Abdullah Al Saadi

Copublished with the National Pavilion UAE, Sites of Memory, Sites of Amnesia accompanies Abdullah Al Saadi’s (born 1967) solo exhibition in the United Arab Emirates’ pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale. One of the country’s leading conceptual artists, Al Saadi is a wanderer, chronicler, cartographer and storyteller. He has traveled widely, from Asia to South America to Antarctica. His eight artworks featured in the pavilion document these voyages—meticulously recorded through drawings, paintings and diaries—and the natural or artificial objects he encounters, which he also incorporates into his practice. This catalog documents the Biennale pavilion and includes contributions from Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi and authors Aisha Bilkhair and Younes Mashish, which guide readers through the geographical and social constellations that inform Al Saadi’s work.

Emirati artist Abdullah Al Saadi (born 1967) has a long and storied relationship with the Emirate of Sharjah. He is a member of the pioneering “Five”—the generation of conceptual artists who emerged in the United Arab Emirates in the 1980s and reshaped the cultural landscape. Al Saadi combines natural materials such as stones with artistic techniques including painting and drawing to create imagined worlds inspired by his travels. This monograph focuses on Al Saadi’s sculptures and their relationship to rock art from the Arabian Peninsula. Featuring extracts from the artist’s sketchbooks and journals, as well as from installations and real-time documentation of his travels, this monograph is an invitation to encounter Al Saadi’s life and art, particularly the human and environmental narratives at the core of his practice.