Monira Al Qadiri:
Alien Technology, Diver

Alien Technology is a series of large-scale sculptures in the form of industrial oil drill bits. The artist's giant drill bits resemble forms of bioluminescent marine life, especially with their recast surfaces, or some futuristic organic machine. They allude both to the underwater world that fed the Gulf's economy for so many years (pearls), and simultaneously, the tool that is central to the current economy of oil. The works engage with the pearl industry that is now invisible to most —a forgotten history after the economic transformation that came with the discovery of oil in the region. And while the presence of oil is now pervasive, the nature of its extraction is rarely seen.


Diver is an immersive video installation that represents a new chapter of Monira Al Qadiri’s ongoing search for historical ties between the pre- and post-oil worlds in the Arabian Gulf. For hundreds of years, the economy of the coastal region was based on decorative pearls, with Al Qadiri's own grandfather working as a singer on a pearling boat. After the discovery of oil in the twentieth century, a massive transformation took place in the affected societies and this part of history was erased, relegated to popular fiction. The video proposes to bridge that gap through the formal abstraction of colour; it follows the movements of synchronized swimmers wearing dichroic body suits akin to the sheen of both pearls and oil, choreographed to a traditional pearl-diving song. The use of these bodies as ornamentation manifests the placement of these histories in contemporary society—as embellishment and décor—while reflecting the artist's effort to articulate them as a solid component of regional identity through exhausting physical action.

About the Artist

Monira Al Qadiri is a Berlin-based Kuwaiti artist whose multifaceted practice spans sculpture, installation, film, and performance. Primarily grounded in research into the cultural histories of the Gulf region, her work examines petro-culture, global extraction histories, and their ecological and cultural consequences. She interprets the Gulf's petro-culture through speculative scenarios that take inspiration from science fiction, autobiography, traditional practices, and pop culture, resulting in uncanny and covertly subversive works.

Al Qadiri’s solo exhibitions have been presented at ARKEN Museum (Copenhagen), Berlinische Galerie (Berlin), Kiasma Museum (Helsinki), Bozar (Brussels), Gasworks (London), and Blaffer Art Museum (Houston), among others. Select group exhibitions include the New Museum (New York), Sharjah Biennial, Desert X AlUla, Biennale of Sydney, Venice Biennale, and Palais de Tokyo (Paris). She has also realized major public commissions worldwide, including projects with Public Art Fund (New York), Creator Projects (Esbjerg), UK City of Culture (Bradford), Art22 (Doha), and Dubai Expo.

Educated in Japan, Al Qadiri earned a PhD in Intermedia Art from Tokyo University of the Arts.

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