My Work and Personal Highlights of 2021

It’s been tough navigating a second year of the pandemic, and just when many of us thought things are looking up, the fast spreading Omicron variant makes it feel like we’ve gone back to square one, only this time more people are vaccinated. The numbers in the UAE are rising like everywhere else, and who knows what lies ahead in the coming months.

I normally use this time of the year to look back at what I did, and to remind myself of personal achievements. I’ve also been thinking about how I’ve not been writing here as much as I used to, and rethinking the purpose of this blog. I recently listened to Jason Kottke on Design Matters podcast where he talks about his blog kottke.org, which he started in 1998 and is considered to be “one of the oldest blogs on the web”. Debbie Millman read his first entry from March 1998:

Why?
posted by Jason Kottke Mar 14, 1998

I decided I needed to start writing things down. Because I forget. Because I think better and feel better when I write. I used to write often but got away from it. So here it is again. But you ask: “Jason, why not keep a private diary?” Because I’d never keep up a private diary…I need to force myself to write this. So, I made it into content. Since it’s content, I feel obligated to keep it up-to-date.

See these games I have to play with myself?


I worry about forgetting, and I also worry about cultural collective forgetfulness here in the UAE. Which is why I suppose I started this blog in the first place, to feature and highlight cultural activities that don’t get attention, to comment on things that need to be addressed and also write about the work I do. But during the past few years I found myself not thrilled about the majority of cultural activities happening here and also not having the capacity, or maybe just the discipline, to write. Although this year I did manage to have some of my writing published elsewhere (more on that below), but I do want to return to writing more here. I know blogging sounds extremely passé, but it’s my way of creating a record of what I think about and the work I do. So that I don’t forget.


Looking back, I feel I was more productive and a bit more active compared to last year, I also took up swimming and was also able to travel a few times. Cinemas in Dubai remained open, so that kept me going too. But perhaps my personal biggest achievement this year was setting up a studio space for me, having my first solo exhibition, and curating a small film festival. More on all of this plus all the things I worked can be read below.

 


January and February:

  • During these two months I was finding and setting up my new studio space and preparing for my exhibition at Tashkeel in June.

 

March:

  • Two films were programmed by me for The Theatre in Mall of the Emirates (after a series of films I curated for there since last August, THE FURNACE (Roderick Mackay) and AMERICAN UTOPIA (Spike Lee). It’s a lovely theatre and I wish more film screenings can take place there, but the management is more interested in renting the space for pantomimes and stand up comedy.

  • Film director Nawaf Al Janahi invited me to have an online conversation about my work for Silverline Community, a platform for creative and cultural experts to network and exchange ideas and knowledge “to improve the economic value of their ideas”.

 

April:

  • My Dubai Gardens installation was part of Total Landscaping exhibition curated by Murtuza Vali for Warehouse 421.
    ”Curated by Murtaza Vali, Total Landscaping investigates the ways in which plant life is commonly understood, encountered, represented and consumed in the Gulf, and within similar emergent urban
    formations across the global south. It focuses in on instances when the unruly vitality of flora
    is arrested in the service of capitalism and politics, a process that abstracts and reduces it to
    a color, a verb and an image.” 

  • Part 1 of my 3 part essay “An Incomplete History of UAE Cinema” was published. It was commissioned and edited by Kevin Jones for Alserkal Avenue’s revamped website.

 

  • Tell Me More, a podcast presented by Liz McEnaney and 8 year old Spatika about Dubai was launched, and I was one of the guests on their first episode about Dubai World Trade Center. Talking to an 8 year old about Dubai was a lot more fun and engaging compared to lots of adults I know here. Look at the handwritten questions he sent me beforehand. Adorable.

    “Our first episode looks at Dubai’s first skyscraper -- Dubai World Trade Center. This 33-story building might seem tiny today compared to the more than 160-story Burj Khalifa and other super tall buildings.

