Zeinab Alhashemi’s installation in the Theseus Temple explores the changing role of camels on the Arabian Peninsula. It examines how the oil boom in the Gulf region transformed culture and the local significance of camels, which were once the key source of livelihood, means of transport, and central cultural touchstones.

For her sculptural compositions Alhashemi uses camel fur and hide dyed in El Ain, an oasis city in the United Arab Emirates. The leather, which is mounted on various surfaces, forms sculptural landscapes and creates intersections between seemingly unlike forms and objects. It alludes to how humans and camels jointly adapt to their environments.

The link between progress and decline also reverberates through Alhashemi’s work. As His Highness Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the founder of the Emirate of Dubai, explained: ‘My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel.’

Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien