'Ancient Future' Asks Whether We Truly Live in Unprecedented Times
A group show at The Third Line, Dubai, featuring Sophia Al-Maria and Farah Al Qasimi, explores the nostalgia that comes with temporal dislocation
Taking its cue from a weary phrase that the pandemic has bleached of all meaning, ‘Ancient Future’ asks whether we truly live in ‘unprecedented times’. Featuring powerful works by 13 artists, the show attempts to reconcile different approaches to chronological displacement.
Huda Lutfi’s painted collage,
Suma’s Mandala, Series 4 (2008), is a cyclical ode to Uum Kulthum, the great 20th-century Egyptian singer. Replicas of her steely face bob around a cut-out of a six-armed Nefertiti with noxious green skin. Lutfi’s exemplar of femininity sits alongside Farah Al Qasimi’s inkjet print,