Hashel Al Lamki

B. 1986

 

Sustainability and 2021 Carbon Footprint Report

 

Emirati painter and multi-disciplinary artist, Hashel Al Lamki’s art unpacks the relationship between humankind and their habitat, the wild and constructed. 

 

Born in the shadow of the monumental Jebel Hafeet mountain in Al Ain, Al Lamki bore witness to the complex social and spatial dynamics that followed exponential development in the Gulf. Al Ain’s Bedouin culture and distinct social values, its archaeological sites and rugged terrain formed a stark contrast to the rapid industrial and architectural growth that Al Lamki observed in the neighbouring Emirates. 

 

In 2011 Al Lamki received his BFA from Parsons School of Design The New School, New York City. He went on to contribute to several philanthropic collaborative projects in Central and North America. Al Lamki worked in disaster-stricken Guatemala and Haiti and within low social income communities in the US, his cultural projects were united by a focus upon sustainable practices and social cohesion. After seven years in New York Al Lamki went on to live between Amsterdam, Netherlands and Taos, New Mexico where he immersed himself in solution-finding for post-consumerism waste.

 

Upon returning to Abu Dhabi in 2014 Al Lamki was awarded the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship. Post-fellowship, in 2018, he joined forces with artists in the UAE that shared a common cause. Together they established a community centred around contemporary art in the Emirates,  Bait 15. The artist-run gallery space provided a space for local artists to engage in critical dialogue. 

 

These interdisciplinary and cross-cultural experiences have contributed to Al Lamki’s artistic practice conceptually and technically. His paintings and sculptural works are concerned with the legacies of the landscapes that surrounded him in Al Ain and beyond, the breathtaking and the banal. 

 

 Al Lamki’s approach follows Edward T. Hall’s suggestion that the relationship between man and the cultural dimension is dialogical and “one in which both man and his environment participate in moulding each other”. Al Lamki’s compositions charter towering mountain ranges, pristine golf courses and architectural feats. They survey shifts in the ecosystem as much as they divulge changes in the social world, tracing intersecting stories of human migration, climate change, colonisation and evolution. Al Lamki refuses the separation of man and nature, his practice underscores the dependency of mankind on natural resources and their subsequent responsibility for the environmental catastrophe that looms. His approach to art fuses social innovation, sustainability, environmental consciousness. Inspired by scientific methodologies and local artisanal processes, Al Lamki’s palette comprises freshly formed pigments derived from natural resources in the MENA region. Through this process of alchemy, Al Lamki articulates the fragility and scarcity of these elements as well as their immense natural powers. 

 

Al Lamki insists that community engagement remains central to his practice. He regularly engages local artisans and practitioners in his processes in order to feedback into local economies and unite seemingly disparate individuals and institutions. 
 

EDUCATION

2023, MFA Candidate (Fine Art) Goldsmiths University of London, UK

2011, BFA, Parsons The New School for Design, NY, USA

2010, Art History (course), Fashion Institute of Technology, NY, USA

2007, Exploratory studies in mediums and materiality (course), State University of New York, Cobleskill, NY, USA

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND TEACHING

2023, Fiker Institute x Dubai Culture, Speaker Invitation, On Building Arab Creative Economies: Challenges and Opportunities

2022, Reimagining Home, Panel Discussion, ADMAF, UAE

2022, Artist Talk, NYUAD, UAE

2022, Warehouse421 Children's Workshop, UAE

2021, Panel Discussion, Middle East Institute, Washington DC, USA

2021, Abu Dhabi Art Master Class, UAE

2021, Seminar, a-Amber Network Festival, Berlin

2021, Culture Summit, Abu Dhabi, UAE

2020, Seminar, Claremont University Centre for Business Management in The Arts, Los Angeles, USA

2020, Visiting Artist and Contributor, Curatorial Programme, NYUAD, UAE

2018-21 BAIT15 - Co-founder, Abu Dhabi, UAE 

2017, The Art of Re(creation) Workshops, Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi, UAE

2011, Pre College Summer Program, Parsons The New School for Design, New York, USA

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023, MAQAM, curated by Dr. Venetia Porter, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2022, Sensu Lato, Tabari Artspace Dubai, UAE

2022, The Rehearsal Dinner, Cromwell Place, London, United Kingdom  

2021, Neptune, Beyond Emerging Artists, Abu Dhabi Art Fair, UAE

2021, Pulse, Alserkal Avenue, Al Qouz, Dubai, UAE

2021, Port Authority Chapter 1 and 2, Foundry, Downtown Dubai, UAE

2020, The Cup and The Saucer,Warehouse 421, Abu Dhabi, UAE

2020, Pop up The Cup and The Saucer,Al Quoz Art Festival, AlSerkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023, Art Here, curated by Maya El Khalil, Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE
2023, GEOPOETICS OF THE UAE, Brussels, Belgium
 

2022, East - East 東 - الشرق UAE meets Japan Vol. 5, Atami Blues, Atami, Japan

2022, Neptune, Beyond Emerging Artists, Palazzo Franchetti, Venice, Italy

2022, Portrait of The Nation II, Manarat Al Saadiyat, UAE

2021, Between The Sky and The Earth, Middle East Institute, Washington DC, USA

2021, Curio Shop, Block House, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

2021, Between The Sky and The Earth, Middle East Institute, Washington DC, USA

2021, Curio Shop, Block House, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

2021, Interconnection, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE 2020, Untitled Love,The Farjam Foundation, DIFC Dubai, UAE

2020, This Too Shall Pass, Sotheby's Dubai International Financial District, Dubai, UAE

2019, Terror Glass in Their Cell, group exhibition, Satellite, Dubai, UAE

2019, Ward Gallery, group exhibition Dubai design district, Dubai, UAE

2019, Cuadro, Gallery group exhibition Dubai International Financial District, Dubai, UAE

