عربي

Mathaf Collections

cai guo-qiang: saraab

Modern Art

cai guo-qiang: saraab

December 5, 2011 - May 26, 2012

Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab showcases Cai’s diverse body of work, ranging from his signature gunpowder drawings to large-scale site-specific installations and the explosion event of Black Ceremony. Cai Guo-Qiang’s biggest exhibition since I Want To Believe at the Guggenheim Museum in 2008, Saraab (“mirage”) will feature more than fifty works, including sixteen newly commissioned pieces, thirty recent works and nine documentary videos.

Saraab continues Mathaf’s commitment to present an Arab perspective on modern and contemporary art as it turns eastward to consider dynamics across Asia for the first time. Works on view explore the historic and contemporary iconography of the Arabian Gulf and its seafaring culture, as well as the Islamic history of Quanzhou. They also address the ambiguity of Qatar and China’s relationships to one another, and Cai’s own creative development over a lifetime. In keeping with its title, Saraab questions whether there is something illusory or unobtainable about the process of cultural, temporal and geographic translation.

Pictured above: Installation view of Fragile (2011), Gunpowder on 480 panels of porcelain, 318 x 1800 cm (125 3/16 x 708 11/16 in.) overall, approximately 30 x 39.75 cm (11 13/16 x 15 5/8 in.) each panel, 480 panels in total, Commissioned by Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Photo by Hiro Ihara, Courtesy Cai Studio

upcoming events

We are Mathaf

Throughout the run of Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab, Mathaf will host programs and events relating to the exhibition. Coming as a group? You can book a guided visit led by art professionals or our specially trained interns. Special tours can also be arranged for class visits.

Mathaf for Teachers: Open Forum (January 31): Presentation and a hands-on tour through “Saraab” with practical tips and activities on how to use art in the classroom, focused on Independent Schools. Teen Writing workshops (January/February, TBC): 2-part workshop for high school students to learn about the creation of a “zine”, including intensive writing exercises in the galleries.

Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar (Feb 8, 15, 22, 29 and March 7, 14, 21, 28): 8-week Community Class inspired by Saraab every Wednesday from February 8-March 28 from 4:30-6:30pm.

For more information or to RSVP for any of our
programs, please contact
mathaf_education@qma.org.qa.

If you'd like to volunteer, please contact
mathaf_volunteers@qma.org.qa.

behind the scenes

mathaf offers mathaf offers mathaf offers mathaf offers

Check out the action behind the scenes in our current exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: Saraab, including the artist in his hometown of Quanzhou, China and the creation of gunpowder drawings in Doha.

gunpowder drawing project

play video

  • On 22-26 October, with the help of nearly 200 local volunteers, Cai Guo Qiang produced large-scale gunpowder drawings for Saraab. The works trace the maritime route from ancient Arabia to Quanzhou and echo the botanical patterns seen in Islamic decorative art. The entire creative process was open to the public.

This show is
a journey of personal
and artistic discovery
that demonstrates
the emotional breadth
of Cai‘s work, from
the intimate to
the spectacular.
Wassan al Khudhairi
Curator

the artist

  • Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China, and was trained in stage design at the Shanghai Theater Academy. His work has since crossed multiple mediums within art, including drawing, installation, video and performance art.

    While living in Japan from 1986 to 1995, he explored the properties of gunpowder in his drawings, an inquiry that eventually led to his experimentation with explosives on a massive scale and to the development of his signature explosion events. Drawing upon Eastern philosophy and contemporary social issues as a conceptual basis, these projects and events aim to establish an exchange between viewers and the larger universe around them, utilizing a site-specific approach to culture and history.

    Cai was awarded the Golden Lion at the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999, the 7th Hiroshima Art Prize in 2007, and the 20th Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2009. He was Director of Visual and Special Effects for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In 2008, he was the subject of a retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. In fall 2010, Cai created Odyssey for the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Installed as part of the museum‘s ongoing Portal Project, it is one of his largest gunpowder drawings to date. He currently lives and works in New York.

    > download full artist bio

    > visit the artist’s website

contact us

[ x ]

qatar museums authority

[ x ]

Qatar Museums Authority carries out a multi-faceted program that celebrates Qatari identity, builds understanding across borders and welcomes the world to Doha and is led by its Chairperson, Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

qatar foundation

[ x ]

Established in 1995 by His Highness the Emir, Qatar Foundation has a threefold mission of education, scientific research and community development and is chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned.

Lorem ipsum dolor

[ x ]

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut

aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

sign up

[ x ]
  • Get Mathaf news direct to your inbox