Asma Belhamar
Marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Arab Emirates, Between the Sky and the Earth: Contemporary Art from the UAE brings together 12 artists reflecting the diverse contemporary art ecosystem in the UAE today. With roots in the Gulf, the Levant, Southeast Asia, and the United States, the artists — all of whom now call the UAE home — challenge standard narratives about the Emirates through an intergenerational dialogue exploring their social, cultural, and natural landscapes.
Through works focusing on subjects like the environment, consumerism, and the impact of rapid urbanization, the featured artists explore themes of permanence and transience, time and memory. In the process, they offer a sample of the multi-faceted community of practitioners contributing to the UAE’s dynamic cultural output on the occasion of its Golden Jubilee — the community that shares the space Between the Sky and the Earth.
Asma Belhamar’s work explores the phenomenon of the 'megastructure' in the UAE and confronts the visual memory of local landscapes. Her design-based practice reflects her interest in surface and pattern design. She makes fabric and paper wall installations, experimenting with printing and projection techniques in her construction of three-dimensional structures. Informed by her interdisciplinary background in art and design, her wide range of approaches and materials offer a theoretical perspective on the architectural languages and aesthetic practices within the built environment.