Art in the Middle East

Foment of the moment

Even at art fairs democracy is hard to sweep under the carpet
Mar 24th 2011 | DUBAI AND SHARJAH | From The Economist print edition

THE citizens of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) do not enjoy a vote but they relish a bit of artistic agitation. Earlier this month, Art Dubai, a fair, coincided with the preview of a sprawling group show, the Sharjah Biennial. In the lush ballrooms of Dubais Madinat Jumeirah hotel, around 80 galleries from more than 30 countries exhibited their wares. A half-hour drive north, in the bookish, alcohol-free emirate of Sharjah, three curators had installed the work of artists from 36 nations in a range of ruins and cultural heritage buildings as part of a show called Plot for a Biennial. For a short while the two emirates were the hub of the contemporary art world. On March 14th, as the shows were about to open, the political unrest sweeping the Middle East drew in the UAE. Along with Saudi Arabia, the Emirates sent troops to Bahrain. An uncomfortable question pervaded the art-filled rooms: how do contemporary art and democracy connect? The answer is not entirely obvious. The offerings at Art Dubai suggested that political art in the Middle East may well fill the void left by the nudes and sexy bachelor-pad art that litter so many fairs elsewhere. A number of galleries showed politicised work and a few even devoted whole stands to the recent uprisings. Artspace, a Dubai gallery that represents many Egyptian artists, changed the concept of its booth at the last minute, opting for colourful representational paintings that its director described as a testament to freedom and the spirit of revolution. This only went so far. The fairs patron is Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid alMaktoum, the ruler of Dubai. In advance of his arrival, a member of his entourage visited every booth to make sure that nothing might cause offence. The censor proved to be more tolerant this year than last, objecting to just one work rather than three. Yet the lone offender said much about UAE sensitivities. Installed on the stand of the Parisian Galerie Hussenot, The Lost Springs by Mounir Fatmi consisted of a row of national flags. Whereas the Tunisian and Egyptian flags were held up by brooms, the other Middle Eastern flags, including those of the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Bahrain, were hung on the wall. The sculpture was wonderfully puzzling. Should old regimes be brushed away? Will the new democracies be cleaner? Despite the ambiguity, Galerie Hussenot was instructed to remove the brooms every time a dignitary walked past.

Up the dusty highway, the Sharjah Biennial also exhibited a range of different political work. The star of the show and a winner of the Sharjah Biennial prize was Imran Qureshi, an artist based in Lahore. Blessings Upon the Land of My Love, a floor painting, evoked the violence of Pakistans troubled parliamentary republic. In a large brick-lined courtyard, Mr Qureshi created a crime sceneat once both horrifying and beautifulin which red paint was used to look like pooling blood or life-affirming foliage. The role of art is not miraculously to right all the wrongs of the world, said Suzanne Cotter, one of the biennials curators. It is about recognising the worlds complexity. A handful of artists who werent exhibiting in the biennial complicated its official opening by distributing flyers bearing the names of the people killed in Bahrain. Public protest is illegal in the UAE but the activists (none of whom was an Emirati) claimed it was an artwork. The local police arrested them before they could make much of an impact. They were questioned for half a day before being released. Jack Persekian, director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, was philosophical about the disruption. Artists, like other intellectuals, question taboos, challenge norms, bring enlightenment, he said. Mr Persekian, who describes himself as a Palestinian-Armenian-American-Arab, is well versed in walking political tightropes. His boss is Hoor Al-Qasimi, the daughter of Sharjahs ruler who, in a gesture of art-world egalitarianism, dropped hersheikha title from her byline in the shows catalogue. She made no comment about the protest, but in her preface to the catalogue she advocated the importance of doubt and the necessity of progress. Much of the art in the biennial tended to whisper rather than shout its democratic leanings. But Strike Oppose, an exhibition at the nearby Barjeel Art Foundation, displayed more confrontational works, including Kader Attias neon piece (see picture above) from the private collection of Sultan Sooud alQassemi. A cousin of Sheikha Hoor, Mr al-Qassemi has never used his sheikh title. Arab artists are in touch with the people, he said. Their work reflects the emotions of the street before state media or government can do so. There was more political art on view in these Emirati shows than you would ever see at the Basel Art Fair or Venice Biennale, some of it even quite strident. Contemporary artists around the world insist on their independence and their right to free speech. These shows marked a change of mood, but in the Middle East the loudest voices may not yet have been heard.

