If you haven’t had the chance to visit Baku, maybe you should consider it as a destination this summer. It has a wonderful cool climate on the Caspian Sea and centuries of history to explore.
Also, from a contemporary art perspective, things are becoming more and more exciting. Through Yarat, Baku’s biggest art platform, local artists are having a chance to exhibit internationally and now, this summer, Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, one of Dubai’s strongest spaces, has collaborated with Yay Gallery, part of the Yarat organisation, to exhibit the work of four Gulf-based artists.
In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Roberto Lopardo, the gallery manager from Cuadro and an excellent photographic artist has produced Mapping Baku, a specially commissioned work in his extensive Mapping series. In it, he takes a walking tour of the given city, taking a photograph every minute and presents the results as one work in a light box.
Pieces from Bahrain-based artist Camille Zakharia's work are also in the show. Out Then documents the journey the artist has taken since his departure from Lebanon in the civil war of 1985 through abstracted photographic collages.
Manal AlDowayan, the Saudi artist who explores social politics and identity through her work is showing If I Forget You, Don't Forget Me, which re-constructs the memories of her father's generation. Through her photographs she documents the memories, conversations and objects from oilmen and women across Saudi Arabia to create her own stories and personal narratives.
Lastly, Emirati Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, will exhibit pieces from his most recent show at Cuadro Turãb. In it, Ibrahim creates abstract shapes and forms, which explore his relationship with nature, saying "with the feeling of being at one with nature, you begin to shed your layers, piece by piece, and commence with creating an artwork."
* The Unbearable Lightness of Being runs at Yay Gallery in Baku until August 31. For more info visit www.yaygallery.com