National Pavilion UAE director reflects on record-breaking showing at Venice Art Biennale

Almost a third of the biennale's 800,000 visitors took in the UAE's pavilion to experience Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim's work

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  Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim’s installation of 128 sculptures, Between Sunrise and Sunset, at the Venice Biennale's National Pavilion UAE, drew a record number of visitors. All photos: Ismail Noor / National Pavilion UAE

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  Arranged in a thick column in the cavernous Arsenale room, the tree-like sculptures were inspired by Ibrahim's hometown of Khorfakkan

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  The exhibition featured clusters of tree-like forms, which tranisitioned from bright colours at one end of the room to monochromatic sculptures on the other

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  Made of papier-mache, the objects seemed painted but actually gained their colour from the paper used to create them

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  Ibrahim mixed coloured sheaves of paper as a painter mixes paint, and also incorporated everyday, organic material from around him — leaves from trees in his garden in Khorfakkan, tobacco, tea, coffee, and even the cardboard packaging from toys which his grandchildren would save for him

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  Curated by Maya Allison, executive director and chief curator of NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, the exhibition presented a major new work by a pioneering Emirati artist

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  Bright colours changed into a more desolate landscape of blacks and whites, mirroring the movement of the sun setting over the mountains of Khorfakkan

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  The work, and the performative walk around it, affected the transition from day to night, as seen by the eye

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  In some ways, the sculptures resembled trees and animals, but the artist said they represented neither

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  Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Between Sunrise and Sunset was the UAE's take on the biennale's theme – The Milk of Dreams – exploring the representation of bodies and their metamorphoses, and the connection between bodies and Earth

With more than 800,000 tickets sold, Venice's most recent Biennale Arte shattered its previous records, with attendance up by 35 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels. The National Pavilion UAE, which included an exhibition by Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Between Sunrise and Sunset, drew in more than a third of these guests — setting its own record of 277,203 visitors.

Reflecting the biennale's theme, The Milk of Dreams — questioning the representation of bodies and their metamorphoses, and the connection between bodies and earth — Ibrahim's exhibition included 128 sculptures, exploring the way sunlight traverses over the mountains of his home, Khorfakkan. Together, they form a single work, with biomorphic sculptures clustering together in undulating colour and movement.

Laila Binbrek, director of National Pavilion UAE — La Biennale di Venezia, says the narrative and presentation of Ibrahim's exhibition resonated emotionally with visitors from around the world at the art exhibition.

"Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim has been a practising artist over the last four decades, and is a key member of a group of experimental, conceptual artists who have led the vanguard of the visual art scene in the UAE since the 1980s. He is an artist who has a deep and intimate relationship with his home town of Khorfakkan and this relationship is clearly expressed in all his work," Binbrek tells The National.

Laila Binbrek, director of National Pavilion UAE — La Biennale di Venezia, says the narrative and presentation of Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim's exhibition resonated emotionally with visitors. Pawan Singh / The National

"The exhibition presented at the pavilion is a direct homage to Mohamed’s home town and his ongoing dialogue with the mountains and the light that reflects on it; this relationship was easily relatable to anyone who visited our pavilion."

Binbrek says it is always rewarding to see another story from the UAE being presented on the global platform of La Biennale di Venezia, as the country's creatives stand alongside their international peers. Commissioned by the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and supported by the Ministry of Culture & Youth, the UAE's National Pavilion has a permanent space at the Venice Biennale’s Arsenale — Sale d’Armi.

"Our consistent presence at La Biennale means each year we have an opportunity to build on those untold stories, and this year was no exception. It was interesting to see audiences, who had seen previous UAE pavilions, discover and absorb Mohamed’s work, and in some cases be able to put it in context to the overall story we have been building on over the years."

Binbrek says the success of this year's biennale was a clear indicator of the public's appetite to return and come together again. "The international art exhibition saw 58 national participations, including five from the region, including the Sultanate of Oman in their inaugural participation, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria."

Although the biennale closed last month, National Pavilion UAE is still offering virtual tours of the exhibition online at nationalpavilionuae.org. The pavilion has also released an accompanying publication, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim: Between Sunrise and Sunset / Works 1986-2022, which pieces together years of in-depth research and personal interactions with the artist.

One of the book's editors is the exhibition's curator Maya Allison, executive director and chief curator of the New York University Abu Dhabi Art Gallery. Allison says that the artist's work played a formative role in developing the UAE's "thriving creative scene". "What he has brought to Venice for the UAE Pavilion shows his complete commitment to exploration, curiosity and our interconnectedness through art — the very characteristics that I love about the UAE's art scene," she says.

