Lawrie Shabibi is proud to present Symphony a solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist Adel Abidin. Curated by Basak Senova, the exhibition opens on 18 March as part of Dubai's 2013 Art Week. The exhibition also includes an artwork entitled Al Warqaa commissioned by United Arab Emirates based Barjeel Art Foundation.
In March, 2012, at least 90 Iraqi students with 'emo' appearances were stoned to death by religious extremists in Baghdad. Abidin takes this single event and transforms it into an imaginative journey that examines death, the soul's quest for liberation and the tragic price paid in the name of freedom. Symphony is an homage to these young people. The exhibition expands and develops upon his earlier two correlated works - a video and sculpture-based installation (which lends its name to the title of the exhibition) first exhibited at Arter, Istanbul in October 2012. These works process the violent effects of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice that exist in many guises all over the world. Abidin will articulate these two works by adding a large-scale sculptural installation and a video piece at Lawrie Shabibi along with an outdoor photographic work installed on the exterior wall of the gallery.
A book accompanies the exhibition with essays by Arie Amaya-Akkermans, Basak Senova, Daniella Rose King, and Nat Muller.
The Barjeel Art Foundation has generously funded the production of Al-Warqaa. The exhibition has been generously supported by Badr Jafar and Dr. Reem El Mutwalli.
Adel Abidin (1973, Baghdad, Iraq)
Adel Abidin was born in Baghdad in 1973, and currently lives in Helsinki. He has exhibited widely in group and solo exhibitions at renowned galleries and museums worldwide. Amongst his critically acclaimed works are Three Love Songs at Mathaf (Doha), and The Consumption of War, at the Iraq Pavilion of the 54th Venice Biennale. Previous group exhibitions include: the Arab Express group show at the Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (Helsinki); the Centre of Contemporary Art (Salamanca); the 10th Sharjah Biennale; 17th Sydney Biennale; and the 52nd and 54th Venice Biennales. Abidin has had solo exhibitions at L'institut du Monde Arabe (Paris), Arter Gallery (Istanbul), Kunsthalle Winterthur (Winterthur, Switzerland), and the Mead Gallery (Warwick, UK). Participation in upcoming exhibitions includes: the Museum of Anthropology (Vancouver, Canada), and the 10th anniversary exhibition of the Mori Art Museum, where the artist will feature alongside Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, and Jeff Koons.
Basak Senova (1970, Istanbul, Turkey)
Basak Senova is a curator and designer. She studied Literature and Graphic Design (MFA in Graphic Design and Ph.D. in Art, Design and Architecture at Bilkent University) and attended the 7th Curatorial Training Programme of Stichting De Appel, Amsterdam. She has been writing on art, technology and media, initiating and developing projects and curating exhibitions since 1995. Senova is the editor of art-ist 6, Kontrol Online Magazine, Lapses book series, UNCOVERED and Aftermath among other publications. She is an editorial correspondent for ibraaz.org and one of the founding members of NOMAD, as well as the organizer of "ctrl_alt_del" and "Upgrade!Istanbul". Senova was the curator of the Pavilion of Turkey at the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) and lectured as assistant professor at the Faculty of Communication, Kadir Has University, Istanbul (2006-2010). Some of her exhibitions and projects include "Conscious in Coma" (Goethe-Institut, Istanbul, 2006), "Rejection Episodes" (Vooruit Kunstencentrum, Gent, Belgium, 2006), "Unrecorded" (Akbank Sanat, Istanbul, 2008), "Soft Borders" (São Paulo, Brazil, 2010), "Aftermath" (Akbank Sanat, Istanbul, 2012), "UNCOVERED. International Nicosia Airport" project (2010-2013, Cyprus) and "The Move. Adel Abidin. Rosa Barba. Runa Islam" (Arter, Istanbul, 2012). Basak Senova lives in Ankara and works in Istanbul.