Munira Al Sayegh - Leading to the Middle
Curator's Essay as part of Rays Ripple Residue
On view till April 26, 2025
A ripple effect is the continuing and spreading result of an event or an action. When looked at visually, a ripple effect always has a core actor that anchors the chain reaction. This anchor is the sole, the center, and the initiator. Following the visual pattern, found within a ripple, a map is drawn, one that points to a core, and all that reaches outwards from it. Ultimately it annunciates a reverberation that is continuous in its nature, expansive, and felt. In this vein the exhibition Leading to the Middle, identifies various chain reactions, and their causes over the last ten years. It hones in on the various people, places and publications that allowed for creativity to burgeon as these cores, or causes, and their extensions through varying younger practices, and perspectives that took from the sound of the initial drop that allowed for the ripple to begin. The exhibition title proposes a movement that probes through layers, introducing a motion which pushes forward, and through, to a space that is nested within. Thus framing the nucleuses, as (some) of the most important forces that shaped my personal understanding of the creative landscape, allowing my practice to be one of many that followed suit. The exhibition highlights pivotal moments within these years in the United Arab Emirates, through my personal perspective as an active observer, and participant in the creative field.
The nature of a ripple is delicate, webbed, and time sensitive; it is a sudden interruption of stillness that lives on. A cocoon of sorts forms around the movement while the core spreads outwards and a growth of the creative community is depicted:– a safe space that echoes in its sound of growth, togetherness, and continuity. Leading to the Middle visualises a lived truth, one that was steady, and at times small, but intentional, contrasting the usual headlines of fast, big, top-down approaches to culture and creativity that dominated the stereotypical or mainstream narratives, popular both locally and internationally, about the UAE. The exhibition highlights these sensitivities through three key actors or anchors: places, people, and publications. Within places, it highlights the beginning years of Art Dubai, and in particular the Artists-in-Residence Program in collaboration with the Delfina Foundation, Bait 15, and the power of recurring exhibitions like Emirati Expressions that was organized by the Department of Culture and Tourism.
It also presents the practices of artists such as Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim and the late Tarek Al-Ghoussein who were important creative actors from the past ten years. The third and final part of the exhibition is a space for independent publications, such as WTD and E11, highlighting the role of research and writing as significant points of reference. Throughout the exhibition the ethos of the grassroots communities and practices from the last decade is firmly threaded.
Although not a permanent space, the reverberations of Art Dubai were plenty when looking at the last decade. An art fair to some, and a gathering space for many, every edition of Art Dubai, which took place in the spring, brought with it a moment for local, regional, and international creatives to convene. Every year the fair culminated in new collaborations, discussions and conversations that were shaped by the fair’s themes or frameworks. The Artists-in-Residence Program (A.i.R) Dubai, which was a collaborative effort between Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Art Dubai, and Tashkeel, brought together Emirati and international artists and curators. It gathered expertise and resources from arts organisations in the UAE and the UK to support international exchange through artistic research, production and residencies, and promoted international discourse and exposure in the UAE through open studios, educational activities, and new commissions as part of Art Dubai Projects.
My first curatorial job was as assistant curator of the program in 2015. The space allocated to the residency was in a traditional heritage home in old Dubai, then known as Al Bastakiya, now known as Al Fahaidi. Of the participating artists, was Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, who occupied the roof studio, a small indoor room right after the steps up, with ample outdoor space. Ibrahim introduced the history of the conceptual art movement led by the late Hassan Sharif, through stories of his practice, and its growth. Here, he shared insights on a ripple effect he had experienced through Sharif and their wider community. In parallel, I was experiencing a new ripple that he had instigated through these retellings. He spoke of the Sand Castle, an informal gathering that took place in an outdoor meeting point which brought together writers, visual artists, thinkers and their likes for an evening of exchange that enriched all the practices which were being brought to life throughout the night. He recounted many stories, and my awe focused on the importance of the bind that these creatives shared. There was a spillover of thought, which resulted in a cross-pollination of production between the group. A style was born, and through the past decade that same style became a vital reference point to the making of the lived contemporary art history. Throughout this time, he would talk about the importance of instigating dialogue, between all that surrounds a person and him or herself. There was a togetherness that seemed vital with a foundation based on discussions. Ibrahim produced two works during this residency, both based on ideas of exchange. In relation to the exhibition Rays, Ripples, Residue, his work on view titled Fresh and Salt, was made during this time. Ibrahim collected black stones that he purchased in the surrounding souk which originated from a fresh body of water. Meanwhile he also collected coral stones from his hometown Khorfakkan which were bound by copper wires. Initially, I would watch him quietly, until eventually once a good number of these bound stones had amassed. I asked him why he chose the copper, instead of another threadlike material. He continued to answer that copper is an instigator, and regardless of the visible, and molecular differences these stones have, when they are paired together in this way, a conversation is forged, one that erases the boundaries of labels, and introduces the possibility that comes with the nature of hybridity. As a pioneer, Ibrahim has shaped many generations of artists. In its initial community driven approach, Art Dubai quickly became a place that fostered depth within the creative community, from one spring season, to the next.
Consistency through annual visual exhibitions, creates a continuity of thought and practice. An annual or recurring exhibition maps the subtle changes that amount from year to year within creative practices that are rooted to a particular place and time. Exhibitions of this nature begin to become spaces that punctuate a cultural landscape. Within themselves they become hubs that carry narratives and ideas that mirror their surrounding landscapes and climates. In 2009, Emirati Expressions, a recurring commissioned exhibition by Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism (then called the Tourism and Culture Authority), was introduced under the creative leadership of Stephen Shore, JR, and the late Tarek Al-Ghoussein. Initially established as a group photography exhibition by Emirati artists, surrounding a particular theme, the exhibition evolved into one that allowed for all practices, responding to a curatorial prompt. In its fourth edition, the exhibition, titled Emirati Expressions IV: Convention of Arts, was looking into the social and cultural clubs of Abu Dhabi, as anchor places of gathering, exchange, and reach, since the initiation of the United Arab Emirates for various demographics. The exhibition showcased 15 artists, who researched the many clubs that dotted the capital Emirate, including places like the then closed Cultural Foundation, the India Social Center, and the Officers club, amongst many others. These social clubs were safe spaces for people to gather, creating ample social ties, and allowing for cultural discourse to crossover. They occupied different neighborhoods of Abu Dhabi, and became core places for those that undulate in and around them. This exhibition showcased the dynamism found within social and cultural fabrics, another example of ripples taking place. Continuing in on these ripples become the responses of the participating artists, redressing these places through the particularity of their own perspectives. As one of the commissioned participants, Lamya Gargash photographed these places of gathering, in their unoccupied moments. The result captured a rare emptiness of a space that in its natural state would have been heavily occupied. The works are a series that depict moments of stillness in an otherwise loud and busy space. Under the umbrella of “place”, Gargash’s series brings to life the impact of social spaces and their reach while also highlighting the importance of a recurring exhibition, on the contemporary cultural scene.
In 2017, Bait 15 launched. A villa transformed into an art space in a quiet Abu Dhabi residential neighborhood, founded by the artists Hashel Al Lamki, Afra Al Dhaheri, and Maitha Abdulla. The house was initially occupied by the artist Mohammed Al Mazroui, a painter, sculptor and poet. Alongside this, plenty of conversations took place inside those walls. In its launch, Bait 15 transitioned from a private to a public space, from a home for one, to a home for many. A creative space in its essence, it quickly became a staple communal stop for any and all creatives and those who surround them. With the three founding artists having their permanent studios there, the rest of the house was utilized as an open space for the budding creative community. The house became a core instigator, setting off a series of ripple effects. It emerged as part of a chain reaction sparked by the impact of the Shaikha bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship. The collective was later joined by Zuhoor Al Sayegh in 2020, who was also part of the fellowship program. The program fostered spaces for gathering, production, exchange, and togetherness, and even after completion, the artists sought to continue building a similar environment for the creative community. The house introduced a new and dynamic pulse to the United Arab Emirates.
In 2019, the NOW section was introduced by Art Dubai, as a means to show the public a more nuanced narrative around the UAE’s creative landscape by highlighting grassroots-led initiatives, creative spaces, and collectives that were not governmentally or commercially initiated. The goal of this new section in the fair was to propose a counterweight to the narrative around the art scene, being something that is imported, or seasonal. The first edition titled, UAE Now, which I founded and curated, attempted to bring to life these shared spaces and therefore showcase the importance of these emergent voices. The exhibition highlighted the depth of these organisations and their place in the evolving landscape, bringing to the fore the contribution of grassroots platforms and the underground in creating new ways of thinking, both as theory and as artistic movements.The participating platforms include Bait 15, Banat Collective, Jaffat el Aqlam, PAC (Public Art Collective), and Daftar Asfar. Each platform was invited to activate its allocated space to showcase its practices in an inclusive and interactive manner, fostering opportunities for cross-pollination between the participants and Art Dubai’s audience.Although each of these self-organizing platforms had their own dedicated booth, they shared a central programming space that encouraged active dialogue and featured talks, workshops, and performances. This central space by Bait 15, acted as a main host for these aforementioned programs, surrounded by the other participant’s stalls. The founders of Bait 15 were prompted to explore the idea of what it meant to create a safe and welcoming space, and what that could look like in translation.They decided to create an intimate and inviting installation which was simply a queen sized bed with a white base and an uncovered mattress, on a carpeted floor. A neon sign hung on a farther wall that read Bait 15 lit in a particular shade of green. This bed became a nucleus of the ripple effect taking place within that particular segment of Art Dubai. It hosted talks that were both preplanned and organic, anchoring all those that were in their surroundings within this open space. The exhibition here at 421, Leading to the Middle, recreates the Bait 15 bed with the same neon sign, depicting that intimate, unassuming middle point.
The second line of the triangle, anchors people and highlights them as core game changers to any ecosystem. People can become places too, in the sense that they can be grounds that are fertile and allow for growth for those they are surrounded by. The intellectual and creative weight of certain people becomes extremely important as they teach and influence generations, and in turn learn from them. Here, a person can single handedly become a catalyst of development and expansion; a sole or singular contributor to a major ripple effect. As earlier mentioned, there have been beacons that illuminate the paths for many, such as the late Hassan Sharif, to his surrounding community and Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, to the present generations. Alongside them is the late Tarek Al-Ghoussein, a teacher and friend to many, who also instigated a ripple effect that continued to expand even after his passing due to his wealth of knowledge, generosity, and care. Al-Ghoussein’s life is central to the Leading to the Middle and in many ways, remains the middle, centered space that I return to within my practice, and was the impetus for this section of the exhibition.
The anchoring body of work that is shown, is a part of his Odysseus series, the final series he worked on, and the final series he had exhibited before his passing. This exhibition was showcased at 421, then known as Warehouse421, in 2018. This solo exhibition was titled after the series, introducing an audience to his latest body of work, a photographic undertaking that had the intention of mapping out all of the two hundred plus islands of Abu Dhabi. The works aimed to bring to life a social understanding of these islands, and the role of body and place. The images were hung simply, between the same walls where they hang today. Bringing this body of work back to 421 allows for a full circle moment that articulates Al-Ghoussein’s impact. By presenting this photographic series in conversation with work by a new generation of artists who have been studying his practice closely, we can see his ripple effect clearly. The artists presented as part of his ripple effect are Adele Bea Cipste, Lamya Gargash, Auguste Nomeikaite, and Khaled Esguerra, although this is not a comprehensive or final list of all the artists influenced by Al-Ghoussein. Multidisciplinary artist Adele Bea Cipste’s series, Exercises in not seeing, aims to immerse the viewer in a state reminiscent of experiences in natural environments. As a student in her undergraduate years at New York University Abu Dhabi, she was taught by Al-Ghoussein, and during this time his perspectives quickly became foundational to her practice. With a focus on the sea, inspired by this latest series of photographs, Cipste continues to consider the subject of body and place. Lamya Gargash, was also a student of Al-Ghoussein, during his tenure at the American University of Sharjah. Although initially mentioned under the umbrella of exhibition as place, Gargash’s practice can extend into this web of intricacies. Al-Ghoussein shaped her conceptual thinking and her work pointed to various elements from his practice. Auguste Nomeikaite, was also taught and influenced by Al-Ghoussein. Nomeikaite shows a series titled On Foraging: From the Field, a photographic series initially commissioned as research for On Foraging: Food Knowledge and Environmental Imaginaries in the UAE’s Landscape, a 200-page book and large-scale group exhibition of the same title first shown at the Expo 2020 UAE Pavilion (2021) and later at 421 (2022). The series observes the agricultural environments across the country, mapping places and the social structures that evolve from them. Alongside this series is a newer work by the artist titled Feral Matters (MiZa Emerging) based on the artist's research that looks at the reclamation of nature within an otherwise urbanized environment. The exhibition also includes the work of Khaled Esguerra, who is the only artist in the group who was not formally taught by Al-Ghoussein as a professor but still recalls Al-Ghoussein's practice. Esguerra’s practice binds the politics of place, with an emphasis on understanding private spaces, and their evolution. The work references Al-Ghoussein’s Al Sawaber series, a photographic documentation of the evolution of a government housing complex. The showcased series titled, 1501, 308 Al Hisn Street documents the artist's body rooted into the empty apartment he and his family once occupied.
Finally, the exhibition features a selection of publications that are central to this movement and expanse. It is in the act of studying and writing that practices remain alive and within reach for generations to come. The publication becomes a place to understand, to answer questions, and a place to instigate curiosity. Punctuating the exhibition are independently published texts including E11, Brownbook and WTD, which highlight the role of writers and thinkers in the arts ecosystem alongside their visual counterparts. Furthermore publications such as Hassan Sharif Works [1973-2011], I am the single work artist, Between Sunrise & Sunset, But We Cannot See Them, 1980 - Today, and Tarek Al-Ghoussein, In Absentia, help further understand key practices, that have been discussed above in this essay, as core actors to growth, expansion, and creativity. This section of the exhibition invites visitors to immerse themselves into the presented set of publications in a moment of encouraged curiosity.
Leading to the Middle is an exhibition that explores the depths that come in the intricacies of human relationships. The exhibition portrays the spillovers between people, places and publications, and how at times they could be understood interchangeably. The physical behavior of the ripple effect leads the conversation throughout the exhibition while rooting these three sides through visual references. It aims to direct the viewers' physical movements throughout the space, by anchoring the exhibition with a center point that grows out. The metaphor behind the ripple is one that celebrates the impact of a single action onto many through time. It highlights the importance of networks and their delicateness. Through an autobiographical and spectatorial approach this exhibition defines various pivotal moments that have shaped the last decade of the art ecosystem.