E-Issue 07 –– AUH
Winter 2023-24

January 29th, 2024



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in Abu Dhabi/Dubai
  3. Cover Interview: Shaikha Al Ketbi on Darawan
  4. Rapport: Public Art in the Gulf and a Case Study of Manar Abu Dhabi
  5. Hashel Al Lamki’s Survey Exhibition Maqam Reflects on a Decade of Practice in Abu Dhabi
  6. “You Can’t Stand on a Movement”: Michelangelo Pistoletto Interviews Benton Interviewing Pistoletto

E-07++
Winter/Spring 2024



About ––

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    Contributors
    Contact

Interviews ––

    Selected Archive

Open Call ––

    Policy
    E-08 Seoul

Newsletter ––




Chronological Archive ––

    Selected Archive

Artist Interview November 18th, 2016
AUH Raed Yassin in Abu Dhabi

Editorial March 1st, 2018
AUH Abu Dhabi Is The New Calabasas

Exhibition Listing May 22nd, 2018
DXB Christopher Benton: If We Don't Reclaim Our History, The Sand Will

Artist Interview June 15th, 2018
TYO An Interview with BIEN, a Rising Japanese Artist

Artist Interview July 17th, 2018
TYO Rintaro Fuse on Selfies and Cave Painting

Artist Interview August 28th, 2018
BER Slavs and Tatars: “Pulling a Thread to Undo The Sweater”

Artist Interview September 1st, 2018
NYC Shirin Neshat In Conversation with Sophie Arni and Ev Zverev

Artist Interview September 1st, 2018
PAR Hottest Spices: Michèle Lamy

E-Issue 01 –– AUH/DXB
Summer 2020

August 1st, 2020



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in the UAE
  3. Pop(Corn): Hashel Al Lamki
  4. Tailoring in Abu Dhabi
  5. Rapport: Dubai
  6. Michael Rakowitz From the Diaspora


E-01++
Fall/Winter 2020-21


Artist Interview August 23rd, 2020
LHR/MCT Hanan Sultan Rhymes Frankincense with Minimalism


Artist Interview August 24th, 2020
DXB Augustine Paredes Taking Up Space

Artist Interview August 26th, 2020
AUH Sarah Almehairi Initiates Conversations

Market Interview August 28th, 2020
AUH/DXB 101 Pioneers Ethical and Curious Art Collecting


Exhibition September 1st, 2020
DXB Alserkal Arts Foundation Presents Mohamed Melehi


Market Interview September 4th, 2020
DXB Meet Tamila Kochkarova Behind ‘No Boys Allowed’


Artist Interview September 7th, 2020
DXB Taaboogah Infuses Comedy Into Khaleeji Menswear

Artist Interview September 10th, 2020
LHR/CAI Alaa Hindia’s Jewelry Revives Egyptian Nostalgia

Curator Interview September 14th, 2020
UAE Tawahadna Introduces MENA Artists to a Global Community

Exhibition Review September 24th, 2020
MIA a_part Gives Artists 36 Hours to React


Artist Interview September 27th, 2020
AUH BAIT 15 Welcomes New Member Zuhoor Al Sayegh

Market Interview October 14th, 2021
DXB Thaely Kicks Off Sustainable Sneakers


Exhibition Review October 19th, 2020
DXB Do You See Me How I See You?


Exhibition October 22nd, 2020
TYO James Jarvis Presents Latest Collages at 3110NZ


Exhibition Review October 22nd, 2020
AUH Ogamdo: Crossing a Cultural Highway between Korea and the UAE


Book Review October 28th, 2020
DAM Investigating the Catalogues of the National Museum of Damascus


Exhibition Review November 13th, 2020
DXB
Kanye Says Listen to the Kids: Youth Takeover at Jameel Arts Centre


Exhibition Review November 16th, 2021
DXB Melehi’s Waves Complicate Waving Goodbye


Exhibition Review November 19th, 2020
DXB Spotlight on Dubai Design Week 2020


Exhibition Review November 21st, 2020
DXB 101 Strikes Again with Second Sale at Alserkal Avenue


Exhibition Review
November 23rd, 2020


AUH SEAF Cohort 7 at Warehouse 421


Exhibition Review December 9th, 2020
SHJ Sharjah Art Foundation Jets Ahead on the Flying Saucer


Curator Interview January 25th, 2021
DXB Sa Tahanan Collective Redefines Home for Filipino Artists


Exhibition Review February 21st, 2021
GRV MIA Anywhere Hosts First Virtual Exhibition of Female Chechen Artists  

🎙️GAD Talk Series –– Season 1 2020


November 1st, 2020
1. What is Global Art Daily? 2015 to Now

November 16th, 2020
2. Where is Global Art Daily? An Open Coversation on Migration as Art Practitioners


November 29th, 2020
3. When the Youth Takes Over: Reflecting on the 2020 Jameel Arts Centre Youth Takeover

December 20th, 2020
4. Young Curators in Tokyo: The Making of The 5th Floor

January 27th, 2021
5. How To Create Digital Networks in The Art World?

