Nujoom Alghanem presents video installation Passage for UAE Pavilion at 2019 Venice Biennale

Nujoom Alghanem represents the United Arab Emirates at the 2019 Venice Biennale with a site-specific two-channel video installation titled Passage. The work expands her experimentation with contemporary forms of Arabic poetry through film, drawing on her 2009 poem 'The Passerby Collects the Moonlight'. Curators Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath note that poetry plays a central role in the immersive piece, which reads like visual poetry. Alghanem's practice blends traditional Arabic poetry and filmmaking, two forms of storytelling she is equally steeped in. The installation explores the psychological, physical, and emotional impact of displacement through themes that affect everyone. Alghanem previously participated in the UAE Pavilion's 2017 group exhibition Rock, Paper, Scissors: Positions in Play. The pavilion is located in the Arsenale and serves as a platform for engagement with contemporary artistic practices from the UAE. The Venice Biennale runs from May 11 to November 24, 2019.