Laila Binbrek On The Evolution Of The National Pavilion UAE At The Venice Biennale
Coordinating Director of the National Pavilion UAE at the Venice Biennale Laila Binbrek discusses Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim representing the UAE at the Venice Biennale 2022 and the pandemic’s influence on the way we perceive architecture
Since 2009, the National Pavilion UAE has presented a diverse series of exhibitions spanning the breadth of the nation’s cultural conversations, from historical to contemporary. These exhibitions and publications have explored everything from early Emirati housing to the concept of playfulness in contemporary art.
Laila Binbrek, the Coordinating Director of the Pavilion, explains how it has changed and evolved in the last nine years. “We feel the context has been set and are now more conscious in engaging with significant global conversations through our exhibitions, presenting distinctively local responses to issues like climate change and belonging that are relevant around the world.” The National Pavilion UAE offers a platform for curators, artists, architects and researchers alike to explore important subjects and further their work and present them on the global stage of the Venice Biennale.
Laila’s role involves helping bring this work to life, overseeing exhibition development, communication strategies, the Venice Internship program and facilitating conversations, engagements and dialogues with partners and the wider network. While each exhibition is a milestone achievement, Laila is especially proud of the legacy of, as she highlights, “The beautifully designed publications that we produce alongside our exhibitions. They expand on the research we do and provide an invaluable resource for the academic and cultural communities.” The 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia was postponed to 2021 and will run from 22 May to 21 November.
Its theme, How will we live together? is more relevant today than ever before. “The 2021 biennale curator, Hashim Sarkis encourages curators to consider how architecture can address global challenges to engage people and communities across increasing social, economic, political and digital divides,” says Laila. “The National Pavilion UAE’s exhibition Wetland is a good example of curators responding to Hashim’s call to address the issues raised around community engagement and collaboration.”
In response, the curators have partnered with specialist teams at New York University Abu Dhabi, the American University of Sharjah and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo), who will contribute to the exhibition’s innovative technical research. “Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto’s research is an example of the UAE’s national spirit of innovation and creativity,” says Laila. “They have drawn inspiration from the sabkhas, which are a distinctively local phenomenon, to demonstrate the significant contribution that the UAE has to make to the global climate change crisis.”
The Wetland research lab in Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue is set to reopen in November. “Visitors can come by to see how Wael and Teramoto’s experimentation is developing and learn more about the process of crystalizing salt and minerals into a building material on par with portland cement.” For 2022, the National Pavilion UAE is moving towards a more artist-led approach to curation in recognition of the strength of the UAE’s artistic community. The selection committee has appointed Emirati artist Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim for the 2022 exhibition and following discussions, the artist chose Maya Allison, one of the leading experts in the contemporary regional art scene, as his curator.
Laila explains why: “Our selection committee found Mohamed to be a very fitting choice. His curiosity inspires him to translate everyday materials into fascinating organic and colourful works that are deeply connected to the unique natural landscape of his home in Khor Fakkan.” Maya’s work at the NYUAD Art Gallery and her various other projects have been instrumental in promoting understanding of the UAE’s artistic heritage since its inception.
Sharing her views on how the pandemic has put forward new challenges for architects, Laila highlights that it has accelerated a pre-existing shift in how we think about architecture, since our daily lives have been transformed. “Architects, designers and urban planners now have to ask what buildings and cities will look like in the years to come, how we use those spaces, how we interact with each other, and how we maintain and build on our communities,” she says. “This shift in thinking will be very much on the agenda for the architecture exhibition in 2021.” nationalpavilionuae.org
From the Winter 2020 issue of Harper’s Bazaar Interiors, The Art Issue