Maya Allison, executive director and chief curator of the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, with Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim. Photo: Augustine Paredes / National Pavilion UAE La Biennale Di Venezia

Ibrahim, meanwhile, says it was a great honour to represent his country at "one of the most international and prestigious platforms for the arts".

"It was a huge responsibility to have my work act as a conduit through which the world could see the diversity and dynamism of the Emirati arts scene.

"I chose to highlight my authenticity in my artwork to encourage the next generation of artists in the UAE to embrace their originality and never lose their individuality as they go on to become the future of arts in the Emirates."

Cecilia Alemani, who curated the wider biennale, says it was a challenge organising the event during the pandemic. "I have conceived this exhibition remotely, with hundreds of studio visits done on Zoom with artists from all over the world. Very few artists were able to come and do site visits," Alemani says.

"Nobody knew if the artworks would get to Venice on time. Even if now things seem to have returned to a sort of normalcy, we all know it was an extraordinary period and that it took more than two years to get to this point. The fact that this exhibition could open on time back in April is still somewhat miraculous."

Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim's works draw from the landscape of Khorfakkan. Photo: John Varghese / National Pavilion UAE La Biennale di Venezia

Alemani says the 800,000 visitors "demonstrate that art has the power to foster participation, and that after so many months of isolation, people want to celebrate and see art in person, in a joyful and communal experience shared with many friends, families, colleagues and art lovers".

"In times like this, as the history of La Biennale di Venezia clearly shows, art and artists can help us imagine new modes of coexistence and infinite new possibilities of transformation.”

Now that Biennale Arte is over, Binbrek says the UAE Pavilion is excited about the coming architectural biennale.

"We look forward to next year’s exhibition at Biennale Architettura 2023, which will be curated by Faysal Tabbarah, associate dean and associate professor of architecture at the American University of Sharjah. Tabbarah and his team aim to explore the relationship between architecture and arid landscapes in the UAE and reimagine them as spaces of abundance and productivity.”

Scroll through images of this year's Biennale Arte below

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  The sculpture 'Anonymous' is part of the Sovereignty exhibition at the Venice Art Biennale, featuring works by US artist Simone Leigh at the US pavilion. Leigh was awarded the Golden Lion for the best presentation. EPA

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  Simone Leigh's sculpture of an eyeless African-American woman, surrounded by Cuban artist Belkis Ayon's prints of a secret Afro-Cuban society in the main exhibition The Milk of Dreams. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Francis Alys’ 'The Name of the Game' at the Belgian pavilion. Photo: Roberto Ruiz

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  Textiles, and their evocations of craft and slow, painstaking labour, were an important theme, as was spirituality. Both came together in Myrlande Constant's Voodoo flags. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Brazilian artist Solange Pessoa paints creatures on the verge of transformation in 'Sonhiferas, I, 2020', on view in the Arsenale. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Visitors take in Pessoa's work. EPA

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  The Milk of Dreams had several 'capsule' shows. One of the best explored the work of female surrealists, or women whose work can be considered in line with Surrealism, such as the Algerian artist Baya Mahieddine. Photo: Marco Cappelletti

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  Belkis Ayon's prints document the secret Afro-Cuban society known as Abakua. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Cecilia Alemani, the Italian curator of the 59th Venice Art Biennale. AFP

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  The Milk of Dreams is notable for its wide geographical representation. In the Arsenale, the late US artist Ficre Ghebreyesus shows memories of his youth in Asmara, Eritrea. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  In the section focused on organic forms, this installation by Ruth Asawa is called 'A Leaf a Gourd a Shell a Net a Bag a Sling a Sack a Bottle a Pot a Box a Container'. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Visitors at Asawa's installation. AFP

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  Delcy Morelos' 'Earthly Paradise, 2022', fills the cavernous Arsenale with packed, redolent earth. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Monira Al Qadiri's drill bits, 'Orbital, 2022', resemble a trio of sci-fi temples. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  A video and collage by Lynn Hershman Leeson, who connects digital culture to new modes of identity. Cyborgs and digital art are a major sub-theme of the Venice Art Biennale. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Veteran New York artist Barbara Kruger has been given a whole room to fill with her cutting proclamations on politics and social responsibilities. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Portia Zvavahera creates oil-based stencils on linen, in invocations of animals and subjects. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Lebanese artist Ali Cherri's 'Titans, 2022', resemble gods made from the earth itself. Photo: Roberto Marossi

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  Visitors look at the 'Untitled' installation by Lebanese artist Ali Cherri. EPA