Olivia Arthur’s residency exhibition at The Fairmont The Palm

Olivia Arthur, a British documentary photographer and is in Dubai for three months taking part in the first in-house residency programme for Fairmont The Palm Dubai. which is trying to merge art with hospitality.

A untitled image from the Ghost series by Olivia Arthur currently at the Fairmont Hotel as part of a collaboration with the Cuadro Gallery in Dubai. Courtesy Olivia Arthur

Every Thursday afternoon, as the sun begins to go down on another working week, Olivia Arthur collates her art and displays it in the lower lobby of the Fairmont The Palm Dubai. Arthur is a British documentary photographer with the Magnum agency and she is in Dubai for three months taking part in the first in-house residency programme for the new hotel, which is trying to merge art with hospitality. It is a collaboration with Cuadro Gallery in Dubai International Financial Centre, which selected the artist and offers guidance for her throughout her stay.

Cultural tourism

The idea came about last year when the Fairmont group conducted a survey about what its guests wanted from their trip. More than 70 per cent said they choose their travel destinations based on the cultural attractions that are available and more than half said they would be interested in engaging with an artist during their stay. As a result, the art@fairmont programme was born.

“The residency programme is a really important part of our programme,” says Beth McIntyre, the area manager for public relations at the hotel. “We are constantly in touch with our guests about what they want and having Olivia here is great because she is interested in the region and we are open to many different artists as the residency moves forward.”

Photographic narratives

As a documentary photographer, Arthur is interested in telling stories through her art. Last year, she published Jeddah Diaries, which documented three months of her personal experiences in the western Saudi Arabian city and for this residency, she is working on a story inspired by a real event.

“The work that I am doing here takes, as a starting point, the story of the MV Dara, the ship that sank off the coast of the UAE in 1961. When I was doing my research I read a story about someone who believes that his brother, who went missing, is still alive and he is still looking for him.

“This triggered an idea for me. Imagine if someone could have been stranded in the Gulf on an island for 50 years and then if they came to Dubai now, what would they make of it?”

Using this story, Arthur has traversed the city, challenging herself to see it through the eyes of this lost sailor.

Sometimes the images are abstract, capturing the sense of confusion that her character would have and many of them feature fish and sea life because he would have had a close relationship with fish for many years.

The journey of Dubai

While the images reflect the journey of Arthur’s imagined shipwrecked passenger, they also represent the evolution of Dubai.

“We start in the desert and empty scenes of nature and then we come through slowly to the city and urbanisation. I want it to have that feeling because it is his journey but it also represents the journey of the city itself,” she says.

Final destination

When the residency ends in mid-December, Arthur hopes to scuba dive over the wreck of the MV Dara. “It is an interesting way to come around. My character will see the city in all its modernity and then I will document rich, young people who are diving down on this wreck and then the full circle will be ­complete.”

The residency will end with an exhibition of her work and an entire publication that will be displayed in Cuadro next year.