MONIRA AL QADIRI
CHIMERA

EXPO 2020 DUBAI, DUBAI, UAE
PERMANENT INSTALLATION SINCE 2021

Chimera (2021)
Permanent Aluminum Sculpture
450 x 470 x 490 cm

At just under five metres tall, CHIMERA is Monira Al Qadiri’s largest sculpture to date, and her first permanent public installation. This gigantic iridescent form is based on the shape of an oil drill. Due to its imposing scale and reflective colours, the sculpture looks like it could be a futuristic creature that has landed from outer space. Before the discovery of oil, for hundreds of years the economy of the Gulf coast had been based on pearl hunting, where entire cultures were created around this precious object. The title CHIMERA refers to a mythical being composed of parts from various animals. Through this sculpture, the artist attempts to fuse the pre- and post-oil histories of the Gulf region into a single body, creating aesthetic connections between pearls and oil through their shared colours, materiality, symbolism, ecology, and economies. CHIMERA reimagines the past, present, and future of the region from which the artist hails.

Explore a virtual 360 tour of Chimera.

© Images Roman Mensing