'khalid mezaina, art residency' video interview . 2020 (courtesy of the cultural foundation, abu dhabi)
my first post of 2021! i hope the new year has been off to a good start for everyone...
i'm back in dubai after my three month art residency at the cultural foundation in abu dhabi. it was great escaping dubai for awhile, especially since i've been unable to travel this year due to the pandemic. even though i've been to the capital on many past occasions, this was the first time i lived there for a duration longer than a week. i don't think abu dhabi is the place for me, but i still enjoyed my time there during my three month stay. i enjoyed being a pedestrian as the weather got better, walking around the city to buy materials, taking photographs, grabbing coffee, or just having time to myself away from everything and everyone.
what i enjoyed the most during my time at the capital was working independently in the studio, making work for myself and not prescribed to client briefs or exhibition themes. i was reminded of what it means to have a studio practise – to explore, research and experiment. i took the opportunity to use this residency to expand on my textile practise. my topic of interest stemmed from a lack of dancing in 2020. due to the pandemic, i was unable to go out on weekends and enjoy a night out dancing. i wanted to explore my longing for dance through developing a series of 'dancing masks' – researching club cultures, ceremonial textiles and adornment, and symbolic motifs rooted in islamic art and design. i began finding connecting threads between narratives surrounding dance and club culture with the symbolism behind medieval islamic motifs such as the eight pointed star, a motif adorned everywhere around the cultural foundation.
since the residency was only three months, i still have to complete the series of masks i was working on, and create new ones that i have yet to make. i will share a future post focusing on the masks once finished and documented, explaining what it all means! but i'm so happy with the research i began during my time at the residency, expanding on existing explorations on adornment, talismans and protection, as well as communicating themes on transcendence, rituals, myths, and visibility vs. concealment. these narratives all come from my experiences on the dance floor, the reactions from overlooking surrounders, and the result of a year where i was unable to dance, yet dance music and disco reigned supreme!
i conclude this post by directing you all to watch a short interview shared above, which gives you a little glimpse into my experience at the cultural foundation art residency. be prepared for a lot of colour, and sparkle! i've also shared a few photos below to give you a closer look at some of the materials and processes i was working with, and a shameless portrait of me! all images and videos are courtesy of the cultural foundation, department of culture & tourism, abu dhabi.
i end this post with a few thank you's – thank you team cultural foundation for accepting me into the art residency, to all the artists i met during this experience, and to my close friends that made my stay in abu dhabi a pleasant experience (you know who you are).
'khalid mezaina, art residency' image . 2020 (courtesy of the cultural foundation, abu dhabi)
'khalid mezaina, art residency' image . 2020 (courtesy of the cultural foundation, abu dhabi)
'khalid mezaina, art residency' image . 2020 (courtesy of the cultural foundation, abu dhabi)
'khalid mezaina, art residency' image . 2020 (courtesy of the cultural foundation, abu dhabi)
'khalid mezaina, art residency' image . 2020 (courtesy of the cultural foundation, abu dhabi)
'khalid mezaina, art residency' image . 2020 (courtesy of the cultural foundation, abu dhabi)
'khalid mezaina, art residency' image . 2020 (courtesy of the cultural foundation, abu dhabi)
'khalid mezaina, art residency' image . 2020 (courtesy of the cultural foundation, abu dhabi)
