Dubai, January 17, 2019
At Jameel Arts Centre the class took a tour of a series of women artists’ curated rooms, and of the inaugural exhibition Crude, which takes oil as an entrance into the complex histories of social and economic interconnections within and beyond the GCC. After moving through the physical spaces of each installation, we shared a meal and conversation with Art Jameel staff, Rana Al-Mutawa, and Shamma Al Bastaki. Al-Mutawa, who studies conceptions of public spaces and authenticity in urban Dubai, led the class to think critically about how we come to feel a space as public or authentic. Al Bastaki, a recent NYU Abu Dhabi alumna, recited experimental poetry she created from interviews with Dubai Creek residents, elaborating on her creative and analytical process, and the notion of multiple “truths.”