2019, Co-curated Bait Juma, BAIT15 Abu Dhabi, UAE

2019, BAIT15 Art Dubai UAE NOW, Dubai, UAE

2019, 3 Wholes, Putting for Pleasure and Politics, Al Quoz Art Festival, AlSerkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE

2019, Palindrome Echo, Maraya Art Center, Sharjah, UAE

2018, 3 Wholes, Putting for Pleasure and Politics, The East Plaza, The Arts Center, Abu Dhabi, UAE

2018, Alibadah, duo exhibition with Mohamed Al Mazroie, Project Space NYUAD, Abu Dhabi, UAE

2017, Hitchhike to Plato's Cave, Warehouse 421, Abu Dhabi, UAE

2017, Earlier Emotions, Sikka Art Fair - Villa 38, Dubai, UAE

2016, InvisibleWhite, Abu Dhabi Art, Abu Dhabi, UAE

2016, Inconsistent Sorrys, National Theater, Abu Dhabi, UAE

2015, Citizens of Cake, European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium

2014, Sankofa, The Space - two-four 54, Abu Dhabi, UAE                 

2013, Follo(wing) - 87 Christopher St, New York City, USA

2012, H3, Heesterveld Creative Community, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2011, Le Village Est Tranquille La Nuit, Department of Sud-Est - Jacmel, Haïti

2011, FabricFork, Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries, New York City, USA

2011, Senior Show, Parsons 25E 13 St, New York City, USA

2010, Sola Light, Aronson Gallery, New York City, USA  

2010, Re-Dress, United Nude (Show Room), New York City, USA 

2010, Bio-o, Glass Corner Gallery (Parsons The New School for Design), New York City, USA 

2009, Flexible Fairytale, Donghia Gallery Parsons, New York City, USA

2008, Bathing Senses, Glass Corner Gallery, New York City, USA

2007, Drawings as Drawings, (State University of New York), Grosvenor Gallery, Cobleskill-NY, USA

2007, Kum-Ba-Yah, The Gathering - United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain UAE 

 

ART FAIRS

2023, Art Dubai

2021, Abu Dhabi Art, Beyond Emerging Artists 

BIENNIALS

2022, 16th Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art

COMMISSIONS

2022, CAD 9.0 Blockchain, NFT, Art Dubai

2021, Beyond Emerging Artists, Abu Dhabi Art

2016, Zabeel Park ‐ Dubai Municipality, interactive public art titled “Co‐Collide.3”, Dubai, UAE

2016, Manarat Al Saadiyat, an interactive installation titled “Co‐collide.2”, Abu Dhabi, UAE Emirates

2016, Fine Arts Society, The 34th annual exhibition “Noah’s Ark” interactive public art titled “Co‐Collide.1”, Sharjah, UAE       

 

FELLOWSHIPS / RESIDENCIES / AWARDS / SCHOLARSHIPS

2023, Artist in Residence, The Royal Commission for AlUla, Saudi Arabia

2022, Atami Art Grant

2019, Bauhaus 100th Anniversary, Award, Goethe-Institut and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Berlin

2016-2017, SEAF-Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and Rhode Island School of Design Abu Dhabi and New York

2012, Heesterveld Creative Community, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2012, Earthship Biotecture, Taos, New Mexico, USA 

2011, FAARM formerly known as (Studio Unité)  New York City, USA  & Jacmel, Haiti

2010, SIM City - Sustainable Infrastructure Modeling, Harlem Park, Baltimore, USA

2010, DEED (Development through Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, and Design), New York City, USA and Santiago Zamora, Guatemala

2008-2011, EDAAD Scholarship Foundation - certificate of merit and grant in recognition of achievement in the field of architectural design

2008, Dean’s List - Parsons the New School for Design

2007, The Near East and South Asia Undergraduate Exchange Program, SUNY Cobleskill, New York

 

SELECTED PRESS

2022, Art Festival Atami Grant, Bijutsu Techo

2022, Toyota segment on Atami Art Grant

2022, J-Wave Across The Sky, Radio Broadcast

2022, Developing art in Atami City, Tecture Mag

2022, 5 Things That Can Only Be Done With The Atami Grant, Time Out Tokyo

2022, Creating Space For Creativity In Abu Dhabi, Lonley Planet
2021, Abu Dhabi Art Curators Introduce Performances and New Commissions, Ocula

2021, Abu Dhabi Art returns with a home town feel: 'We missed this during Covid', The National

2020, In The Studio, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, August 2020

2020, Pop-Corn, Global Art Daily, The Internet,  May 2020

2020, Financial Times, UAE Becomes an Incubator to Help Careers of Local Emerging Artists

2018, Abu Dhabi's secret, BBC Travel, The Internet, September 2018

2017, The National Newspaper, “The New Provocateurs “ September 19th 2017 p. 27-28  

2017, RISD.com, “Supporting Cross-Cultural Engagement” 3rd July 2017 

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2022, Shadia, exhibition catalogue, NYUAD, Abu Dhabi, UAE 

2022, Rodinia, research paper in response to Manifesto of Fragility, Lyon Biennale of Contemporary Art

2022, Sensu Lato, exhibition catalogue, Tabari Artspace Dubai, UAE 

2020, The Cup and the Saucer, Warehouse421, Jameel Art Centre

2020, Colourful Leaps with Hashel Al Lamki, Warehouse421

  

SELECTED COLLECTIONS & ACQUISITIONS

Guggenheim 

Farjam Foundation 

Barjeel Art Foundation

UAE Unlimited

UAE Embassy, Sao Paulo, Brazil

UNHCR, Paris