Monira Al Qadiri's 'Deep Fate' Explores Oil's Dual Role at Kiasma

The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki presents 'Deep Fate,' a solo exhibition by Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri (b. 1983), running from an unspecified date. The show examines oil's contradictory nature as both a source of wealth and a cause of crises, featuring sculptures and video works from the past decade. Al Qadiri's research-based practice focuses on the cultural history of the Persian Gulf region. Her sculptures range from monumental to miniature (as small as one centimeter in diameter), echoing the shapes of oil drilling blades and the molecular structures of chemicals used in extraction. The works are characterized by iridescent rainbow colors reminiscent of oil slicks and pearl surfaces. In her videos, the artist draws on childhood memories of living near an oil refinery, which she perceived as a glowing metropolis rather than a site of environmental destruction, and witnessing burning oil fields. Family history also informs the work: before the oil boom, her grandfather was a pearl diver, an industry that ended when oil transformed Kuwait from poverty to prosperity in the 1950s. The exhibition title 'Deep Fate' alludes to oil's geological origins and the existential stakes of dependency on fossil fuels. Curated by Piia Oksanen and Jari-Pekka Vanhala, the show includes the piece 'Wonder' (2016-18).