UAE-based video artists at international fair

Karim Al Husseini, Alaa Edris, and Nermine Hammam, all whose work is part of the Maraya Video Archive, a continuing cultural initiative of the Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah, will show their short videos at London fair, dedicated to video art, experimental film, time-based installations and sculpture.

A still from Kharareef, a short film by the Emirati video artist Alaa Edris, which she describes as a visual documentation of the oral history of the UAE. Courtesy Alaa Edris

Karim Al Husseini, Alaa Edris, and Nermine Hammam, all whose work is part of the Maraya Video Archive, a continuing cultural initiative of the Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah, will show their short videos this week in London. The screenings are part of the Moving Image art fair, which is dedicated to video art, experimental films, time-based installations and sculpture.
Edris, a 27-year-old Emirati, has created a visual documentation of the UAE's oral history titled Kharareef. It is a combination of photography and videos that fuse old footage from British documentaries of the UAE before unification with the artist's personal archives to create a dreamlike composition that explores the notion of memory and fairy tale.
"There are elements of self portrait in there but it is a way of preserving the folk stories of the UAE, the ones that my mother and grandmother grew up with," she says.
Al Husseini's work is Dew Not, a mixed-media animation that reflects upon the subject of Palestinian migration and traces the artist's lineage. 
Hammam's production is Metanoia, a work that emerged after she visited a mental institute in Cairo over three months.
Giuseppe Moscatello, the manager of the Maraya Art Centre, says that the artists' participation at Moving Image underlines the importance of supporting artists from all across the region."Through this wonderful opportunity, we are spreading more awareness about the video makers from this region, who are imposing their presence more and more on the international art scene," he says.
Edris says that any opportunity to show her work outside the UAE is a privilege.
"It is important to present the new generation of emerging Emirati artists to give others an idea of the art scene here." She adds that it was a "growing" experience for her and very encouraging to see the community paying attention to video art.
• Moving Image will take place in Bargehouse, London from Thursday to Sunday. For details, visit www.moving-image.info
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