Autumn/Winter programme 2019

Phantom Limb
October 10, 2019-February 15, 2020
Phantom Limb brings together 13 artists and collectives who, through a diverse range of practices, interrogate our lived relationships to material heritage. The works in the show pose pressing questions around the writing of history, the weaponisation of heritage and the construction of myths embedded within material culture, from the circulation of artefacts to the destruction of architectural spaces. These issues are especially charged in the Middle East, where layered realities of colonialisation, war, competing claims of cultural dominance and rapid economic development have made this discourse even more potent.

Featuring works commissioned for this exhibition by Rand Abdul Jabbar, Ali Cherri, Decolonizing Architecture and Benji Boyadgian as well as existing works by Akram Zaatari, Jumana Manna, Pio Abad and Frances Wadsworth Jones, Kader Attia, Théo Mercier, Rayyane Tabet and Khalil Rabah. The exhibition also includes Maps of Defiance, an extensive installation of visual materials, annotated maps, 3D models, and data analysis by research agency Forensic Architecture co-produced by Art Jameel and the V&A.

Prabhakar Pachpute
Until February 15, 2020
One of the most prominent and critically acclaimed Indian artists of his generation, Pachpute has developed a major project for Jameel Arts Centre. Building on the ongoing body of work Sea of Fists, Pachpute’s Artist’s Room is a powerful interpretation of the art of protest, exploring the diverse actions and realities of communities in struggle across India. Pachpute’s large-scale, site-specific installation incorporates murals executed directly onto the gallery walls, plywood cutouts and sculptural elements.

Hassan Khan
November 3, 2019-June 8, 2020
Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park will be the site of a major installation by Hassan Khan, Composition for a Public Park, from the Art Jameel Collection. A previous iteration was shown at the 57th Venice Biennale, where it won the Silver Lion; unfolding in three simultaneous movements across the Park, this edition of Khan’s multi-channel piece includes a spoken libretto recorded by male and female actors in Arabic, Urdu and English. 

Digital Earth Talks
November 7-8, 2019
A collaboration between Art Jameel and Digital Earth, a global research network of artists and scholars exploring technology’s relationship to geopolitics in the 21st century. The free, open event brings together speakers from Africa, Europe and Asia to explore how our understanding of technology and its uses are shaping both global and interpersonal relationships. 

The Library of Unread Books
November 16, 2019-January 31, 2020
Comprised of donations submitted by readers across the UAE, The Library of Unread Books makes its Middle East debut in the Jameel’s Lobby. Initiated by Singapore-based practitioners Heman Chong and Renée Staal, this living reference library comprises books unread by previous owners and now available for the community to browse.

Sarah Abu Abdallah: For the first time in a long time
December 18, 2019-April 11, 2020
Including video, painting, text and installation, Abu Abdallah’s first institutional solo show is an intimate and personal reflection on contemporary modes of online/offline existence. Influenced by the constant flow of imagery and fabrication of personas online, the architecture of domestic space, and pop culture in the Gulf, the exhibition describes a contemporary search for self and belonging. The exhibition combines existing video works with new commissions including a large-scale textile painting and installation of living plants; it is a co-production between Jameel Arts Centre and the Kunstverein Hamburg.

Asunción Molinos Gordo
Winter 2019/Spring 2020
This year’s Artist’s Garden commission is by Asunción Molinos Gordo. Concerned with ideas of interconnectivity, mobility and cohabitation, her installation In Transit: Botany of a Journey is described as a garden created from the seeds ingested by Dubai’s diverse population. Strongly influenced by disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, Molinos Gordo imagines remnants of the city’s diverse international culinary habits making their way from the plate to the city’s central sanitation plant.

Press contact
Sareh Faraj
sareh [​at​] artjameel.org