E-Issue 02 –– NYC
Spring 2021

February 21st, 2021



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in NYC
  3. Pop(Corn): Zeid Jaouni
  4. You Can Take The Girl Out Of The City
  5. Rapport: NYC
  6. Kindergarten Records Discuss The Future of Electronic Music
  7. Sole DXB Brings NY Hip-Hop To Abu Dhabi
  8. Wei Han Finds ‘Home’ In New York
  9. Vikram Divecha: Encounters and Negotiations

E-02++
Spring/Summer 2021

Exhibition Review March 3rd, 2021
DXB There’s a Hurricane at the Foundry


Exhibition Review March 7th, 2021
AUH Re-viewing Contrasts: Hyphenated Spaces at Warehouse421


Curator Interview March 21st, 2021
DXB Permeability and Regional Nodes: Sohrab Hura on Curating Growing Like a Tree at Ishara Art Foundation


Exhibition March 28th, 2021
DXB Alserkal Art Week Top Picks


Exhibition Review April 1st, 2021
DXB A ‘Menu Poem’ and All That Follows


Exhibition Review April 5th, 2021
DXB A Riot Towards Landscapes


Exhibition April 16th, 2021
RUH Noor Riyadh Shines Light on Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Art Strategy


Artist Interview April 26th, 2021
CTU/AUH/YYZ Sabrina Zhao: Between Abu Dhabi, Sichuan, and Toronto


Exhibition Review April 27th, 2021
TYO BIEN Opens Two Solo Exhibitions in Island Japan and Parcel


Artist Interview April 28th, 2021
DXB Ana Escobar: Objects Revisited


Exhibition May 9th, 2021
LDN Fulfilment Services Ltd. Questions Techno-Capitalism on Billboards in London


Artist Interview May 11th, 2021
BAH Mihrab: Mysticism, Devotion, and Geo-Identity


Curator Interview May 20th, 2021
DXB There Is A You In The Cloud You Can’t Delete: A Review of “Age of You” at Jameel Arts Centre

Market Interview May 26th, 2021
TYO Startbahn, Japan’s Leading Art Blockchain Company, Builds a New Art Infrastructure for the Digital Age

Exhibition June 11th, 2021
TYO “Mimicry of Hollows” Opens at The 5th Floor


Exhibiton Review June 20th, 2021
AUH “Total Landscaping”at Warehouse 421


Artist Interview June 30th, 2021
OSA Rintaro Fuse Curates “Silent Category” at Creative Center Osaka


Exhibition Review August 9th, 2021
DXB “After The Beep”: A Review and Some Reflections

E-Issue 03 ––TYO
Fall 2021

October 1st, 2022



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in TYO
  3. Pop(Corn): Nimyu
  4. Ahmad The Japanese: Bady Dalloul on Japan and Belonging
  5. Rapport: Tokyo
  6. Alexandre Taalba Redefines Virtuality at The 5th Floor
  7. Imagining Distant Ecologies in Hypersonic Tokyo: A Review of “Floating Between the Tropical and Glacial Zones”
  8. Ruba Al-Sweel Curates “Garden of e-arthly Delights” at SUMAC Space
  9. Salwa Mikdadi Reflects on the Opening of NYU Abu Dhabi’s Arab Center for the Study of Art

E-03++
Fall/Winter 2021-22


Market Interview October 6th, 2021
RUH HH Prince Fahad Al Saud Discusses Saudi Arabia’s Artistic Renaissance


Exhibition October 7th, 2021
RUH Misk Art Institute’s Annual Flagship Exhibition Explores the Universality of Identity


Curator Interview October 15th, 2021
IST “Once Upon a Time Inconceivable”: A Review and a Conversation


Exhibition Review October 16th, 2021
AUH Woman as a Noun, and a Practice: “As We Gaze Upon Her” at Warehouse421



Exhibition Review February 11th, 2022

Artist Interview February 26th, 2022
TYO Akira Takayama on McDonald’s Radio University, Heterotopia, and Wagner Project


Artist Interview March 10th, 2022
DXB Prepare The Ingredients and Let The Rest Flow: Miramar and Zaid’s “Pure Data” Premieres at Satellite for Quoz Arts Fest 2022


Exhibition March 11th, 2022
DXB Must-See Exhibitions in Dubai - Art Week Edition 2022


Exhibition Review March 14th, 2022
DXB Art Dubai Digital, An Alternative Art World?

