As the excitement brews for the upcoming Dubai Expo 2020, novel revelations have been taking place regularly. In an interesting disclosure, a striking oil drill-shaped sculpture ‘Chimera’ by Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri has been unveiled.

With the unwrapping of the sculpture, the Kuwaiti artist has launched Expo 2020 Dubai’s Public Art Program, which features 11 artists from the UAE, region and wider world.

The programme brings together 11 leading artists from the UAE, the wider region and the world including Hamra Abbas, Afra Al-Dhaheri, Shaikha Al-Mazrou, Abdullah Al-Saadi, Asma Belhamar, Olafur Eliasson, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Khalil Rabah, Yinka Shonibare and Haegue Yang.

These 11 contemporary artworks by artists will form a creative journey as part of the future city of District 2020 as the first curated permanent open-air art exhibition in the UAE.

Being the first curated permanent open-air art exhibition in the UAE, it will showcase UAE’s vibrant and thriving arts scene, and boost Dubai’s position on the global cultural map.

Drawing inspiration from the famous Arab mathematician, astronomer and physicist Ibn Al Haytham’s seminal work, Book of Optics, written in the 11th century, the Expo 2020 Dubai’s Public Art Program is set to bring interesting advancements in the world of art. Ibn Al-Haytham has been called ‘the father of modern optics’ for his noteworthy theories and foundational principles of optics and visual perception.

Sharing views on the programme, public art curator at Expo 2020 Dubai, Abou El-Fetouh shared, “We are thrilled to be launching the Public Art Programme with Chimera by artist Monira Al Qadiri. Her bold sculpture, with its magnified size and reflective colour, makes it seem like a futuristic creature from outer space,” adding, “Through this sculpture, the artist attempts to merge the pre-and post-oil eras into one body. She creates aesthetic connections between pearls and oil, through their colour, materiality, symbolism, ecology and economy in order to reimagine the past, present and future of the wider Gulf region.”

Located across the Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability districts and two parks of Expo 2020, the artworks will form landmarks on-site and become a permanent part of District 2020.