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Curator of the UAE Pavilion, Tirdad Zolghadr reveals why ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ - May 2009

An established editor and respected filmmaker, Tirdad Zolghadr is the official curator for the UAE national pavilion at the world’s most prestigious contemporary art event, the Venice Biennale.  In its much publicized debut showing, the pavilion will combine the work of several UAE artists alongside thought-provoking video installations and paradoxical ‘world fair’ architectural designs. 

We spoke to Tirdad Zolghadr about his approach to curating such a landmark project, why he chose the curious title ‘It’s not you, it’s me,’ and his views on the UAE’s evolving art scene.

ChinarTree: Were there any issues you were particularly conscious of when you were first asked to curate this event?

Tirdad Zolghadr: Instead of constructing ideas of what Arab art might be, I wanted to deal with the complexities and contradictions of a show like the Venice Biennale specifically. 

CT: Did your previously explored concepts on East/West interactions1 affect how you approached the project?

TZ: Yes, my interest in these and similar interactions always influences my curating. The conclusion I’ve come to is that curators who think they can represent entire cities, regions and countries are part of the problem. It’s not up to a curator, particularly a visiting curator, to define the needs and problems and characteristics of millions of individuals.

CT: How did you go about choosing the artists for the UAE pavilion, from Lamya Gargash to Hassan Sharif?

TZ: Lamya Gargash is the represented artist for the pavilion.  I chose her after looking through hundreds of files and studios and scouring the country.  Hassan Sharif will be part of the “World Fair Showroom”, which he shares with three other artists (Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Ebtisam AbdulAziz and Huda Saeed Saif). 

CT: There seems to be an element of self-reflection and humour built into the title ‘It’s not you, it’s me.’  What were your thought processes behind this?

TZ: ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ is a cliché expression, never to be taken at face value.  It is always uttered with guilt and embarrassment, in a spirit of awkward apology. 

“Not you who’s the problem.  It’s me who has issues.”  “Not the audience that’s the problem.  It’s the show.”  “Not the show that’s faulty.  The audience won’t get it.”  Or, another note: “It’s not you, it’s the UAE.” 

It involves shame, shamlessness, or a bit of both - a peculiar powerplay reflecting the mood of many art shows these days.    These are grandiose statements in the wake of exhausted routine; eager self-importance in the wake of obvious instrumentalization. 

In summary, what we have here is a pavilion on exhibition making.  On the very act of artistic showcasing, national documentation and curatorial testimony in a setting like Venice.

CT:  How will the exhibits reflect this idea of ‘documenting the nation’2?

TZ: If you try to document the nation, you do injustice to the art, which becomes mere journalism. If you sidestep the national aspect, and pretend it doesn’t exist, you are ignoring the political subtext of the whole situation.

Instead of choosing one or the other (both approaches pop up quite a bit in Venice), I tried to play with the historical roots of the dilemma; the fact that the art scene at large, and the Venice Biennial in particular, never did rid itself of nationalist ramifications. The exhibit will reflect this by looking like a “World Fair” with a twist.

CT: Tell us more about this ‘world fair’ theme of the pavilion.  Given the context of common criticism of the ‘national pavilion’ format, is there a satirical element built into this?

TZ: The idea is to be neither sarcastic nor glamorizing. Which is tricky, but I think we can pull it off. It’s not about satire. It’s about highlighting subtexts that were there all along.

Compare making a contribution to Documenta and discussing the roots of the show in WWII. Or doing a show at the Guggenheim and playing with the history of the Euro-American avantgarde.  It’s about going back to historical traces to see how much has changed, and how much has stayed the same.

CT: Where do you feel the UAE is on the scale of its artistic evolution?  Is it up to the mark for vying with international exhibits from other countries or is there some way yet to go for the UAE? 

TZ: Art scenes are not predictable. Certain European countries have the richest art traditions in the world, but struggle on an international level.  On the other hand, one of the most attractive scenes in the world is actually Istanbul. 

CT: First the co-curator of Sharjah Biennial 7 and now the curator of the UAE pavilion - will we see continue to see you working with Emirati artists/UAE-based projects in the future?

TZ: Who knows.  They can always say “listen, it’s not you, it’s me”.

1″Despite the range of approaches, the main preoccupation of (Zolghadr’s) work has largely remained the same, that of the transfer of knowledge and ideology between Europe and Tehran, and, more particularly, the mise-en-scene of internationalism in the arts.” Tirdad Zolghadr Biography, curatingdegreezero, May 2009.
  2“The UAE Pavilion will be unapologetic about documenting the nation—even while the Pavilion as a whole can be seen as an exhibition about exhibition-making, reflecting on the very act of national showcasing at the Venice Biennale.” Tirdad Zolghadr, UAE Venice Biennale Pavilion Press Release, March 15 2009