In Discussion with Magalí Arriola

Courtesy of Art Dubai

Magalí Arriola is the Director of Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, whose work often highlights the potential of the art institution as a platform for debate, and an essential portal to the artists’ perspectives on the world. She has previously held curatorial positions across Mexico City, including Museo Jumex Chief Curator organizing shows of artists such as James Lee Byars, Guy de Cointet and Danh Vo. Her independent pursuits have also seen her work on international projects, including curating the Mexican Pavilion for the 58th Venice Biennial. Arriola has written extensively for books, and catalogues and has contributed to publications such as Art Forum, Curare, Frieze, Mousse, Manifesta Journal, and The Exhibitionist, among others.

I had the pleasure of asking Magalí about how curating a Fair differs from exhibitions at a gallery or museum, what she is excited for the viewers of the Art fair to see, what is the most rewarding aspect of being a curator, and so much more.

UZOMAH: What are some of the most substantial pieces of artwork that display the Fair's theme and this section? Can you explain the symbolism or meaning behind some aspects of the artwork?

MAGALI: Art Dubai Modern is a section of the fair that was initially dedicated to Arab Modernism, and now more widely explores Modern masters from the region and beyond. 

In our selection, Dr. Nada Shabout and I highlighted artists hailing from the Middle East, the African continent and for the first time we are introducing a Latin American presentation. In line with the fair’s commitment to uncovering under-explored art histories. The uniting thread between them all are explorations of abstraction in the context of postcolonial realities, and the role of heritage in navigating these region’s new identities. We found that the two ideas were very interconnected, and can be seen in several examples, such as Bahman Mohasses, Hussein Madi or Bertina Lopes. Another notable example is Dario Pérez Flores, a Venezuelan artist who pioneered kinetic art, exhibiting with influential artists such as Carlos Cruz Diez in the early 1970s, not long after he relocated to France and joined a collective of Latin American artists living there at the time.

It's incredible to discover how these artistic techniques and ideologies travelled as different communities deconstructed the colonial history of the region, and we’re proud to be expanding the narrative by revealing some of these commonalities, in a manner that has not been so widely explored. 

U: You worked with Dr. Nada Shabout to curate the exhibition for Art Dubai Modern. What were the benefits of working with another curator?

M: We were brought together by Pablo del Val, Art Dubai’s Artistic Director, and spent time together sharing different ideas on the art histories of our regions – mine, Latin America and Dr. Shabout’s West Asia and North Africa – combining our knowledge to find different nuances and intersections. We looked not only at the styles of artistic production during the modern period, but also asked ourselves where the common themes were such as abstraction or invoking a strong theme of heritage in their work. 

Working collaboratively allowed us to uncover a high calibre of artists, perhaps lesser known in the Western art canon, but influential to our respective sides of the southern hemisphere. 

U: How does curating a Fair differ from exhibitions at a gallery or museum? What unique challenges does it present? 

M: Curatorial practice can take many shapes which depend upon the context in which exhibitions are presented. However, when it comes to an art fair I don’t think it is possible to talk about proper exhibitions since it is very difficult to articulate a coherent discourse. When one curates a sector of an art fair, there are many factors that influence the final selection of works, which is done in close collaboration with the galleries and highly depends on their inventory. Maybe the biggest challenge in this kind of situation is to trigger an interesting dialogue between artists, contexts, art historical movements or themes that didn’t seem to share a common background.

U: Can you take the magazine through the selection process, what you looked for in an artist, and how they represented the theme through their artwork and creative process?

M: In terms of existing academic literature, this area of study is relatively undiscovered. This meant that we were able to conduct primary research, gaining a wider contextual understanding by addressing conversations across the field, as well as speaking directly with the galleries.

Through this process we began to notice shared sentiments across these postcolonial regions. As a collection of nations faced to navigate similar conditions, similar national structures were built. And this, quite unknowingly at the time, is what likely led to a resemblance in artistic responses. If we return, for example, to the theme of abstraction we see how different artists used it as a means of experimentation and in some cases, resistance. Indian painter Maqbool Fida Husain (1913-2011), presented by the renowned Indian gallery DAG, was best known for his bold Cubist-inspired works often depicting horses, Bollywood, and Hindu goddesses. His works were viewed as controversial and provocative, and in 2006, eventually led to his exile. In a similar vein, Mozambican artist Bertina Lopes (1924 - 2012) was a painter, sculptor and activist, concerned with the political events, particularly surrounding Africa’s fight for independence. Lopes embraced African iconography and vivid colour that challenged colonial notions, and in a similar way, resulted in her forcefully leaving Mozambique in 1961. 

We begin to recognise that many of these artists were on a complex journey, expressing their heritage through various symbols, techniques and bold choices of colour.

U: What is the most rewarding aspect of being a curator?

M: There are many rewarding aspects and it’s very difficult to prioritise one over the other. It’s a very enriching and complex process of research that often starts with an artwork, an art historical movement or a particular topic. When working with contemporary art, and if one is lucky enough, one can engage in a rich and challenging dialogue with the artist that would nourish the curatorial argument. Then comes the challenge of articulating a visual discourse in space that will make the final exhibition. For me, this whole chain of events is extremely fulfilling.

U: Is there anything about the exhibition that you're particularly excited for viewers to experience? What do you think will excite them the most?

M: Dr. Nada Shabout and I will also have the privilege of hosting the Art Dubai Modern Talks programme, presented in partnership with Dubai Collection, the first institutional art collection for the city of Dubai. It’s an annual series that gives opportunity to further explore the art-historical research at the foundation of the section, and will allow us to further explore how these nations navigated their new identities and used heritage as a tool to confront their realities. It will take place over the course of three days, with contributions from influential leaders, such as Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi (Barjeel Art Foundation) and Nima Sagharchi. 

We hope that visitors feel they’ve been introduced to new artists but also that they are inspired to consider new contextual frames when looking at artistic connections across the globe. 

U: What are you most excited about for the upcoming Fair? What do you hope will be the most significant outcome this year?

M: I’m perhaps most excited to be continuing the work that Art Dubai is already doing. Last year, the fair’s Modern section explored the artistic production of Middle Eastern, African and South Asian creators, resulting from Soviet Union cultural exchange programmes. This year, we are uncovering untold histories across West Asian, North African and Latin American communities – continuing to expose these cultural narratives to new audiences. In the process, we are able to recentre the dialogue of modern era artworks, ensuring that historic discoveries extend beyond the European canon. 

There exists a long history between these regions cross-cultural exchange, for example, several Arab names have been Latinised over time, and there are perhaps more known recordings of Arab communities, especially Lebanese and Palestinian, who migrated to Latin America over the years. However, in many cases, it’s been difficult to trace the lineage, and it’s not often accounted for that the regions are also connected by corresponding periods of postcolonial third-worldism discourse. What’s been even more rare are connections made from the lens of visual art. 

Our desire is for visitors to leave as curious and inspired as we were, tasked with this research and curatorial process. There is of course much more to discover, so we hope this would serve as a starting point for many.

 This interview was conducted before Art Dubai. For more information about Art Dubai, please visit their site here. Art Dubai can also be found on Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram.