421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi’s independent platform dedicated to supporting emerging creative practices, presents Way of the Forest, a traveling edition of the arts festival Colomboscope. Opening on September 22, the exhibition features the work of 19 artists from South Asia, South West Asia, and Africa.
Taking over Galleries 1 and 2 inside 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi, Way of the Forest converges artistic pathways to rekindle knowledge of interdependence, custodianship, and restorative practices across rainforests, wilderness, mountain cultivations, and riverine wetlands. It invites approaching the forest as a multispecies school—moving from the curriculum of plunder, reckless supremacy, and extinction, to embrace its lessons in organic networks of mutual aid and restorative balance beyond the human sensorium. The forest as a lexicon holds a plenitude of meaning across languages: Aaranya in Tamil (ஆரண்யா) and Sanskrit relating to a sanctuary, vana (වන) in Sinhala. Bonn, Jongol, and Aranno in Bangla, guṁ in Nepal Bhasa, tēṁ in Tamu—each evoking distinct states of being, emotions, disparate imagination, and a palpable climate.
This exhibition is an intricate study of our eroding ecological histories, of lost environmental wisdoms, monstrous developmental agendas, and ghosts of extraction. It endeavors to plot legacies of colonization of resources and minds that operate in disguise. Within mutating landscapes, artists question who owns forest lands, who gets displaced, and who is restricted from sites marked for conservation.
What do the spirits of these lands, rivers, and forests whisper in our ears? In many folktales, legends, and mythologies, forests are associated with apparitions, witches, and other mystical beings. These entities are often depicted as powerful and independent, existing beyond the reach of societal constraints. They are also spaces that elicit fear of things unknown and forces beyond human control. With the rise of imperialism, the exploitation of natural resources and abuse of primary inhabitants was exacerbated as a fulfillment of greed, power, and ego. The subjugation of jungles and wildernesses was then portrayed as a victory over the vastness, unruliness, and mysticism of forests.
Many indigenous peoples find themselves navigating nation-states driven by corporate capitalism and geopolitical hegemony. Throughout this struggle, there have been profound transitions marked by loss, change, resistance, and at times, even hopelessness. Revolutionaries, outcasts, and borderline beings find solace and refuge within the forest’s sheltering embrace. Its dense foliage and shaded paths provide a sense of secrecy and protection, allowing those seeking autonomy and freedom to gather and organize away from prying eyes, to recalibrate uncertainty and fear, to dream of alternative power structures, of new world orders.
“It is our pleasure to present this major group exhibition, originally presented in Colombo, Sri Lanka in January 2024, has been adapted to engage audiences in the United Arab Emirates, marking the second time partnering with Colomboscope,” said Faisal Al Hassan, Director of 421 Arts Campus. “We are delighted to showcase these works to communities in Abu Dhabi and across the Emirates. This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to fostering cultural dialogue, forging new modes of institutional support, and inspiring ways of thinking about art and its role in addressing global challenges.”
“It is with great joy that Colomboscope presents its second major presentation with 421 Arts Campus. The organization’s commitment toward critical thought, participatory ethos, and experimental vision across diverse creative approaches resonates with the way we have shaped the latest edition Way of the Forest in Sri Lanka. This is also a significant step in our engagement with the United Arab Emirates cultural scene and global audiences”, said Natasha Ginwala, Artistic Director of Colomboscope.
Participating artists are Rakibul Anwar, Moza Almatrooshi, Shiraz Bayjoo, U. Arulraj, Jayatu Chakma, Nahla al Tabbaa, Pathum Dharmarathna, Sangita Maity, Karachi LaJamia, Sanod Maharjan, Saodat Ismailova, Pushpakanthan Pakkiyarajah, Sarmila Sooriyakumar with Pirainila Krishnarajah, Otobong Nkanga, MTF Rukshana, Tamarra Jayasundera, Karunasiri Wijesinghe, Kulagu Tu Buvongan, and Thava Thajendran.
This exhibition is curated by Hit Man Gurung (artist and curator), Natasha Ginwala (Artistic Director, Colomboscope), Sheelasha Rajbhandari (artist and curator), Sarker Protick (artist and curator) with Vidhi Todi (assistant curator, Colomboscope 2024).
Press release from 421 Arts Campus
Image: MTF Rukshana. Untitled, showcased at Colomboscope. 2023. Photography by Ruvin de Silva