E-Issue 04 –– IST
Spring 2022

March 15th, 2022



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in IST
  3. Pop(Corn): Refik Anadol
  4. Rapport: Istanbul
  5. Independent Spaces in Istanbul: Sarp Özer on Operating AVTO

E-04++
Spring/Summer 2022


Curator Interview March 21st, 2022

Market Interview March 28th, 2022
DXB Dubai's Postmodern Architecture: Constructing the Future with 3dr Models


Exhibition April 23rd, 2022
HK Startbahn Presents “Made in Japan 3.0: Defining a New Phy-gital Reality”, an NFT Pop-Up at K11 Art Mall


Exhibition May 6th, 2022
IST
Istanbul’s 5533 Presents Nazlı Khoshkhabar’s “Around and Round”


Artist Interview May 13th, 2022
DXB
“We Are Witnessing History”: Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian On Their Retrospective Exhibition at NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery

Artist Interview June 13th, 2022
DXB “Geometry is Everywhere”: An Interview and Walking Tour of Order of Magnitude, Jitish Kallat’s Solo Exhibition at Dubai’s Ishara Art Foundation


Exhibition June 21st, 2022
DXB Art Jameel Joins The World Weather Network in a Groundbreaking Response to Global Climate Crisis

Exhibition June 27th, 2022
UAE
What’s On in the UAE: Our Top Summer Picks

Curator Interview July 9th, 2022
IST Creating an Artist Books Library in Istanbul: Aslı Özdoyuran on BAS

E-Issue 05 –– VCE
Fall 2022

September 5th, 2022



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in VCE
  3. Pop(Corn): UAE National Pavilion
  4. Rapport: Venice
  5. Zeitgeist of our Time: Füsun Onur for the Turkish Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale
  6. GAD’s Top Picks: National Pavilions
  7. Strangers to the Museum Wall: Kehinde Wiley’s Venice Exhibition Speaks of Violence and Portraiture
  8. Questioning Everyday Life: Alluvium by Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian at OGR Torino in Venice

E-05++
Fall/Winter 2022-23


Market Interview June 28th, 2022
HK
How Pearl Lam Built Her Gallery Between China and Europe


Exhibition November 11th, 2022
TYO
“Atami Blues” Brings Together UAE-Based and Japanese Artists in HOTEL ACAO ANNEX


Exhibition December 2nd, 2022
TYO Wetland Lab Proposes Sustainable Cement Alternative in Tokyo

Artist Interview December 9th, 2022
DXB Navjot Altaf Unpacks Eco-Feminism and Post-Pandemic Reality at Ishara Art Foundation

Artist Interview January 8th, 2023
TYO Shu Yonezawa and the Art of Animation

Artist Interview January 19th, 2023
NYC Reflecting on Her Southwestern Chinese Bai Roots, Peishan Huang Captures Human Traces on Objects and Spaces

Exhibition Review February 9th, 2023
DXB Augustine Paredes Builds His Paradise Home at Gulf Photo Plus

Artist Interview February 22nd, 2023
DXB Persia Beheshti Shares Thoughts on Virtual Worlds and the State of Video Art in Dubai Ahead of Her Screening at Bayt Al Mamzar

E-Issue 06 –– DXB/SHJ
Spring 2023

April 12th, 2023



  1. Editor’s Note
  2. What’s On in the UAE
  3. Pop(Corn): Jumairy
  4. Rapport: Art Dubai 2023
  5. Highlights from Sharjah Biennial 15
  6. Is Time Just an Illusion? A Review of "Notations on Time" at Ishara Art Foundation
  7. Saif Mhaisen and His Community at Bayt AlMamzar









DXB Christopher Joshua Benton to Debut Mubeen, City as Archive at The Third Line Shop in Collaboration with Global Art Daily

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Mark

Do You See Me How I See You?


By Anna Bernice 

Published on October 19, 2020

        This October, Dubai-based artist and curator Christopher Benton opened Do You See Me How I See You? a group exhibition featuring Ahmad Bouholaigah, Ashay Bhave, Augustine Paredes, Esmat Rabi, Layan Attari, Maxime Cramatte, Mohamed Khalid, Rakan Ghresi, Rami Farook, Sultan Khamis Al Remeithi and the curator himself— 11 UAE-based artists from a variety of diasporas and local communities. Hosted at maisan15, a contemporary gallery and restaurant space in Dubai’s Al Barsha South, Benton’s curatorial debut tackles notions of home in the UAE, where transiency and temporariness thrive.


