To forage is to search for potential in a landscape, spurred on by a lingering sense of the unknown. On Foraging presents the nuances of what it means to be in constant search of nurturing and feeding, for the individual and the collective, within seemingly arid environments. Exploring the long and multifaceted history of an environment that has for generations fed its own people and others in a rich variety of ways, On Foraging reveals the work that goes into unearthing the landscape through a confluence of personal and collective narratives. The project recognizes the deep reserves of cultural and agricultural knowledge that have been passed down through generations and that continue to be tapped into and added to today, foregrounding these moments of what it means to nurture across multiple scales.

Our research and conversations have illuminated three entangled registers in which food knowledge performs. First, we discovered how domestic food production in private farms reveals narratives of intergenerational learning and kinship. Second, we identified how entrepreneurial farming, including organic, hydroponic, and oyster farming, creates alternative food narratives within barren environments. Finally, we observed the ways in which the supply of produce is addressed and confronted at the national register, specifically around the development of language that suggests a collective responsibility.

The artworks displayed in this exhibition highlight and amplify these entanglements. The questions and narratives that they reveal are particularly timely given the rising challenges of reclaiming narrative as well as global issues around climate change. On Foraging calls for historical food knowledge to be brought forward, reexamined, and rediscovered.

This exhibition includes the contributions of 14 UAE-based and regional artists, including Auguste Nomeikaite, Eileen Vazquez, Paola Sakr, Reem Falaknaz, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Ammar Al Attar, Abdullah Al Saadi, Abir Mnasria and Zaina Khayyat, Vikram Divecha, Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Moza Almatrooshi, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Nujoom Al Ghanem, and Nahla Tabbaa.

On Foraging was exhibited twice, first at the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2020 and at W421 in Abu Dhabi.