Khalil Rabah: What is not

Overview

What is not is an exhibition of significant works by Khalil Rabah, created from the 1990s to the present, that propose speculative frameworks and platforms for exploring how cultural institutions, curatorial practice, museological discourse and critical knowledge operate under long-standing states of emergency and displacement. The exhibition presents an overview of the artist’s ongoing projects, including the Palestinian Museum of Natural History and Humankind, the Riwaq Biennale, Scale Models and Collaborations: by in form, a new work commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation.

Focusing on the processes that art practices are subjected to within international institutions, his projects encourage debates about cultural organisations by questioning the social, cultural and political value attributed to artefacts. Emerging from his deep involvement and background in architecture, Rabah’s works seek to provide an alternative vision that challenges public perceptions. He draws on different methodologies to engage with themes of displacement, memory and identity to examine the relationship between humans and their surroundings as well as the nature of the global human condition.

What is not is curated by Sharjah Art Foundation Director Hoor Al Qasimi.

This exhibition is kindly supported by Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi.