Dwellings as the Expression of Those Who Dwell within Them
Excerpts from an essay on the Al-Sawaber series
By Kevin Mitchell
Installation views of Al Sawaber, exhibition curated by Salwa Mikdadi with works by Tarek Al-Ghoussein at The Third Line, Dubai, November 5, 2017–February 14, 2018.
Tarek Al-Ghoussein’s framing of the interior heightens the tension between the standardized apartment and personalized treatment, and results in subtly ironic images that reveal idiosyncratic attempts to make an undesirable dwelling inhabitable. Landscapes are common in the wall treatments throughout Al-Sawaber, whether in the form of fairy-tale castles against pink skies or floral-patterned prints. In more elaborate examples, such as Al-Sawaber, 0282, an oddly scaled bird inhabits a maple forest complete with falling leaves that have turned from green to yellow and red at the end of summer; although the telephone jack remains concealed under a faux forest floor, the electrical outlet remains as a chrome-plated reminder that the reality of Al-Sawaber is inescapable.
The proliferation of simulated landscapes throughout the apartments in Al-Sawaber is curious in light of the fact that Erickson’s master plan included a large park-like space that extended throughout the project. However, there was no provision for private outdoor space beyond the small covered balconies that resulted in the distinctive façade. Al-Ghoussein’s images of wall surfaces reveal desires to create a home that perceptually extended beyond the constricted space of the apartment and subsumed both interior and an imagined exterior within the private realm.
Al-Sawaber will likely be demolished in the near future. Al-Ghoussein’s work is therefore timely as it provides insight into the lives once lived in Al-Sawaber and serves as a record of an important part of the Gulf’s recent past. More significantly, the Al-Sawaber project presents spaces and objects with a sense of irony that never devolves into condescension, resulting in perceptive depictions of how dwellings become the expression of the individuals who dwell within them.
Installation views of Al Sawaber, exhibition curated by Salwa Mikdadi with works by Tarek Al-Ghoussein at The Third Line, Dubai, November 5, 2017–February 14, 2018.
Originally published in the Al Sawaber e-catalog, this excerpt is reprinted with permission of the Author and The Third Line, Dubai.