Art Dubai Modern: Talks With Galleries

by Sophie She

Art Dubai Modern: Talks With Galleries

2 Mar 2024

Art Dubai Modern, curated by Dr Christianna Bonin, delves into the roots of art history and creates a great educational space where visitors can explore historical pieces shaping today's Global South.

Some context: starting in the 1960s, the Soviet Union fostered cultural exchange with the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, fostering shared experiences among artists, filmmakers, musicians, and architects.

This Art Dubai pavilion highlights diverse artistic voices from places like Uganda, Syria, Ukraine, and Sri Lanka, emphasising connections across geographical borders. It also explores cities like Kyiv, Baku, and Almaty as emerging hubs for international artistic exchange during this era, shedding light on previously understudied aspects of art history from these regions.

Afriart Gallery, Uganda

Samuel Kakaire works. Instagram: @smartglossy_

Speaker: Daudi Karungi, gallery director

— Daudi, could you please give us some context about Samuel Kakaire oeuvre?

— Sure. Samuel Kakaire earned a Master's Degree in Fine Arts from the Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design, St Petersburg, Russia, in 1989. Kakaire, specialising in tempera, oil, and watercolours, introduced a unique phenomenon by practising Russian icon painting in Uganda. Kakaire's work can be characterised by a limited palette and attention to detail, reflecting miniature and large-scale mural painting. Though rooted in Russian icon painting, Kakaire adapts the visual language to express distinctly Ugandan themes, deviating from its original religious context.

— What do you think people feel when looking at his paintings?

— So, Samuel uses the icon painting technique to depict local scenes, his contemporary scenes at the time. I think these works give an insight into the life of artists and where they come from. Whether they are using a technique that comes from another place so foreign, like Russia, it is really neither here nor there. So I think it just gives people an insight into the cultures of the artists, explaining the absence of barriers and borders for them.

— If you could pick three words to describe his practice, what would they be?

— Real, raw, rare.

Saskia Fernando Gallery, Sri Lanka

Chandraguptha Thenuwara, "Mother and Child", 1999

Speaker: Vishnu Prasad, gallery assistant

— Could you please tell me a little background of the piece?

— The artist, Chandraguptha Thenuwara, is from Sri Lanka. He was born in Colombo in 1960. He studied art at Surikov State Art Institute, Moscow, Russia (1985–1992). So, Chandraguptha is definitely an art activist addressing many conflicts in recent Sri Lankan history.

Through art, he is trying to call for a remembering of the past to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

This is the prime piece [points at "Mother and Child", 1999]. The idea is a memento — a lot of mothers lost their children during the civil conflict. Thus, you see a mother clutching and looking at a child against a backdrop of military camouflage. And if you look closely, you can see figures of people and weapons arising from it. He has transferred the same subject towards ink on paper [points at Covert 45, 2022]. Here, you can see silhouettes of mother and child against a backdrop of barbed wire and lotuses, a particular kind of lotus, which is the symbol of the ruling party of then Sri Lanka, and a silhouette of a lion's tail, which is considered a symbol of Sri Lankan nationalism. As you move forward, you can see that the mother and child are fading, and there is barbed wire and basically the effects of war still remaining, even after the conflict has been resolved.

— And how do you think it makes one feel when looking at these pieces?

— I think, especially now, it is more relevant than ever. It is basically addressing a very poor human living condition, existentialism, and needing enough attention, even when there is a lot of coverage and everything in the world right now.

— Could you try to summarise his practice in three words?

— Revolutionary, confrontational and interdisciplinary.

Voloshyn Gallery, Ukraine/the USA

Fedir Tetianych, "Wonderworld", 1970s

Speaker: Anna Kopylova, gallerist

— Anna, can you please tell us briefly about the artist who is represented here today?

— We will present 70s and 80s graphics of Fedir Tetianych, the artist from Kyiv. His pieces are about his passion for nature. He created a sort of biosphere and then applied it to the arts. Very innovative artist. We can see his reflection on the Cold War and the Second World War theme — there is an image of the dove of peace.

— If you were to wrap up all the work in three words, what would those words be?

— I think it is innovation, memory and time.

Gazelli Art House, the UK/Azerbaijan

Agil Abdullayev, "Segregated Safari" (1), 2024

Speaker: Agil Abdullayev, the artist

— Where does the main inspiration come from?

— I am researching gender and the representation of identity in the media and how the media, in a way, controls it. My practice is also very semi-biographical. I am taking everything from my childhood memories.

I used to grow up with lots of imaginary friends and alter egos because I was, let's say, an outcast in Azerbaijani society. It was very conservative for me. My work is basically about exploring the identity representation, how it has been shaped, and how it is going on today. I do it by combining my own biography, childhood memories, diaries and essays.

— Was there any specific emotion you were aiming at when creating?

— I hope they do see what was happening to me. I am trying to create this narrative of the hyper possibilities, like how we can see futurism not only as a philosophy but also as a methodology of it, like how we can approach it. And I think that is maybe the best thing I can hope for — when the audience is looking at my work, they will see there is a better future in the world.

— How would you summarise your oeuvre in three works?

— Identity, representation, childhood.

by Sophie She