Exhibiting at AURA Skypool 10th-27th October 2024
AURA ART, a new series launching at AURA Skypool, elevates the venue to new creative heights, showcasing a diverse range of art forms. From installations and exhibitions to podcasts, these projects foster a seamless synergy between AURA and the art world. The venue’s unique architectural design, natural light and soaring ceilings perfectly enhance its new identity as a dynamic art space.
AURA Skypool and Firetti Contemporary are thrilled to unveil Leaving is Home, a captivating installation by the artist Sawsan Al Bahar. For the first time since its grand opening in 2021, AURA Skypool's stunning lounge will be transformed into a dynamic exhibition space, offering visitors a rare opportunity to experience art in this iconic Dubai venue. Throughout October, Leaving is Home will draw in art lovers and collectors alike, creating a unique cultural experience.
The installation's themes of journeying beautifully resonate with the international audience that passes through AURA Skypool, forming a meaningful connection between the artwork and its setting. This exhibition not only enhances the lounge’s impressive grandeur but also invites reflection on the universal human experience of migration and memory, making this work an especially poignant display within Dubai’s cosmopolitan landscape.
This installation was first unveiled at Al Bahar’s inaugural solo exhibition, Talaliya, at Firetti Contemporary, in 2022, where she explored themes of loss and memory, through drawings and installations that were shaped around remnants from her past. Drawing from her personal history and the broader experiences of Arab diasporas, Al Bahar reflects on the intangible traces left behind by her family: words, images, stories. The exhibition was deeply influenced by the ancient Arabic poetic tradition known as Al Waqfa Al Talaliya. In this ritual of reflection and mourning, Arab poets stand over the ruins of past homes and loved ones, reciting verses that describe both the physical remnants and the emotions stirred by their absence.
In her installation Leaving is Home, Al Bahar echoes this expression, by literally suspending her grandfather’s words, mid-air. Sawsan is both trying to hold on to them and let them go.
The 3D-printed sculptures of sheets are inscribed with the artist’s late grandfather’s memoirs. Hanging in a flurry, they evoke the unfinished nature of his story, inviting visitors to walk through them and experience fragments of his words.
Through Leaving is Home, Al Bahar reconstructs a metaphorical space where personal loss intertwines with generational journeying. The installation, set against the backdrop of AURA Skypool, brings the work to life once again.
