Maria Thereza Alves, Wake: The Flight of Birds and People

This project was supported by Alserkal Avenue, and included a site-specific living installation. The project was presented in two parts: Seed Catcher was an installation of plant and rubble which recalled a naturally occurring formation found in Dubai able to catch wayward seeds, located in the main courtyard of Alserkal Avenue; the second part was an indoor exhibition where research, as well as archival and new photographs, drawings and found objects, were exhibited alongside a small garden of non-native plants. Alves has been working since 2001 in different cities around the world on Wake investigating the history of human movement through seeds that remain dormant and plants that are claimed by more than one territory.

Fari Bradley & Chris Weaver, Variations for a Space and its History

A sound and sculptural intervention and performance created when the artists were in-residence at Tashkeel, Dubai. The project was supported by Tashkeel, and took as its premise the site of Madinat Jumeirah and its history and pre-history, manifested as noises that resounded in the space. The artists developed a script sung by a performer each day that referenced the frequencies of the architecture in Madinat Jumeirah. The sculptural element of the installation alluded to the muqarnas, an Islamic architectural motif, representing the vast difference between the physical and acoustic map of a mosque.

Mehreen Murtaza, Deep Earth Object

This project was supported by Alserkal Avenue and included a site-specific installation. Interested in cyberpunk culture and pseudo-science, the artist’s research into UFO sightings in Dubai as well as materials and metals used in Al Quoz, the industrial quarter surrounding Alserkal Avenue, culminated in a spherical sculpture reminiscent of a crashed object of other-worldly origins. Emerging from the ground amid a scene of debris, the object posed the threat of excess as well as a foreboding of catastrophe.

Umashankar and the Earchaeologists, Unsound Evidence

Umashankar and the Earchaeologists, a collective comprised of Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Nida Ghouse and Umashankar Manthravadi, embarked on a two-year ‘acoustic archaeology’ commission. Using Manthravadi’s own experimental ambisonic microphone system, the collective looked at how sound can influence our understanding of ancient—and contemporary—sites, and traveled across India to measure and document these occurrences. The project, supported by the British Council, manifested through an audio essay performed at the fair.

Yazan Khalili, The Island

As part of Art Dubai’s extensive not-for-profit programming, the fair also featured the Art Bar by Absolut, which this year saw Yazan Khalili commissioned to produce a large-scale bar installation.