Abdullah Al Saadi

Biography

In 2002 an exhibition at the Ludwig Forum in Aachen had a plain title: “The Art of the Five from the United Arab Emirates”. Abdullah Al Saadi was one of the five.

He was born in 1967; nothing is known of his birthplace or early years. His education was unusual for an artist of his country and generation. In 1989 he received a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Al Ain. Then, in 1994–1996, he studied Japanese art at Kyoto Seika University. He continued with short programmes: in 1998 he attended painting workshops at the Edinburgh College of Art, and in 2002 he took part in the “Wadi Project” workshop at the Arctic Foundation in Eindhoven. Al Saadi belongs to the group of the “Five” together with Hassan Sharif, Hussain Sharif, Mohammed Kazem and Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, who are described as the first conceptual artists of the Emirates. As to which works exactly he made, I will not venture to say: I will not guess, but his exhibition record is well documented. After Aachen came Sharjah, the fifth Sharjah Biennial in 2003. In 2004 his work was shown at the 26th São Paulo Biennial. In 2005 the exhibition “Languages of the Desert” was held at the Kunstmuseum Bonn, and at the same time, according to some accounts, there was a showing at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. Twice, in 2009 and 2011, he took part in the Venice Biennale (its 53rd and 54th International Art Exhibitions), and in 2011 also in the tenth Sharjah Biennial.

In 2013 his work was included in the exhibition “Emirati Expressions” at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi. In the same year he was part of the show “Body Art and Performance in the Gulf Area: 16 Artists” at New York University Abu Dhabi.