Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim was 10 years old when he first saw the sun set.
His father had taken him to the old souq in Sharjah which, in the early 1970s, still lay along the shoreline of the Gulf. Through the window of a store, Ibrahim watched the sun sink behind the sea. Dark violets and blues permeated the sky. Oranges melted against the horizon line. Ibrahim was in awe.
Ibrahim had never seen a sunset until that day at the souq. In his native Khor Fakkan, he was used to the city falling into shade in the afternoon, as the rocky Hajar Mountains blocked out the sun. Colours became mute and would continue growing dimmer until the sun set beyond sight.
Decades later, he still cherishes the memory of his first sunset, and says it has had a formative influence on him as an artist. The memory was instrumental in producing his seminal installation, Between Sunrise and Sunset, which was commissioned by the National Pavilion UAE exhibition and featured at the 2022 Venice Biennale.
The work is now on display in the UAE for the first time in an exhibition at the Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah that has been organised with the support of Lawrie Shabibi and the National Pavilion UAE.
While Between Sunrise and Sunset at the Venice Biennale was curated by Maya Allison, executive director at New York University Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, the exhibition is now being curated by Cima Azzam, the curator of Maraya Art Centre.
Between Sunrise and Sunset features three paintings by Ibrahim, but the titular installation is the obvious centrepiece, taking the entirety of the second-floor gallery space.
“When I remembered that sunset, the idea for the installation became clearer to me,” Ibrahim says of the work, adding that he had found it the perfect way to encapsulate the diversity of the UAE, both environmentally and culturally.
“The sunrise in Khor Fakkan and the sunset along the west coast created a kind of curiosity for me. I wanted to understand the distance between them,” he tells The National.
“There is so much variety between that sunrise and sunset. The mountains, the desert, the beaches. Within these distances are groups of people, each with their own customs and traditions. I tried to emphasise these difference in the nature of this work.”
Between Sunrise and Sunset took Ibrahim two years to produce. The installation features 128 sculptural forms, each unique in shape, size and colour. The works have been devised using organic materials, as Ibrahim forms the papier-mache over skeletal frames before using earth, leaves and even coffee and tobacco to add texture to them.
“I try to use natural materials in my work,” he says. “These include leaves, sand, clay, wood and sand. Even water. This created another layer of diversity. Natural materials are a creative accomplice, and I try to work with them by being mindful of the shapes they want to naturally take.”
This was the same ethos he applied to Between Sunrise and Sunset, he says. “If you notice in the works, no two pieces are the same. Yet, there are overlaps. There are colourful works, and black and white works, and organic works. But there are also organic works with a little bit of colour. Black and white sculptures with a dash of colour. I tried to show how nature merges between these two distances. Between East and West. Between sunrise and sunset.”
The sculptures are arranged in a gradient, ranging from more vivid hues to the dulled and monochrome palettes that allude to the night. Some are as tall as a human being. Others are minuscule, barely rising to ankle-height. Some have anthropomorphic qualities – with a limb here or a head there, whereas others bring to mind the shapes of trees. As such, standing in front of the work at the Maraya Art Centre instils a feeling of being in the midst of a surreal forest.
At the 2022 National Pavilion UAE exhibition at the Venice Biennale, the installation was presented on a platform. However, its presentation at Maraya Art Centre is perhaps more faithful to Ibrahim’s original idea.
“I consider this the second version, since this work is shaped by the nature of the place in which it is located,” he says. “While installing the work, I felt that the work was more comfortable here, to be honest. It has room to breathe. It’s also at eye-level.”
The smallest of the works have also been placed at the tail-ends of the installation, unlike in Venice, where they were interspersed within. This creates an overall undulating shape, like a wave or mountain.
Between Sunrise and Sunset has a special place in Ibrahim’s oeuvre. “It took time, effort and attention. It required a return to my childhood, adolescence and even my current old age,” he says with a chuckle. “At the same time, it carries the local heritage.”
Nina Heydemann, director of Maraya Art Centre, says bringing Between Sunrise and Sunset to Sharjah is a homecoming of sorts, bringing the work back to the emirate that inspired the artist.
“It was so beautiful to see his work in Venice,” she says. “It is really one of the highest accolades that you can get as an artist, to represent your country on a global stage with your work, especially with a room-filling installation such as this.”
Yet, the exhibition in Sharjah resonates on a different and equally important level. It gives the opportunity to local audiences who did not see the installation in Venice the chance to experience the seminal work in person.
“I think it's important that we in the UAE witness actually what this work is like, and not just on an international stage,” Heydemann says. “It is really a home-grown work and we would hope that it will find a home in an institution, museum, or perhaps an outdoor version.”
Ibrahim has similar hopes for the installation. Given its scale and subject matter, he says Between Sunrise and Sunset is “meant to be saved for future generations”.
“I hope that museums or institutions will acquire this work to preserve for future generations.”
Between Sunrise and Sunset is running at Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah until August 1
