The exhibition ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors: Positions in Play’ explored a strand of artistic practice in the UAE through the analogy of play. Featuring existing works, re-fabrication of “lost” works and new commissions, the exhibition staged a set of nested questions: where does “playfulness” in artistic practice come from? How and where is “play” nurtured? What does “play” do?
With newly commissioned texts by contributors including Aisha Bilkhair; Reem Fadda and Maisa Al Qassemi; Uzma Rizvi; Osman Samiuddin; and Murtaza Vali, artists, architects and creative writers were also invited to intervene and respond to the themes of the exhibition, with new commissions by Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh & Hesam Rahmanian; Deepak Unikrishnan; and WTD Magazine.
Research for the publication was done in collaboration with Art Jameel.
About the Editor
Hammad Nasar is a curator, writer and researcher based in London. He is presently Senior Research Fellow at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art (part of Yale University), where he co-leads the London, Asia project.
About the Publisher
The National Pavilion UAE was established to endorse the UAE’s contemporary art practices on an international platform and provide a foundation to support the nation’s diverse and developing cultural scene. It is commissioned by the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and supported by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth.
