“As a visual artist, I perceive Dubai’s rapid evolution as a canvas merging urban development and nature’s grandeur,” says Asma Belhamar, the BMW-commissioned artist for Art Dubai 2024. With a keen eye for architecture, Belhamar has meticulously captured Dubai—the desert that has blossomed into a metropolis—in experimental prints, videos, and three-dimensional models and installations.

Belhamar traces her artistic inspiration back to her childhood, when her family took road trips from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah, her home city, every other weekend. “What is happening is happening so fast. When you pass by as a spectator, you witness an ephemeral vision; the construction sites are part of the process of building and change,” she explains. The artist plans to create an experiential installation – with the BMW i7 at its centre – using motion-driven projections to juxtapose the urban streetscape with the serene, monumental presence of nature.

In this film, Belhamar talks about navigating this fast-changing city and how art serves as a means to pause and scrutinise time in motion.