The latest exhibition at NYU Abu Dhabi’s Art Gallery has undergone several transformations since it opened in February.
From its inception, In Real Time has been driven by the concept of change. The exhibition was conceived as a way to ground the gallery’s visitors, staff and exhibiting artists in the present.
There are textile works reflecting on the smallest prison cell in the world, dance performances that give form to draped fabrics, as well as those that invite participants to bake bread or draw. As such, In Real Time inflicts an awareness of the body and its relation to time and space across a spectrum that ranges from discomfort to the numinous.
The exhibition began with artists creating their works at the gallery while reflecting on those of their peers. This was before its opening on February 22. Since then, many of the artists have returned to reactivate the space with performances and interventions. Even visitors have added their own touches to the works on show.
Sometimes only traces of these changes remain. In other instances, they manifested novel attractions within the exhibition – meaning that with every visit, In Real Time offers something new to reflect on.
“I wanted to make a space where we could just be present, and a little bit more responsive,” Maya Allison, founding director of the Art Gallery and chief curator at New York University Abu Dhabi, says. Unlike with other exhibitions, where works are usually left in relative stasis, artists have been free to come back to the space to add to their pieces.
Gozde Ilkin’s Entrusted Ground installation is the latest work to have been altered in some way. It features a series of several soft sculptures that have been made of fabrics the artist sourced from around the world. Arranged across one section of the gallery, the works come together in a sort of landscape.
“I made these pieces in such a way that they can be picked up, mounted on the body, and changed in form,” Ilkin says in the work’s wall text. This sprawling and interactive element of Entrusted Ground was what was highlighted on Wednesday during an artistic intervention spearheaded by Duygu Demir, curator at NYUAD’s Art Gallery.
Three dancers invigorated the installation by moving in between its soft sculptures. They bundled themselves in the textiles and impressed their forms on the draped works. One dancer was cocooned in a blue fabric, then dragged across the space.
Choreographed by Aslı Ozturk, the 40-minute performance rings with the exhibition’s themes of the ephemeral, of metamorphoses and change. It will be held again at 12pm and 5pm on Saturday. The performances will be among the last interventions in the exhibition before it concludes on June 9.
“The show itself is so much about the trace of an artist,” Demir says. “Of bodies being present in a space. Because of the nature of the performance itself, some of the works become inhabited by bodies and they change and transform.”
Entrusted Ground originally came as part of Ilkin's 2022 solo exhibition of the same title in Istanbul. The performance was a key aspect of it. While In Real Time is curated by Allison, Demir says she proposed including Entrusted Ground in the exhibition because of how potently the work reflected on its themes. It also resonates across several other pieces within the exhibition.
These include Haleh Redjaian’s The Trick is to Keep Breathing (II). The work is composed of nails meticulously fitted across several walls within the exhibition. The nails are connected with a fine thread, creating arcs and diagonals that stream across the space like beams of light.
Through its materials and the medium of weaving, there are evident intersections in the methodologies informing Ilkin’s and Redjaian’s works.
Moza Almatrooshi’s The Alphabets of the Baker was not part of the exhibition during the opening. However, there was a wall text that hinted at the work that would come. It was a performance piece that revolved around the act of making bread. The artist, as well as participants, kneaded dough, creating an alphabet of sorts as the bread was shaped. “With every performance a new narrative will be ‘written' using the breads, which will later be consumed by the exhibition visitors,” Almatrooshi writes in the wall text.
Food and storytelling also come together in Take a poiesis capsule with a glass of shadow on an empty stomach by artists Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian. The three artists, who often work as a collective, also created a landscape of sorts with several individual works coming together as a whole. The trio worked with collaborators to create videos, large and vibrant painted floors, metal forms and unfolding boxes. The piece was animated during the exhibition’s opening night with a performance by Butoh dancer Julie Becton Gillum and choreographer Kiori Kawai.
Other key pieces in the exhibition include two of its opening works, both hand-knitted wool pieces by Cristiana de Marchi. The Echo of the Void hangs on the wall as a white square and was woven to the exact dimensions of the smallest prison cell on official record. The title of the work, which in Italian reads Lettere dal Carcere, takes inspiration from a book by philosopher Antonio Gramsci, who was critic of fascism and died due to his prison confinement.
After completing the work in 2021, de Marchi found another, even smaller prison cell that was listed on non-governmental records. Black Square is laid out on the floor. Measuring only 98cm, the square of black wool immediately relays the exhibition’s intent to make visitors keenly aware of the physical space they inhabit.
In Real Time also comes at an important moment in the gallery's history, marking its 10th anniversary. Allison took it as a moment to reflect the gallery’s identity, and what it has to offer in the broader UAE cultural scene. It also addresses the function of an exhibition as a whole.
“In the last 10 years, I've been able to experiment with the exhibitions we can do that nobody else can do,” she says. “We are not a giant museum making a definitive statement. We are also not a commercial gallery that is here to sell. We’re here to tell new art histories and to investigate new curatorial methods, to think about the future of museums and exhibition making.”
In Real Time is running at the NYUAD Art Gallery until June 9
SQUADS
South Africa:
JP Duminy (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, Robbie Frylinck, Beuran Hendricks, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle (wkt), Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi
Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Imrul Kayes, Liton Das (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed
Fixtures
Oct 26: Bloemfontein
Oct 29: Potchefstroom
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Profile
Name: Carzaty
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Launched: 2017
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Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
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As You Were
Liam Gallagher
(Warner Bros)
The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
RESULTS
Bantamweight:
Zia Mashwani (PAK) bt Chris Corton (PHI)
Super lightweight:
Flavio Serafin (BRA) bt Mohammad Al Khatib (JOR)
Super lightweight:
Dwight Brooks (USA) bt Alex Nacfur (BRA)
Bantamweight:
Tariq Ismail (CAN) bt Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Featherweight:
Abdullatip Magomedov (RUS) bt Sulaiman Al Modhyan (KUW)
Middleweight:
Mohammad Fakhreddine (LEB) bt Christofer Silva (BRA)
Middleweight:
Rustam Chsiev (RUS) bt Tarek Suleiman (SYR)
Welterweight:
Khamzat Chimaev (SWE) bt Mzwandile Hlongwa (RSA)
Lightweight:
Alex Martinez (CAN) bt Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)
Welterweight:
Jarrah Al Selawi (JOR) bt Abdoul Abdouraguimov (FRA)
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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