Venice Biennale for Abu Dhabi Art
Who Gets Paid for Digital Labor?
The World Was My Garden
"My Plant Immigrants." Medjoul date palm, aluminum chain, hooks. Curated by Till Felrath and Sam Bardouil
"The World was My Garden" works with the palm tree as a metaphor for migration, labor economies, and the history of slavery in the Gulf. Charting a path from Zanzibar to the Khaleej and finally to the United States, the exhibition takes as a point of departure the coercion of the palm tree and the date as it probes into issues of the archive, lost genealogies, and American identity politics.
Combining film, installation, and sculpture, the show juxtaposes two stories: how the date palm lead to the height of the Indian Ocean slave trade around the turn of the 20th century and how that same palm tree ended up in California, which today is the second largest producer of dates. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the "My Plant Immigrants,” which features a 5-meter tall medjoul date palm tree that’s magically suspended in the air, just like the commodities we buy, sell, and trade everyday.
The result of an extensive research process, the exhibition features various collaborations with academics and institutions. The film “The Kite Has Come” centers around Benton’s access to rare archival images of Zanzibar from the Winterton Collection of the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University. Additionally, the film “Welcome to Mecca, California” features narration and archival material from Sarah Seekatz, PhD, a historian of the Coachella Valley and professor of Mexican American and U.S. History at San Joaquin Delta College.
"My Plant Immigrants." Medjoul date palm, aluminum chain, hooks
"Black, Blonde, & Brunette Dates" 2021. Medjoul date from California, UV-printed wood
Install shot. Abu Dhabi Art. 2021
"Shields Date Garden" 2021. Lightbox, brushed metal, and plexi-board
"The Kite Has Come" 2021. 9-minute multi-channel film
"The Kite Has Come" 2021. 9-minute multi-channel film
"Welcome to Mecca, California" 2021. 12-minute documentary film. Used date boxes, wood. In collaboration with archivist and academic Sarah Seekatz, PhD
"Welcome to Mecca, California" 2021. 12-minute documentary film. Used date boxes, wood. In collaboration with archivist and academic Sarah Seekatz, PhD
Credits:
Curators: Sam Bardouil & Till Fellrath of Art Reoriented
Studio Manager & Resear: Sree Jhoytish
Film Narration: Sarah Seekatz
Music: Cristobal Garcia Belmont
Exhibition Photography: Karl Jeffs
Institutional Partner: Northwestern University Library
Funding: Friends of Abu Dhabi Art
Gratitude: Matthew S. Hopper, Andrew Lock, Dyala Nusseibeh, Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation