The opening room to the Jameel Arts Centre's Crude sets the stage in the 1950s, when oil was discovered in Iraq -- a moment captured by Latif Al Ani's photographs of the time (on the wall, right). In the centre a mobile by Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeck connects the fine-art patronage of US elites to their political exploits. The shadow of this Calder-like mobile is a map of the major oil fields in Iraq. Along the left-hand wall are Hajra Waheed's found images of oil flares.
A room in the Jameel Arts Centre's Crude showing iridescent sculptures based on oil-bit drills by Monira Al Qadiri (top centre), prints and video by Manal Al Dowayan looking at the life of the "company man" at oil companies in the Gulf (right, along the wall), and glass sculptures made by MJ Whelan that were inspired by Jacques Cousteau's reconnaissance diving work in Abu Dhabi on behalf of British Petroleum.
Raja'a Khalid looks at the at-home comforts that the Arabian-American Oil Company provided for its employees in Saudi, such as a grass-less golf course in the desert.
To make these glass sculptures, the Irish artist MJ Whelan took sand from the same underwater location where Jacques Cousteau dived in his research on behalf of British Petroleum in Abu Dhabi. Whelan waited for lightning to strike the sand to produce the extremely fragile glass objects that he has now on show.
Hassan Sharif's Sandals and Wire (2009) looks at the consumer detritus that follows in the wake of Dubai's new oil economy -- via workers' slippers, themselves made of an oil by-product.
Hajra Waheed’s Plume 1-24, a series of oil flares isolated from their contexts, transform by-products of war into things of beauty, says curator Murtaza Vali.
The opening room to the Jameel Arts Centre's Crude sets the stage in the 1950s, when oil was discovered in Iraq -- a moment captured by Latif Al Ani's photographs of the time (on the wall, right). In the centre a mobile by Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeck connects the fine-art patronage of US elites to their political exploits. The shadow of this Calder-like mobile is a map of the major oil fields in Iraq. Along the left-hand wall are Hajra Waheed's found images of oil flares.
A room in the Jameel Arts Centre's Crude showing iridescent sculptures based on oil-bit drills by Monira Al Qadiri (top centre), prints and video by Manal Al Dowayan looking at the life of the "company man" at oil companies in the Gulf (right, along the wall), and glass sculptures made by MJ Whelan that were inspired by Jacques Cousteau's reconnaissance diving work in Abu Dhabi on behalf of British Petroleum.
Raja'a Khalid looks at the at-home comforts that the Arabian-American Oil Company provided for its employees in Saudi, such as a grass-less golf course in the desert.
To make these glass sculptures, the Irish artist MJ Whelan took sand from the same underwater location where Jacques Cousteau dived in his research on behalf of British Petroleum in Abu Dhabi. Whelan waited for lightning to strike the sand to produce the extremely fragile glass objects that he has now on show.
Hassan Sharif's Sandals and Wire (2009) looks at the consumer detritus that follows in the wake of Dubai's new oil economy -- via workers' slippers, themselves made of an oil by-product.
Hajra Waheed’s Plume 1-24, a series of oil flares isolated from their contexts, transform by-products of war into things of beauty, says curator Murtaza Vali.
The opening room to the Jameel Arts Centre's Crude sets the stage in the 1950s, when oil was discovered in Iraq -- a moment captured by Latif Al Ani's photographs of the time (on the wall, right). In the centre a mobile by Alessandro Balteo-Yazbeck connects the fine-art patronage of US elites to their political exploits. The shadow of this Calder-like mobile is a map of the major oil fields in Iraq. Along the left-hand wall are Hajra Waheed's found images of oil flares.
