ARTIM lecture: Gulf Futurism, Modernity and the Female Gaze by Lesley Gray

22 Jun 17

YARAT is pleased to invite you to the lecture Gulf Futurism, Modernity and the Female Gaze by Lesley Gray at ARTIM.

In the rapidly developing cities in the Arab Persian Gulf, time is in flux. The massive influx of oil revenues during the recent energy boom has facilitated development on an unprecedented scale. The breakneck speed in which the cities are being constructed, the rapid creation of cultural and art institutions, and the almost complete destruction of the pre-oil landscape have created an atmosphere where time carries great symbolic value and an idealized future is a panacea to the disorder of the present. However, all of this development comes with a great social and environmental price. Gulf Futurism is a dialectical lens through which female artists in particular reconcile contemporary time with the past and future. These artists interrogate modernity and the idealized future through their work, using performance, video and literature to reinterpret the unbridled optimism of modern development through a female prism focusing on the hidden and often ignored consequences of modernity in the Gulf, specifically environmental destruction and cultural erosion. This talk will focus on modernity through the eyes of female artists in the Gulf region and consider the alternative futures that they foresee and caution against in their work.

Lesley Gray is an arts and culture researcher based in Doha, Qatar and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In addition to her undergraduate and graduate work in anthropology and art history, she holds an MA in Museum and Gallery Practice from University College London Qatar and previously worked in fine arts higher education in Qatar. She is completing a PhD in Museum Studies at University College London (2019). In addition to her academic work, Lesley is a regular contributor to ArtAsiaPacific magazine for the Arabian Gulf and Central Asia and is a freelance writer and editor for various other regional art projects. Professionally, she works as a researcher for exhibitions and cultural projects throughout the Arabian Gulf.

The lecutre is part of the exhibition BOYS DON’T CRY by ARTIM Project Space.

Date: 22nd of June, 7 pm
Address: ARTIM Project Space
Old City (Icherisheher) Boyuk Gala Street 30, 001A
Admission is free