Farah Al Qasimi has been killing it recently. The Emirati artist opened her first solo exhibition in the US earlier this summer entitled List Projects: Farah Al Qasimi.
The show housed the premiere of her first feature film, Um Al Naar, and this month the artist will be bringing her work back to the UAE for the film’s Middle Eastern debut.
Entitled ‘Mother of Fire’ in English, the 40-minute film is an exploration of the supernatural, following a jinn in a reality TV-style monologue. Al Qasimi wanted to examine European influences on the UAE through the film, thus the film is set during the centuries of Portuguese and British colonial rule in the UAE’s northernmost emirate, Ras Al Khaimah.
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In the horror-comedy, the jinn’s monologue touches on societal issues, in particular the spirit expresses concern with the deteriorating powers of tribal knowledge and spirituality in modern-day UAE society.
The film screening is part of Al Qasimi’s third solo show at Dubai’s The Third Line Gallery and will see a number of Al Qasimi’s pieces go on display, including A’s Reflection and Living Room Vape, which plays with the concept of identity and gender through the use of camouflage. Entitled Arrival, the exhibition is one not to miss.
Arrival, September 18 – November 20, The Third Line Gallery, Dubai
