My Work and Personal Highlights of 2020
I started the year thinking about collectivity after I was selected to be one of the participants to attend IFFR Sessions in Rotterdam in January. It was a 5 day program of discussions with artists, writers, filmmakers and curators around the theme of “Collectivity”. Each day, a filmmaker/artist collective was invited to present their work and I was introduced to different ideas about what it means to be part of a collective, be it with a group or as an individual collaborating and with other people/organisations.
It made me look forward to finding ways to implement some of the ideas back in Dubai. But alas, by March, COVID-19 took over our lives and the rest of year took a very different course.
Seeing a lack of a global collective action to fight this virus, and countries like USA and the UK not even taking it seriously for the first few months, made me realise if a pandemic can’t unite the world, then nothing ever will. Instead of this pandemic being an opportunity for co-operation and knowledge sharing, the world is still experiencing social injustices and economic disparities. Whilst I’m thankful the UAE is one of the countries that acted fast in the early days to contain this virus, the number of daily cases here is still in the 1000s and most recently on the rise. More and more people are coming to Dubai to escape lockdowns in their countries and it seems like the party season in December carried on in many venues and public warnings about safety and precautions aren’t consistently enforced. By now I’ve just realised it’s down to individuals to take responsibility and if you can be surrounded by similar minded people, that’s a bonus.
I’ve been spending more time alone, going to the cinema, my favourite cafes, taking long drives or going for long walks. I’ve been discovering (and at times, re-discovering) parts of Dubai I’ve not been to, but I also feel alienated here, more than ever before. I’d normally try and fix this by travelling to take a break from being here. I now realise it has been a band-aid solution. Since travel hasn’t been an option since March, I’ve been confronted with these feelings that I have yet to resolve.
The following words said at the end of Nenad by Mladen Bundalo, a short film I watched recently about “nostalgia for the homeland and dreams of a better life and the dilemmas about leaving your country”, really hit home:
In the end there are three options.
1. Accept crony capitalism and play the game of the ruling party hoping for personal benefits.
2. Ignore politics, get involved in personal projects, work online and grow a vegetable garden.
3. Leave the country for a place where you are not conditioned to choose the first or the second option.
What to do?
I’ve been able to work on a few projects that has helped me try and process the alienation I’ve been feeling and I hope to get a chance to do more in the new year. It’s also been a tough year in terms of keeping in touch with friends and people in general, and I hope to improve this too. But I feel lucky and grateful to be surrounded by family, which made days feel less lonely, especially my brother who was a good companion for laughs, venting, and for ‘keeping receipts’ as he would say about the UAE art world. There’s been a noticeable case of cultural amnesia lately, especially when it comes to claims of being the first or the only, or not giving credit not where credit is due. I hope to write about all of this some day.
In the meantime, let’s not forget about the pandemic and keep following the safety guidelines and be mindful of people around you and keep your distance. It’s easily the least we can all do to help fight it, collectively. I wish you a safe, healthy and sheltered new year.
A list of personal highlights and things I worked on in 2020:
January:
February:
Programmed two film screenings for Louvre Abu Dhabi, part of its Furusiyya: The Art of Chivalry between East and West. I had plans to program more, and was looking forward to working on the Charlie Chaplin exhibition film program, but it all got cancelled because the museum closed its doors in March. Despite re-opening on June 24th, there have been no events and not sure if/when I can have the opportunity to curate film screenings there.
Attended Berlinale, the last film festival I travelled to this year.
March:
Warehouse 421 invited me to moderate a discussion about “Art and Artists in the times of disruption” for its new podcast. You can listen to it here on Warehouse 421’s website, and also on the podcast I co-run, Tea with Culture.
April:
I wrote a long piece titled Culture Bubble in the UAE about the response (or lack of) by the art and culture sectors in the UAE. It got people talking and a few reached out to me to ask how to improve things. There have been some changes since, which I’ll try to write about in the near future. But overall, I still feel very despondent towards the culture sector in Dubai.
I recorded a series of video interviews titled “Stuck at Home”. I invited guests from the culture sector to talk about the different ways they’ve been responding to the pandemic and the lockdown.
I started an online film club, and enjoyed having discussions with a small group of people I’d never met before. It was during the time when cinemas were closed here and I was missing talking about films. When the cinemas re-opened in June, I was happy to go back to the cinema and discontinued the online film club.
June-August:
I curated a film program for Juniper Mind for an online workshop titled Visual Literacy. The 3-part workshop started in April and it was the mental stimulant I needed during the lockdown. For the June and August modules, Kevin Jones, the founder of Juniper Mind, asked me to curate the films that accompanied the readings. It was great to engage with a small group of people from other parts of the world. I included The Viewing Booth by Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, and for our last session, he gracefully accepted my invitation to join us online for a discussion about the film - a top highlight for me this year.
August-November:
I curated film screenings for The Theatre in Mall of the Emirates, and hosted a few post film discussions too which received really good feedback. It was great to have an opportunity to screen films there, many were regional premieres. The venue was closed for two years and I worry might close again. But I hope to host more film screenings there in the new year. Click on links below for details per month:
August program
September program
October program
November program
October:
I introduced the film Overseas by Sung-A Yoon which was screened at Alliance Francaise, part of simultaneous screenings in multiple cities in France and around the world to celebrate the launch of 21st edition of Le mois du film documentaire. A film every single person in the UAE should see.
I interviewed Maryam Wissam Dabbagh for the Tea with Culture podcast about her Library Circles project for Jameel Arts Centre which was about belonging and her relationship with the UAE. A topic I felt many in the country have been thinking about more strongly since the pandemic.
November:
Apart from my Photo Diary series which I carried on doing this year, it was a tough year to produce any new art work. But in the summer I was selected to be one of 3 artists commissioned to make new work for Abu Dhabi Art’s Emerging Artist program. It was the only part of the fair this year that had a physical exhibition in Manarat Al Sadiyat. My work is a video piece titled “A Performance of Valour” and I worked closely with the curator Maya El Khalil for whom I am forever grateful for her support and guidance during this project, and I hope to continue the conversations with her.
I didn’t write about the work on the blog, but you can watch Afra Al Dhaheri, Afra Al Suwaidi and me talk about the work we made, the talk was moderated by Maya El Khalil. The work was presented as a ‘work in progress’ and I hope to share a finalised version soon.
December:
The Culturist’s 11th anniversary. Last year I said I didn’t have a chance to throw a part for the 10th anniversary but “maybe in January”. It didn't happen and sadly no party for the 11th too. Maybe for the 12th if it will be safe to party with friends.
I interviewed A S Hamrah for the Tea with Culture podcast about his book The Earth Dies Streaming, one of my favourite discoveries this year. We had a very long conversation via Zoom about the book, the importance and meaning of cinema, and the challenges it faces by studios driven by capitalism more than artistry. Another top highlight.