Images courtesy of Christopher Benton and Daniel H. Rey.




Benton’s curatorial debut tackles notions of home in the UAE, where transiency and temporariness thrive.




As a newly relocated Filipino expat to Dubai, entering maisan15 felt like a respite from the 9-to-6 Dubai I have been getting accustomed to. Tucked at the base of Maisan Tower, its homey interior and cozy atmosphere drowned out the zooming noises of Dubai’s revving highways. Passing through its wooden gates felt like entering someone’s home, as if the place had a soul I was getting to know.


Image courtesy of Christopher Benton.



1. Layan Attari (b. Kuwait), 10-20-19A & 10-20-19B, 2019. Archival inkjet print. 90 x 60cm each. 

Upon entrance, a waiter asked if I was there for the show opening; he felt like an old friend greeting me back into his home. He proceeded to offer me a refreshment: a glass of lavender lemonade I sipped through as I perused through Benton’s curation. The 16 works featured in the exhibition perfectly blended into maisan15’s architecture; if not for the labels, I would’ve thought these art pieces lived there. Some of the works were distributed into maisan15’s dining booths, so one could take in the art while grabbing a meal.



If not for the labels, I would’ve thought these art pieces lived there.





2. Artworks from left to right: a) Mohamed Khalid (U.A.E-based), Soap Series, 2020. Ceramic. Dimensions variable. b) Esmat Rabi (U.A.E.-based), Walks with Wugaya, 2019. Fine art print on Hahnemühle. 48.6 cm x 65.5 cm.  c) Esmat Rabi (U.A.E.-based), Friday Lunch, 2018. Fine art print on Hahnemühle. 65.5 cm x 48.6 cm. Image courtesy of Anna Bernice.


In this moment, I couldn’t help but be meta-transported to Sari-Sari Collective’s space in Neukölln, Berlin. In this cafe-turned-performance space, I met Filipino performance artist Pepe Dayaw in the summer of 2019. He had invited me to cook with him during his dinner performance where he told the story of our diaspora. While eating my Baba Ganoush at maisan15, I studied the details of Filipino artist Augustine ParedesPaano mamaluktot kung maikili ang kumot (How to slouch when sleeping). Consuming food while consuming his art transported me to cooking monggo beans with Pepe as we sang Ikaw ang Mamahalin by Martin Nievera in the dawn of a Berlin summer. I was in two places at once: a wave of homesickness rushed through me. I wondered which home I was sick for. Augustine’s image was all too reminiscent of all the transient homes I’ve lived in during the last four years, where the space between my body and the wall was all I could call mine. Augustine’s title reminded me of a Filipino saying my mother would tell me when times became rough; a saying that taught me how to work within my means, a saying used by Filipinos to remind us to make do.


3. Augustine Paredes (b. Philippines), Paano mamaluktot kung maikli ang Kumot, 2018. How to slouch when sleeping. Fine art print on Hahnemühle. 64cm x 49cm, framed. Image courtesy of Anna Bernice.  


With the smell of freshly baked pita bread wafting in the air and the clinking of pots and pans looming in the background, I was drawn to Mohamed Khalid’s Soap Series ceramic sculptures of Lux soaps juxtaposed with Esmat Rabi’s Walks with Wugaya. These works adjacent to each other reminded me of Farah Al Qasimi’s stills from her 2019 exhibition Arrival; to me, all these works spoke of the nostalgia for the UAE that exists beyond the cosmopolitan us expats know, of the life that exists beyond the borders of Dubai and our English-speaking colloquial. As a foreigner, it is a history I am still navigating to access, the kind of UAE I still have to get to know, even after 4 years of living here.



All these works spoke of the nostalgia for the UAE that exists beyond the cosmopolitan us expats know.





4. Mohamed Khalid (U.A.E-based), Soap Series, 2020. Ceramic. Dimensions variable.



This is art in the time of COVID.




In the booth where these works hung, Christopher sat next to me and we chatted about our dual lives as marketeers and artists. We ended up chatting past opening hours in maisan15’s outdoor garden, with other visitors and friends flowing in and out of the discussion. Stripped down and personal, it was a surreal interaction filtered by our face masks, hoping the other could hear what felt like our muffled voices. The echoes of hi’s and hello’s brought a sense of familiarity to the space; here was a community of friends and makers celebrating each other’s art, enchanted by the delight of seeing each other again after being cooped up for so long. This is art in the time of COVID.

