NUJOOM ALGHANEM: Sheltered by Water
Composed of snippets from Nujoom Alghanemâs two-channel film installation Passage, this NFT depicts part of the journey of a fictional character called Falak who is trying to find her way home across the vast emptiness of the sea and the desert.
As she floats in the watery landscape, Falak is simultaneously sheltered and endangered by the water. This scene is the culmination of the two narratives that run in parallel throughout the art-film installation.
The film, which was shown as a solo representation for the artist at the 58th Venice Biennale (2019) in the National Pavilion of the UAE, is an experimentation with forms of contemporary Arabic poetry through the language of film and a poignant reflection on the experience of displacement.
It is structured along two distinct narratives, one âreal,â the other âfictional,â focusing on themes such as the hidden and the revealed, fragility and power, belonging and displacement.
The NFTâs title is taken from a line of poetry, which Alghanem recites throughout the film.
ARTIST BIO:
Nujoom Alghanem is an Emirati artist, poet, and multi- award-winning film director. She was born in Dubai in 1962, has published eight poetry collections and produced around twenty films including short fiction, short documentaries, art films and seven feature length documentaries. Her films have won local, regional and international prizes.
In 1985, she co-founded the Aqwas group, with artist Hassan Sharif, Youssef Khalil, the late Sudanese storyteller, and Khalid Albudoor, the poet, researcher, and translator. She went on to be part of the emergence of the contemporary art scene in the UAE. Alghanem has her own film production company based in Dubai and is a professional trainer and mentor in filmmaking, art and creative writing. She is also on the Board of Trustees of the International Prize of Arabic Fiction.
Alghanem represented the UAE at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 with a site specific, two channel film, Passage, which was co-written, designed, and supervised by curators Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath.
