Favourite Art Works, Exhibitions and Performances of 2019

ArtPerformance
Written By Hind Mezaina

Here’s a look back at my favourite exhibitions, art works, performances listed in chronological order. I’ve linked each name/title to its website.

RASM: Contemporary Arabic TypoGraphic Posters 2008-2018
Curated by Huda Smitshuijzen Abi Fares (Khatt Foundation)
1971 Design, Sharjah
November 9, 2018 - January 31, 2019

 

Saul Leiter in Leiter, Lynch, Newton: Nudes exhibition
Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin
December 1, 2018 - May 19, 2019

 

Between the Films — A Photo History of the Berlinale
Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin
September 28, 2018 - May 5, 2019

 

Divers by Monira Al Qadiri
ANTIKINO (The Siren’s Echo Chamber)
Silent Green, Berlin
February 6 - March 9, 2019

As part of Antikino (The Siren's Echo Chamber) - Berlinale Forum Expanded in Brussels / Exhibition. 05.09 > 06.10 @Cinema Galeries. For hundreds of years, the economy of the Arabian Gulf was based on decorative pearls, with Al Qadiri’s own grandfather working as a singer on a pearling boat. After the discovery of oil in the twentieth century, a massive transformation took place in the affected societies and this part of history was erased, relegated to popular fiction. The video proposes to bridge that gap through the formal abstraction of color; it follows the movements of synchronized swimmers wearing dichroic body suits akin to the sheen of both pearls and oil, fully choreographed to a traditional pearl-diving song. Synopsis © Arsenal - Institut fûr Film und Videokunst e.V.
 

Kader Attia: The Museum of Emotion
Hayward Gallery, London
February 13 - May 6, 2019

Kader Attia's first UK survey exhibition, The Museum of Emotion, traces several strands of the artist's work from the past two decades. Defining himself as an activist as well as an artist, Attia has over the past twenty years set out to create artworks that engage our capacity for thinking as well as feeling, and provoke what he calls a 'real, fundamental dialogue' about the world in which we live.
 

Bauhaus - Modernism Around the Globe
Willy Brandt Haus, Berlin
January 16 - March 14, 2019
www.bauhausmoderne.org

 

The Filipino Superwoman Band - Performance by Eisa Jocson
Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber
March 7 - June 10, 2019

Photos © Hind Mezaina

 

The Ballad of Special Ops Cody by Michael Rakowitz
Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber
March 7 - June 10, 2019

Excerpt from: Michael Rakowitz The Ballad of Special Ops Cody 2017 HD video, 16:9, sound, color 14:42 min.
 

Once Removed by Lawrence Abu Hamdan
Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber
March 7 - June 10, 2019

Once Removed_Lawrence Abu Hamdan.jpg
 

Studies in Form by Seher Shah and Randhir Singh
Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai
March 7 - June 8, 2019

Seher_Shah_and_Randhir_Singh_Jameel Arts Centre.jpg
 

Altered Inheritances: Home is a Foreign Place 
Ishara Art Foundation, Dubai
March 18 – July 13, 2019

 

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition
Design Museum, London
April 26 - September 15, 2019

 

The Ballad of Sexual Dependency by Nan Goldin
Tate Modern, London
May 1 - 27 October, 2019

 

Bernice Abbott: Portrait of Modernity
Foam, Amsterdam
September 07 — December 01, 2019

 

Brassaï
Foam, Amsterdam
September 13 - December 4, 2019

 

An Oscillating Shadow? by Celeste Rojas Mugica
Unseen, Amsterdam
September 18-20, 2019

An interview with Celeste Rojas Mugica about the series.

 

Nam June Paik
Tate Modern, London
October 17, 2019 - February 9, 2020

Subscribe for weekly films: http://goo.gl/X1ZnEl
 

Letters From the Seventh Cave by Iqra Tanveer
Grey Noise, Dubai
November 18, 2019 – January 9, 2020

 

Set the Controls for the Heart is the Sun by all(zone)
Al Qasimiyah School, Sharjah
Sharjah Architecture Triennial: Rights of a Future Generation
November 9, 2019 - February 20, 2020

Photos © Hind Mezaina

 

Kylie Minogue Concert
Dubai Rugby 7s
December 6, 2019

Photos © Hind Mezaina

 



Hind Mezaina
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My Work and Personal Highlights of 2019