5. Ashay Bhave (b. India), Subscriber Identity Module, 2020. Steel. 40 cm x 20 cm. 


Are our phone numbers our identities?




Ashay Bhave joined shortly and talked to me about his 20kg steel piece Subscriber Identity Module. A reference to the Etisalat SIM card he had nestled between his phone case and his phone, the only identity object that tied him back to the UAE while locked down in India during COVID, the piece made me think of the many SIM cards and phone numbers from different cities I’ve had ephemerally tied to me for the last 4 years. Are our phone numbers our identities? I wondered.




6. Christopher Benton (b. U.S.A.), GCC Best Friends, 2017. Japanese kundura fabric. 300 cm x 120 cm. 

Opposite Christopher’s GCC Best Friends is Maxime Cramatte (Satwa3000)’s Shawarma Disco Soundsystem, well photographed by visitors for its localized humor of a shawarma-shaped disco ball emitting light in its rotation. This eclectic ready-made sculpture reflects the transnational migration of Middle Eastern fast food and its intertwined relationship with nightlife; how many times and in how many cities have you had a shawarma at 4am?


How many times and in how many cities have you had a shawarma at 4am?




7. Maxime Crammate (Satwa 3000) (b. Switzerland), Shawarma Disco Soundsystem, 2020. Stainless steel, wood, mirrored disco glass, 150 W speaker. Image courtesy of the artist.

I felt interrogated by Christopher’s wall text adjacent to his print If I could Buy Every Single Home Here, I Would Make for All Nationalities. His curatorial intent was phrased entirely in questions the temporary people of the UAE often ask themselves; it’s like Christopher hijacked my mind and transcribed my thoughts word for word. As I chewed on every stanza, my mind flashed back to 3 am conversations gnawing on the same thoughts: does the UAE feel like home, after 4 years of flying in and out of AUH and DXB? What makes it home, and what doesn’t? Our temporariness in this country and the comfort we feel in this transiency varies.

8. Christopher Benton (b. U.S.A), If I Could Buy Every Single Home Here, I Would Make for All Nationalities, 2018. Inkjet print on vinyl. 100 x 75 cm. Image courtesy of the artist. 


Our temporariness in this country and the comfort we feel in this transiency varies.





9. Maxime Crammate (Satwa 3000) (b. Switzerland), Satwa 3000 Cafétéria, 2019. Fine art print. 90 x 60 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.


The diasporas of the UAE are peppered with nuances and complexities a visitor cannot immediately decipher; I’ve figured that this place becomes home once you’ve confronted this country’s uncomfortable realities. Though 90% of this country’s population are all transient bodies, our identities in this country will indelibly be defined by the identities we held before we set foot here.



This place becomes home once you’ve confronted this country’s uncomfortable realities.





10. Rakan Ghresi, (im palestinian but like im born in america and grew up in canada and half my life lived in dubai just go with palestinian-american, q: why are you trying to rep america? ur right i realized thats dumb, just canada is ok), Are we there yet?, 2020. Still from Video, 5 min.


Do You See Me How I See You? captures the variety of strings that tie us migrants to this place, the nuances of temporary, the nostalgia for what was before and the wonder of what comes next. In sculptures and images that reference the UAE life beyond the façade of glitz and glam, Do You See Me How I See You? instigates conversations around our expiry dates in this country, and how much longer we’d like to be temporary for.

Open till November 15, come get a coffee at maisan15 with a friend and ask, Do You See Me How I See You?



Do You See Me How I See You?





Do You See Me How I See You? continues on view at Dubai’s maisan15. Visitors can access the space daily from 9am to 11pm.

Christopher Benton is a Dubai-based artist, music journalist, and advertising creative director working across photography, film, and installation art. His practice explores the narratives of black and brown people, through its interface with labor and the hypnotic power of the mediated image. Past work has been presented at Jameel Arts Centre, the Fikra Graphic Design Biennial, Alserkal Avenue, and the Dubai Design District.



Anna Bernice is a Filipina multi-disciplinary performance artist, freelance creative consultant and arts/culture resarcher. She has a double B.A. in Theater and Social Research & Public Policy with a focus on Art History from New York University Abu Dhabi, also receiving training at the Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute in NYC. Her emerging career has taken her to Berlin, New York and Prague to collaborate and work with various companies in arts, culture, and social impact.



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