Venice Architecture Biennale: Searching for Zen

A sculpture made of Murano glass at Murano island (Courtesy: Noura Alserkal)
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As part of The Art Blog’s series following the interns who are part of the six-month programme at the National Pavilion of the UAE, today we hear from Noura Al Serkal.

She is one of 19 Emiratis and long-term residents of the UAE, who are each spending one month Venice living and working throughout the duration of the exhibition Lest We Forget: Structures of Memory in the UAE at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia.

They are also working alongside eight Italian interns from the Ca’Foscari University in Venice for cultural and language exchange.

Here Noura says:

“My trip to Venice was a time of discoveries. In 31 days, I discovered things about myself that I never knew. And not only about myself, but also about how far I am willing to go for my passion. It was a time of reflection and self-discovery. A time where I was able to be independent and to discover Venice for what it truly is.

Let me take a step back. Most Emiratis live with their families, therefore food, transportation and laundry are usually taken care of. We are used to comfortable amenities and we take things for granted. As soon as I graduated from university, I got swamped with work life. I began drifting from my passion in life. I lost my Zen and I wanted to regain it but I didn’t know how.

Once I stepped foot in Venice, as part of the internship program, I was ecstatic but also cautious. I was going to a country I had never been to, nor did I know the language and I was going with a fellow intern who I had never met before. Everything was new and different and all of a sudden I was not comfortable anymore.

Khaled Al Ameri, a social columnist in The National wrote in an article, “Being comfortable is a life spent living, without truly feeling alive.” Through my journey in Venice, I was uncomfortable and it truly made me alive again.

My senses began to awaken and I rekindled my love for photography and art. I explored the breathtaking islands such as Giudecca with its calmness and tranquility. Burano with its coloured houses and greenery and Murano and its glass sculptures.

I was inspired by the contemporary art found in Punta della Dogana and saw works of one of my favorite fashion photographers, Ivin Penn, in Palazzo Grassi. Also I fell in love with The Spaces of Confinement exhibition in Tre Oci, not only because it was strong work as a whole, but because the topic was about spaces of confinement and that reminded me of when I was in university, and in one of my photojournalism classes when I did a collection of work on woman prisons in Sharjah.

Of course, the icing on the cake was when I experimented with architectural photography, capturing the beauty of the Venetian gothic architecture, which is in stark contrast to the modern architecture of our time.

As the month ended, I want to take everything Venice gave me and apply it back home. To appreciate the small details of life and truly feel alive. This experience tests you as a person in every possible way. A month in Venice might seem like a short period, but even in this short time, I felt a true change and learnt that being uncomfortable is a good thing. Moments where I got to walk in solitude are the ones that made me discover myself, because I got to talk to random people, get lost and have memories along the way.”

* Noura Alserkal works at Sharjah Media Centre as a coordinator of the events calendar. She graduated from the American University of Sharjah with a Bachelor’s degree in Design Management and a minor in Photography. When not working, Noura enjoys photography and designing pieces of jewelry for her business ALMOAG. Follow her adventures in Venice by following @veniceinterns and #veniceinterns on instagram and twitter, as well as her personal accounts, instagram: @nouraalserkal