Positive pathways towards authoritarian neoliberalism. On the artist collective GCC, democratic ideals and the United Arab Emirates’ ‘Vision 21’

Abstract

Informed by postmodern concepts such as the simulacrum, simulation and appropriation as well as by the dynamics and aesthetics of the post-internet era, the artist collective GCC addresses specific vernacular issues in regards to the regional visual paradigms of politics and power in the Arab Gulf countries. Re-staging state rituals and thematising political visual campaigns GCC formulates through restrained modifications, abstractions and humour a subtle critique while bypassing censorship. How exactly is this form of critique conveyed? How does it negotiate between local and international audiences, between ideals of a critical art and the repressive reality it is produced in? Focusing on GCC’s installation Positive Pathways (+) (2016) and the collective’s Gestures series (2016) I will discuss these questions in relation to the ‘Vision 2021’ agenda that was launched by the United Arab Emirates in 2010.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The Qatari-American artist Sophia al-Maria was also part of the collective until 2014.

2 Quote from the official online portal of the UAE government: https://u.ae/en/about-the-uae/the-uae-government/government-of-future/happiness [last accessed on November 3rd, 2021].

3 Ibid.

4 Quote from the official online portal of the UAE government: https://u.ae/en/about-the-uae/strategies-initiatives-and-awards/federal-governments-strategies-and-plans/national-strategy-for-wellbeing-2031[last accessed on November 3rd, 2021].

5 The sculpture is made from wire and plaster based on photographs of two people posing.

6 Urban planning, the hot climate and the dominant car culture in the Gulf countries lead to widespread health problems. To prevent those, promenades, walking paths and running routes have been increasingly set up in the past ten years.

7 Some of these sculptures carry names of cities such as Berlin or Kuwait in their titles. The Arabic texts on their plaques congratulate GCC on its achievements. The works represent an ironic reflection on the mechanisms of the art world and its corporate culture, which GCC also calls ‘propaganda of success’. For example, the English translation of the text on the Berlin Congratulant (2013) reads as follows: ‘GCC – Thanks and Appreciation – To Whom It May Concern, We present ourselves with enormous gratitude and the deepest thanks for our unique participation in support of this exhibition and our continued involvement in its success, and the congratulations of ourselves springs from our loyal efforts and special dedication. – 4 Muharram, 1434 Hijri – 8th of November, 2013 AD Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany, – From the members of GCC – The Office of Trophies and Congratulation.’

8 GCC member Monira Al Qadiri also reflects in her video works Wa Waila (2008) and Abu Athiyya (2013) on this tendency towards melancholy and to what she calls the ‘aesthetics of sadness’ in Arab culture. See: Amal Khalaf, Sad Boy Cosmos, in: Tomke Braun (ed.) Monira Al Qadiri. Empyre Dye [exhibition cat.], Göttingen/Bielefeld 2020, no p. and Mai Elkakil, Humor and the aesthetics of sadness, in: Madamasr, February 2014, https://www.madamasr.com/en/2014/02/06/feature/culture/humor-and-the-aesthetics-of- sadness/ [last accessed on November 3rd, 2021].

9 Cp. https://laila-kaizen.com/ar/ [last accessed on November 3rd, 2021].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniel Berndt

Daniel Berndt studied art history, philosophy, and social anthropology at Free University of Berlin. He was a PhD Fellow of the Photographic Dispositif graduate program at Braunschweig University of Art. Since 2019 he is a postdoctoral research assistant at the Institute of Art History, University of Zurich. From 2009 to 2012, he worked for the Arab Image Foundation in Beirut as its Research Center Coordinator. His writing has appeared in Springerin, Aperture, Camera Austria and Frieze amongst other publications. His book, “Wiederholung als Widerstand? (Repetition as Resistance?)” on the artistic (re-) contextualization of historical photographs in relation to the history of Palestine was published in 2018 by Transcript Verlag.