Monira Al Qadiri

Monira Al Qadiri (born 1983) grew up in Kuwait, amid oil refineries and oil fields. Her childhood memories of petro-culture in the Persian Gulf region have influenced her art, where oil is a source not only of planetary crisis, but also of wealth.

The exhibition will let us ponder our complex relationship with petroleum, for example, while walking under giant petrochemical-derived molecules floating in the air or while watching huge drill bits slowly spinning in place. These visually captivating works glow with rainbow colours like patches of oil or glistening pearls. Pearl diving was a major source of livelihood in the region before the oil boom.

Monira Al Qadiri is one of the most important contemporary artists in the Gulf region. She was born in Senegal, grew up in Kuwait, and studied in Japan. Today, she lives and works in Germany.