Carbon 12 announces the opening of their new show titled ‘backbone عَـمُـود الفِـقْـرِي’ opening on June 12, 2024. Salasil, a duo of curators, Zainab Hasoon and Sara bin Safwan, has curated this group show. The exhibition will feature works by seven artists: Nour Malas, Alia Hamaoui, Jana Ghalayini, Malik Thomas Jalil Kydd, Kaïs Dhifi, Audrey Large, and Théophile Blandet.
The backbone, composed of vertebrae, discs, joints, soft tissues, nerves, and the spinal cord, is essential for internal strength and connectivity. It embodies our internal worlds and the expansive senses of function and emotion. This concept resonates with the Arabic word “سند” (sanad), meaning someone who has your back, highlighting the backbone’s role in support and connection. The exhibition backbone delves into the complexities and vulnerabilities of these structures, which can be exposed, excavated, or elusive.
salasil invites six artists who incorporate risk and interruption in their work, spanning painting, sculpture, video, sound, and textiles. ‘backbone’ explores how the ‘image,’ whether imagined or felt, can materialise into physical forms, producing outcomes that shift and collapse within a balance of temporal spaces. The interaction between objects and space is dynamic, with each dimension transmitting signals of our presence. The exhibition challenges our senses and nerves, aiming to render the internal and external visible to understand their differences.
Nour Malas employs spontaneous gestures, delving into endless inner voids, and chronicling confrontations and emotions. Alia Hamaoui’s work resembles viewing architectural structures from a moving car, constructing and distorting places that reflect our inner worlds. Malik Thomas Jalil’s textiles, made with natural materials, evoke soft, spectral figures, poetically challenging the viewer to trace his psychological journey. Kais Dhahifi uses engraved aluminium to blend ancient knowledge with futuristic technologies, probing past remnants. Jana Ghalayini’s tapestries, woven using traditional techniques, explore her inner world, aiming to create a tangible presence. Audrey Large and Théophile Blandet question the reliability of vision, using distinct visual languages to explore the concept of the object and its worldview.
About Salasil
Salasil is a future-focused curatorial studio dedicated to care, research, and experimentation. They develop exhibitions, publications, programs, mentorships, and artworks that reimagine narratives, senses, and experiences. Embracing collaboration and dialogue, they explore the multidisciplinary nature of creativity to uncover the endless possibilities in exhibition-making and art creation. Their work highlights the dynamic relationship between curators, artists, and audiences, aiming to foster risk-taking, disruption, and imagination. Salasil has curated ‘Beyond A Reasonable Doubt’ in collaboration with The West Asian North African Women’s Art Library at Reference Point, London, and ‘Crystal Clear’ at Bayt Al Mamzar, Dubai.
Location: Carbon 12, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai
Dates: 12 June – 7 September 2024