Southeast Asian Artists Look to the Present

SINGAPORE Fourteen old-fashioned childrens school desks are neatly installed in rows. The wooden desktops are carved with barely visible images of contentious events and figures in Thai history that are brought to life when visitors sit down and start rubbing the images with a crayon on paper to reveal them in full. The installation History Class by the Thai conceptual artist Sutee Kunavichayanont was first set up in 2000 at the foot of Bangkoks Democracy Monument to invite people to produce their own history textbooks and reclaim their pasts. The work now takes pride of place in Negotiating Home, History and Nation: Two Decades of Contemporary Art in Southeast Asia 1991-2011, a new exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum that runs through June 26. Its what I would call a quintessential Southeast Asian work because it wasnt designed to be in an exhibition space, but instead to be seen and experienced on the street by ordinary people, said Iola Lenzi, an art critic and guest curator, of the installation. He combines form and concept to perfection, using the familiarity of childrens school desks and wood carving to engage the public. Negotiating Home, History and Nation is an ambitious survey of works by 54 artists from six Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia). It offers a rare chance to experience the diverse yet often related conceptual style and ideological concerns of artists in the region. Some people may think its a show exclusively about political art, but its not, said Ms. Lenzi. It is high on socio-politically engaged works because in my view many of the best artists in the region are making that kind of art. She pointed out that after a complex past characterized by political structures that have included colonialism, dictatorship, autocracy and, finally, democracy many of the regions artists have only recently felt able to address that past openly in their work. In the 1990s, Southeast Asian artists started to use their work to comment on politics and society in a very sophisticated way, Ms. Lenzi continued. There were plenty of political artworks before, but they were pretty literal. These new works incorporate conceptualism and are a lot more subtle in describing the everyday. Among common themes found in the exhibition are the challenge to national power structures and their offshoots cronyism, authoritarianism, abuse of power, racial policies biases as well as investigation of cultural identities. Wayang Legenda Indonesia Baru (2000), an installation by the Indonesian artist Heri Dono, uses Wayang, or shadow puppets, in the shape of various Indonesian islands to represent the diverse nation, which faced a possible breakup after East Timor seceded in 1998.

Executive Toy (2004), by the Malaysian artist Sharon Chin, uses 27 pendulum balls to represent each of Malaysias political parties, the movement of one creating a ripple effect across them all. A glance around Home, History and Nation reveals a preponderance of three-dimensional art, photography and video. This was not due to curatorial bias, Ms. Lenzi said, but because of regional artists predilection for such works. Mr. Kunavichayanont created his 1999 inflatable latex The White Elephant, which lies deflated on the floor, in reaction to the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998. Viewers are invited to inflate the elephant, but the strength required to achieve a full elephant again hints at the economic difficulties ahead. Issues of identity, regional, national, personal or sexual, remain commonplace, unsurprisingly, given that most of these countries have only in the past 60 years emerged from centuries of foreign subjugation, said Valentine Willie, a gallery owner who represents many of the artists in the show. The controversial Thai artist Vasan Sitthikets Committing Suicide Culture: The Only Way Thai Farmers Escape Debt (1995) is an installation of plywood figures hanging by their necks in the midst of rice husks, a visually arresting political statement on Thailands agricultural policy. The Indonesian artist Agus Suwage presents a cabinet filled with books in Give Me More Questions (1997) with a superimposed cutout of a boy crouched in fear. The cabinet is surrounded by curtains with prints of the same boy in different positions, including crouching under the burden of books that are supposed to give him knowledge. Spirituality and the role of religion in a society faced with consumerism, shifting sexual mores and corruption is another theme among many of the works. The Thai artist Kamin Lertchaipraserts Lord Buddha Said if you see Dhamma, you see me (2003-4) is a papier-mch effigy of a walking Buddha made of shredded notes on Thai money sliced horizontally into three parts each presented separately, lining up one behind another. A common thread running through the show is the centrality of faith in our lives, said Mr. Willie, the gallery owner. And how experiments with secular governments have mostly failed, leaving more than half its populations still living in borderline poverty. For the artists in the show, he added, these two central facts are inextricably connected.

What is the Significance of Art

By Jessica Ackerman

Art is such a simple term but it is difficult to define. To a child, art is drawing and coloring. For celebrities, art is acting and entertaining. For designers, art is trend and fashion. The definition of art can be very objective. Different sectors have their own definition of art. They have various standards too. For a mother, the drawings of her children are works of art. For museums, art is the genuine creation of a significant artist in the past. Just like its definition, its significance also varies. There are various forms of art today, and each is important to the artist involved. A good example is a musician. Music is a good example of art. That is why singers are called artists. For a songwriter, each song has a story that he wants the people to hear. For most writers, this is very personal. For various artists, art is way of expressing themselves. You may have seen an abstract oil painting, although you cannot recognize the patterns and strokes of the artists, it is very important for the painter. For him, it represents his emotion and his character. It can symbolize his anger and frustration. However, it can also represent his love and compassion. Anyone who sees it can also use it to represent how they feel. Strokes and colors can evoke certain emotions from other people. This is why most people want to buy pieces of artwork. For others, it represents their dreams. The television today has produced several competitions that opened the doors for various dreamers. There are dancers across the country who lined up to audition because all their life they wanted to dance in front of an audience who appreciates what they can do. Many have gone to school to enhance their skills so that they can be among the best dancers in the world. Like music, dancing is a form of art that can evoke various feelings. Aside from love, dances can also evoke sensuality, excitement, fun, passion, anger, and happiness. Art here is more than entertainment and talent. It is more of touching people lives through their moves and choreography. Today, art also symbolizes comfort. You can see art in many beautiful and comfortable homes. Interior designers are also artists in many ways. They match things to provide a wonderful space for their client. Seeing the overwhelming reactions of their clients gives them satisfaction. To them, that is the most rewarding feeling. Art has also transcended in foods. Many cooks and chefs have proven this. Some maybe predictable but others are like the abstract oil painting. You do not care what is in there as long as you like the taste. For them, being able to feed and satisfy their customers is all that matters. Art is very significant in today's generation. Since it has taken various forms, it has earned the respect of almost all the artists. Musicians respect their instruments. Painters respect their brushes, paints, and canvass. And, chefs respect their ingredients and utensils. Art is significant because of the sense of fulfillment an artist feels every time he finishes a masterpiece.