Painting (Painting)

The painting is composed of nineteenth century linen collected over five years. The pieces started out as offcuts from a large work called Fabaceae, which refers to the carob bean, an African staple found in the rainforest and tropical forests. The artist took these already dyed offcuts and dyed them further and then put them out in the sun to fade.

Photography (Photography)

Farah Al Qasimi’s approach to photography deviates from the norms and conventions of traditional figurative and portrait photography. It’s Not Easy Being Seen 2 is from a series of photographs depicting women who are otherwise unnoticed by the public. In this work, her subject is obscured by a bright, green fabric (also referred to as a morph suit) that uses the concept of green screen technology to conceal identity.

Film & Video (Film & Video)

Um Al Dhabaab (Mother of Fog) by Farah Al Qasimi addresses the myth of Al Qasimi tribe-instigated piracy in the Gulf, perpetuated by the British Empire and upheld by contemporary western academia. This narrative is contested through a fictional retelling of the 1819 siege of Al Dhayah fort and the subsequent Pax Britannica treaty that solidified Britain’s military presence in the Trucial States. Relayed across various locations and times in Ras Al Khaimah through the perspectives of an ancient jinn, the ghost of an Al Qasimi pirate, two RAK-based sisters, a Jack Sparrow impersonator and ship captain, and an 1819 British naval officer, the film challenges Western-centric historiographies of the Gulf and the lingering imperialist interests at play across Asia’s modern-day trade hubs.