MONIRA AL QADIRI
ZEPHYR

WEST BAY BEACH FRONT, DOHA, QATAR
PERMANENT INSTALLATION SINCE 2022What is now the Arabian Peninsula was once completely submerged under water, which is why today so many ancient marine fossils are found in the soil and mountains of its inland areas. Some of the species of these finds are from dinoflagellates – single-cell marine algae that have existed for millions of years – that reproduce themselves by creating oxygen through photosynthesis. Nearly half of the world’s oxygen is made by these tiny sea creatures, though due to their microscopic size, they manage to allude to our perception. For ZEPHYR, the Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri took these creatures and remade them into five larger-than-life sculptures in acrylic glass, each of which is lit from beneath to recreate the organisms’ bioluminescence. Displayed in public space near the waters of the Persian Gulf, ZEPHYR is a colourful reminder of the history of the region’s ecosystem, and with it, the need to safeguard its longevity in the face of rapid modernization.

© Images Qatar Museums and Monira Al Qadiri

FEATURED ARTIST

MONIRA AL QADIRI
Monira Al Qadiri (b. 1983) is a Kuwaiti visual artist born in Senegal and educated in Japan. Spanning sculpture, installation, film, and performance, Al Qadiri’s multifaceted practice is based on research into the cultural histories of the Gulf region. Her interpretation of the Gulf’s so-called “petro-culture” is manifested through speculative scenarios that take inspiration from science fiction, autobiography, traditional practices, and pop culture, resulting in uncanny and covertly subversive works that destabilize mythologies of statecraft and modernization as well as traditional notions of gender. Tracing the delicate ecologies threate...
Read more