Maktoum Al Maktoum on Archives, Memory, and Cultural Gaps

In an interview with Canvas, artist Maktoum Al Maktoum discusses his multidisciplinary practice, which interrogates cultural memory, archives, and the construction of meaning. He views archives not as fixed records but as evolving spaces, shaped by context and access. Al Maktoum explores how generational knowledge and traditions, often passed down orally in the Gulf region, create gaps due to rapid development. His work Frames of Value (2023) uses found gazelle and camel bones dyed with burqa indigo, a material with global origins (India) that became localized, to explore temporality. The piece HISS: A Handicraft (2025) draws on ancient mnemonic practices, presented in three parts: scientific study, video, and jars. Al Maktoum emphasizes blurring fact and fiction, and hopes audiences leave with more questions than answers. He notes that digital documentation and social media broaden who can shape history, but also increase misinterpretation. The interview appears in Canvas 122: Reshaping Time.