Art Jameel, an organisation that supports artists and creative communities, announces the opening of ‘Short Circuits’, Beirut-born and Dubai-based artist Vikram Divecha’s first survey exhibition, retracing his practice over the past decade. The exhibition features playful and poetic site-specific installations, video works, photography and drawings that engage with the UAE’s urban and social histories, and includes new commissions, loans from international museums and local collectors, plus works in the Art Jameel Collection.
Developing long-term collaborations with workers, contractors and decision-makers, Divecha takes an interest in the otherwise invisible structures of planning, construction, demolition and maintenance that shape the cities of the UAE and beyond, attempting to reveal the untold stories inherent in the everyday. He often works with the materials, space and labour available to him, relying on what he calls “found processes” in which he inserts himself, observing how individuals navigate, experiment with and bypass these systems. Divecha’s collaborators are integral to each project, informing not only his practice but also, in certain cases, actively contributing to the artwork’s creation.
Dawn Ross, Head of Collections at Art Jameel, and co-curator of the ‘Short Circuits’, said: “This exhibition stands as a testament to the vibrancy of Vikram Divecha’s practice which is deeply rooted in the local environment and addresses pertinent issues. He is an artist represented in the Art Jameel Collection, which includes more than 170 artists and collectives and is part of Art Jameel’s commitment to documenting and presenting important work by local, regional and international artists. Divecha is a beloved figure within the UAE creative community and we are incredibly proud to be working with artists who are fast rising locally and globally and to provide structural support to bolster their visibility even further.”
‘Short Circuits’ is open to the public from February 1 through June 16, 2024 and will be accompanied by a monograph published in collaboration with Press Works. The preview takes place on Wednesday January 31 and includes a conversation between artist Vikram Divecha and exhibition curators Dawn Ross and Lucas Morin at 6:00 pm. All welcome; registration required here.
Press release from Art Jameel
Image: Vikram Divecha. Miziara Architects. 2014. Still. Image courtesy of the artist and Gallery Isabelle
