Reshaping the Narrative of the Desert | Modern Excavations
Introduction
I came here to become a breath within the lungs
A basket of sand
A crispy realization
A research paper
The transformation of nature into civilization, land into the landscape, landscape into text, and text into a social and political tool for producing and reproducing a nation’s cultural identity is a process foundational for our understanding of the desert.
Once the desert is taken outside the territorial context of geopolitics and cultural borders, what we see is an ‘invisible' landscape. Unlike other biomes where the ecology and biodiversity are quite visible, in deserts those factors become untraceable.
This research project aims to trace the intangible factors within the landscape, to understand the invisible engine of the desert. Thereafter, it dismantles the idea of ‘waste land’ and allows the desert to become more than an object of fetishism or an exotic destination.
By listening to the landscape and studying its surfaces, we may curb the territory into a creature beyond those presumptions, focussing on documenting the intangible characteristics and cultural practices that can reshape our relationship to the environment.
Biography
Athoub N. Al Busaily is a Kuwaiti artist, researcher, and art historian currently living in Dubai. Her research investigates the notion of borders, hunting, and the desert environment of Kuwait, often underlined by a tone of irony and the use of visual metaphors. Her works have been exhibited both nationally and internationally including Warehouse421 (Abu Dhabi), The Hub Gallery (Kuwait City), Art Budapest (Budapest). She is currently pursuing an MA in Art History and Museum Studies at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi. Prior to that, she received her BA in Fine Arts from the University of Sharjah.
Stay tuned...
Stay tuned...
Stay tuned...
Stay tuned...