditions of Islamic aesthetics because the mosques, the manuscripts and the calligraphy are definitely incredibly beautiful, and it is just something that talks to you beyond the intellectual register. And those artists that skillfully and beautifully use and employ the beautiful aesthetic traditions of Islamic art are getting noticed by the collectors and many institutions at the moment.

Islamic Arts Biennale 2023: Dima Srouji; Idris Khan; Muhannad Shono

— What do you need to know about the Biennial in Sharjah and Jeddah, and why do you go there at all?

— I would be so bold to say that it is an even more important intellectual space than the Venice Biennale. It is maybe the smartest biennial in the world at the moment from a critical perspective. The second point, Biennale in Sharjah has a very robust selection committee and a very robust trustee committee that is responsible for creating a really high-quality program that tickles the eye, the brain and the ear as more and more sound art is being presented. And more and more performance art.

And the third, maybe the top point, is that it is maybe the freest from the budget constraints of the biennale creation’s point. It is also incredibly important from a cultural diplomacy point of view. Because it demonstrates the richness and diversity of ambition of that region to become global. And it did manage to become a global event. It is not a regional event. It is the event that reflects and approaches the subjects from a critical perspective that is spared of the specific form of biases that we do know and see within the context of the European events.

Islamic Arts Biennale in Saudi Arabia happens in Jeddah. This event is interesting because it is a primer spot for the rich Islamic art traditions, taking it from the conservative and traditional context of religion into the next generation of something that is becoming transcultural and really global. Secondly, Jeddah itself is an incredibly interesting historic space that was just 10 years ago completely shut off from most possible travellers, so therefore, it saved a lot of both authenticity and a lot of really homegrown uniqueness that I think any visitor would find fascinating. And the third point is that the Jeddah Islamic Arts Biennale is a very young space; it is a “child biennale”, so to speak. Therefore, a lot of things that are happening there are experimental, even in the context of Saudi Arabia. And the experiments happening there are very, very exciting. I feel a lot of excitement for this new chapter in the language of contemporary art that could be opened in the context of Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah.

— Top 5 contemporary Arab artists that experts talk about?

— Monira Al Qadiri. Mounira Al Solh who is representing Lebanon at the Venice Biennale this year. Sara Rahbar. The Gulf Cooperation Council who are the pioneers and the tastemakers of Gulf futurism. Emily Jacir who is doing the work that may be compatible with the diplomatic work of several countries.

— Who is your favourite author and why?

— I don’t really have favourite authors, to be honest. I don’t really think in those categories. I would rather say the most important at the moment, and now and again, I would repeat the name of Emily Jacir and the work that she does in showcasing the existence of the artistic context in Palestine and the importance of showing the rich cultural fabric of the Palestinian culture, as well as the hidden histories of erasure that she brilliantly shows through the multidisciplinary practice of installation art, including, for example, her project in Venice biennale this year, which is called South West Bank pavilion located very close to the Accademia Bridge if you still plan to come to Venice (you have time until November 24th). So Emily Jacir would be the most relevant one to the current moment in my point of view.

Missing out on the coolest events in Dubai? We know where you’ll be in November: The Crowd Test Festival — the very first Art and Music Festival by The Sandy Times.

The lineup is incredible: Mainline Magic Orchestra from Spain, Eden Burns from New Zealand, and a lot of your favourite DJs like Hani J, Hassan Alwan, Bazzzuk, and more.

Mark your calendar, snag your tickets, and get ready: November 16, 2024, from 5 PM to 3 AM at Monkey Bar, Dubai.

by Anton Krasilnikov

Middle Eastern Biennials: What Stage Are They At Now?

11 Nov 2024

Tickets are available here

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