‘The World is Too Much with Us’

Dubai, UAE: Alliance Française Dubai is proud to present “The World is Too Much with Us,”  a collective art exhibition curated by Anna Seaman at La Galerie from February 22 to March 7.

Visual Arts writer and cultural journalist, Anna Seaman gathers six UAE resident artists raising their concerns for our planet.

The title of this exhibition comes from William Wordsworth’s poem of the same name, which was originally published in 1807 at the start of the Industrial Revolution. The words of the poem expressed the author’s shock and sadness at how the natural world was being forgotten and ignored by the emerging capitalist and consumerist existence that was just emerging. Today, after two centuries of overlooking the importance of protecting the environment and the planet’s ecosystem, this poem is still and perhaps increasingly relevant.

The artists in this exhibition speak out for the natural world. Focusing on issues such as climate change, plastic pollution, endangered species and the role of activists, the artworks present a diverse message of sustainability.

Curator Anna Seaman says: “If the past 12 months has taught us anything, it is that nature is ultimately more powerful than any man-made force. The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to slow down and reconsider our habits. I chose the title of this Wordsworth sonnet for this exhibition because its powerful and heartfelt words are still so poignant. Best-selling author Naomi Klein called climate change “a battle between capitalism and the planet” and this battle is coming to a head with the need for radical action being more urgent than ever. All the artists, in their various ways, are using their art to call for change.”

What – ‘The World is Too Much with Us’ – A collective art exhibition
Where – La Galerie, Alliance Française Dubai, Oud Metha (in the vicinity of Healthcare City)
When – From February 22 to March 7, 2021
Free entry
More info afdubai.org

Artists

Soraya Sikander
Through her abstract style, Soraya is interested in highlighting multiple issues such as deforestation, climate change and sea temperature changes. The pieces are landscapes but without distinct shape or form, mimicking the melting away of the world as we know it.

Stephanie Neville
Through installation and textile art, Stephanie creates hanging sculptures from embroidery and stitching that encapsulates the suffocation of the ocean under the blankets of plastic waste. She is also working with recycled textiles to create pieces to summarize life-giving forces such as water, light, plants, wind, rain.

Huma Shoaib
Using papercut drawings that reference sacred geometry and the natural equilibrium found in the natural world, Huma uses bees and birds positioned in circular patterns, which also have spiritual and religious connotations, echoing the circulation of pilgrims around the Kaaba or the whirling motion of a dervish.

Emma Skinner
A skilled painter with an interest in underwater animals, Emma uses light and colour in her works to comment on the emotion of the oceans, which littered with carelessness are purple with rage and crying for their losses. Her animal protagonists often face away from the viewer as if trying to escape the pollution of the world that humans have forced upon them.

Valentina Alexeevna
Using ink drawings, Valentina’s art is about the subject of energy and consciousness. She focuses on the parts of life that we cannot see but that underpin all of life. Energy is life and life is so diverse, just like the shapes and patterns in her artworks.

Jennifer Stelco
Jennifer is a mixed media artist who for this exhibition is creating a collage from found objects and waste material to depict a desert scene. It is her objective to highlight the need for better waste management and protection of all species.