    But, when DWTC opened in 1979, it was the tallest tower in the Middle East and it sent a signal to the rest of the world that Dubai was open for business.

    Spatika and Liz had a lot of questions about DWTC so they talked to some experts to find out the answers. Listen as architect and writer Todd Reisz, photographer Hind Mezaina, and DWTC’s first employee
    Guy Guillemard TELL US MORE.”

 

June:

  • Part 2 of An Incomplete History of UAE Cinemas was published.

  • I started a new film series titled PLACES/FACES at Alliance Francaise in Dubai, showing films about cities and people and inviting guest speakers for post screening discussions. Doing this helps me show films that I think are important and need to be seen by more people, and an opportunity to think about these films publicly with an audience. I am very thankful to Mélanie Martini- Maree, Director of Alliance Francaise for giving me the space to do this and for her constant support.

  • I curated the 3rd edition of Cine-MAS, Manarat Al Saadiyat’s “alternative film festival”. It ran for a week and I curated a series of double bills everyday with invited guest speakers for post screening discussions. It was such a pleasurable experience putting this festival together, and a rare occasion where the management was in full support of ideas and the films I presented. A special shout out goes to Rana Ragheb Chaker and Farah Bushnaq for their support.

 

July:

  • I travelled for the first time since March 2020 and went to Bologna for Il Cinema Ritrovato. It was good to be back there.

  • I participated in an exquisite corpse film project instigated and coordinated by Cameron Quevedo in January. I was one of an international group of 25 artists and filmmakers where we each made a short film in a specific order, and in response to that was filmed before it was each one’s turn. It was a lovely collaborative project. The end result was two short film, Hypnagogia 1 and Hypnagogia 2. My contribution can be found in the second one.

 

August:

 

September:

  • Dubai Culture launched a new series highlighting creative voices in Dubai which included me. It features photos by Farel Bisotto, video interview filmed by Toby Plummer and text by Larayb Abrar - produced and creative direction by Sole DXB. It was filmed over two very hot days in July and includes my thoughts on Dubai, my photography and my film curation.
    “I like to look at the ordinary, the mundane, the day-to-day. And I feel that the international
    narrative of the city gets caught up with the spectacular, the shiny, the new and the tall,
    while the history and roots of the city are overlooked."

  • I travelled for the second time this year, I attended the Venice International Film Festival. It was my first time and felt like it was a perfect end of summer break because of its beach resort location. I also went back to Bologna for a few days and spent my birthday on a train ride to Torino.

 

October:

  • I interviewed Todd Reisz for Tea with Culture the podcast (it was the only episode I recorded this year - Wael Hattar and I are aiming to get back to podcasting in the coming year *fingers crossed*).
    The interview was about his book Showpiece City and a photography exhibition he curated for Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai titled Off Centre/On Stage, accompanied by a book with the same title.

  • I was one of several speakers at Split-Second Histories, an event accompanying Off Centre/On Stage at Jameel Art Centre.
    “Several longtime residents of Dubai will join Todd Reisz, curator of the exhibition, to look
    closely at a selection of the photographs. Their shared observations will expand the exhibition’s
    themes by instilling the images with diverse and personal perspectives on living in a photogenic city. Participants are invited to listen, reflect and respond to the themes and searches at hand.”

  • I was invited to present my photo series Wonder Land alongside Noora Al Neyadi’s Eyes Stories photography project, followed by a discussion between the two of us about our works. The talk was titled “Between Movement and Pause: The Visual Archaeology of a Pandemic” and it was organised and hosted by Sharjah Art Foundation for its photo exhibition Vantage Point Sharjah 9.

  • I travelled again, this time I went to Vienna to attend Viennale 2021. It was my fourth visit to Vienna and my first for the film festival. I had missed my usual autumn trips to Europe pre-covid, so I very much cherished my time there.

 
 
 
MusingsHind MezainaMy Work and Personal Highlights of 2021Comment