Middle Eastern Pavilions at the 2019 Venice Biennale

The 2019 Venice Biennale featured five Middle Eastern national pavilions exploring identity, war, memory, and social issues. Saudi Arabia presented Zahrah Al Ghamdi's 'After Illusion,' an installation of 50,000 leather spheres resembling desert flora, reflecting on the kingdom's struggle between oil wealth and Wahhabi Islam. Iraq's Serwan Baran, a Kurdish veteran of the Iran-Iraq War, showed 'The Last Lunch' and 'The Last General,' expressionist works memorializing soldiers killed in the conflict. Iran's pavilion, 'Of Being and Singing' curated by Ali Bakhtiari, included Samira Alikhanzadeh's reworked 1950s photographs of Iranian women, Reza Lavassani's papier-mâché table, and Ali Meer Azimi's installation inspired by Abbas Kiarostami. The UAE presented Nujoom Alghanem's film 'Passage,' blending reality and imagination through the stories of three women. Israel's 'Field Hospital X' by Aya Ben Ron, produced by Miki Gov, offered an immersive installation addressing physical and psychological abuse and social injustices.