Saraab - solo exhibition of Cai Guo-qiang at the Arab Museum of Own Art in Qatar

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

China and the Arab world have a thousand-year tradition of cooperation - they were united by the Great Silk Road, through which the circulation of goods and the mutual penetration of cultures went. This cultural collaboration continues today. An example of this is a personal exhibition Saraab (Mirage) Chinese artist Cai Guo-qiang at the Arab Museum of Own Art in Qatar. In his works, the master tried to create symbiosis of Chinese and Arab culture … Installation Endless (Infinity) represents two traditional Chinese fishing boats installed in one of the halls of the museum. This hall is filled with fog in order to create the illusion of a large space around (how can you not remember the work of Olafur Elliason!), But at the same time a feeling of peace and tranquility.

Painting 99 horses depicts nearly a hundred Arabian horses racing through the desert under the bright sun on a hot day. They are made of gold, which symbolizes their great value - both tangible and intangible.

In the painting Route, a traditional nautical chart has been created in a vast area on the floor. Moreover, all its lines and details are drawn with gunpowder. After all, as you know, it is China that is the birthplace of this explosive mixture.

The Fragile painting is enormous - 8 meters long and 3 meters wide. It is made of many identical porcelain elements, on which the Arabic script is applied using gunpowder using the calligraphy method.

The installation Homecoming is dedicated to the Arab community in the Chinese city of Guangzhou. It consists of several dozen tombstones with the names of the deceased, written on them in Arabic letters. An artificially created wind blowing from the courtyard of the museum towards its atrium symbolizes the return of the souls of the dead to their homeland.

Outside the walls of the Museum, as part of the Saraab exhibition, from time to time a series of explosions takes place, which is an artistic act called the Black Ceremony. These explosions create curly clouds that take the form of circles, triangles, squares, which are of great importance in Arab culture.