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| She originated the concept of "Gulf Futurism".<ref name="dazeddigital1">{{cite web|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/15040/1/feature-the-desert-of-the-unreal |title=The desert of the unreal |publisher=Dazed Digital |date=2012-10-23 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> This concept was discussed by ] in two of his columns in Wired magazine.<ref name="wired1">{{cite web|author=Bruce Sterling |url=http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2012/11/gulf-futurism/ |title=Gulf Futurism | Beyond The Beyond |publisher=Wired.com |date=1972-11-29 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> He writes of her "There needs to be an exclusive first-class purdah lounge somewhere, where people like Sophia Al-Maria can hang out because they’re too gifted, intelligent and interesting to be exposed to the actual Internet." <ref name="wired2">{{cite web|author=Bruce Sterling |url=http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2012/11/some-cogent-examples-of-gulf-futurism/ |title=Some Cogent Examples of "Gulf Futurism" | Beyond The Beyond |publisher=Wired.com |date=1972-11-29 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> | She originated the concept of "Gulf Futurism".<ref name="dazeddigital1">{{cite web|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/15040/1/feature-the-desert-of-the-unreal |title=The desert of the unreal |publisher=Dazed Digital |date=2012-10-23 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> This concept was discussed by ] in two of his columns in Wired magazine.<ref name="wired1">{{cite web|author=Bruce Sterling |url=http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2012/11/gulf-futurism/ |title=Gulf Futurism | Beyond The Beyond |publisher=Wired.com |date=1972-11-29 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> He writes of her "There needs to be an exclusive first-class purdah lounge somewhere, where people like Sophia Al-Maria can hang out because they’re too gifted, intelligent and interesting to be exposed to the actual Internet." <ref name="wired2">{{cite web|author=Bruce Sterling |url=http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2012/11/some-cogent-examples-of-gulf-futurism/ |title=Some Cogent Examples of "Gulf Futurism" | Beyond The Beyond |publisher=Wired.com |date=1972-11-29 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> | ||
| Her memoir '' |
Her memoir ''The Girl Who Fell To Earth'' will be published by ] on November 27, 2012.<ref>{{cite web|author=The Girl Who Fell to Earth: A Memoir |url=http://www.amazon.com/The-Girl-Who-Fell-Earth/dp/006199975X |title=The Girl Who Fell to Earth: A Memoir: Sophia Al-Maria|publisher=Amazon.com |date= |accessdate=2012-11-07}}</ref> | ||
| ==Gulf Futurism== | ==Gulf Futurism== | ||
| '''Gulf Futurism''' is a term coined Sophia Al Maria to explain an existing phenomena she has observed in architecture, urban planning, art, aesthetics and popular culture in the post-oil ]. | '''Gulf Futurism''' is a term coined Sophia Al Maria to explain an existing phenomena she has observed in architecture, urban planning, art, aesthetics and popular culture in the post-oil ]. | ||
| Her interest in these areas arises from her youth growing up in the Persian Gulf area during the |
Her interest in these areas arises from her youth growing up in the Persian Gulf area during the 1980s and 1990s, experiences she describes in ''The Girl Who Fell To Earth''. | ||
| ===Definition=== | ===Definition=== | ||
| Sharing some qualities with 20th century movements like ], Gulf Futurism is evident in the agenda of the dominant class of this region, concerned with master planning and world building, and with a local youth culture that exhibits an asset bubble fuelled sense of entitlement and is preoccupied with fast cars and fast technology. | Sharing some qualities with 20th century movements like ], Gulf Futurism is evident in the agenda of the dominant class of this region, concerned with master planning and world building, and with a local youth culture that exhibits an asset bubble fuelled sense of entitlement and is preoccupied with fast cars and fast technology. | ||
| Line 21: | Line 20: | ||
| ===Origins=== | ===Origins=== | ||
| The concept originated in a 2007 essay called “The Gaze of Sci Fi Wahabi” which was made available as a limited edition book and can also be seen on a related website.<ref>{{cite web|author=Sophia Al-Maria |url=http://scifiwahabi.blogspot.com |title=The Gaze of Sci-Fi Wahabi |publisher=Scifiwahabi.blogspot.com |date=2008-09-07 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> More recently it was the subject of a feature entitled "Deserts of the Unreal" in ] which declares the article gives "the scoop on Gulf futurist and video artist Sophia Al-Maria" and states “Sophia Al-Maria coined the term Gulf Futurism” ,<ref name="dazeddigital1"/><ref>http://www.zoominfo.com |
The concept originated in a 2007 essay called “The Gaze of Sci Fi Wahabi” which was made available as a limited edition book and can also be seen on a related website.<ref>{{cite web|author=Sophia Al-Maria |url=http://scifiwahabi.blogspot.com |title=The Gaze of Sci-Fi Wahabi |publisher=Scifiwahabi.blogspot.com |date=2008-09-07 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> More recently it was the subject of a feature entitled "Deserts of the Unreal" in ] which declares the article gives "the scoop on Gulf futurist and video artist Sophia Al-Maria" and states “Sophia Al-Maria coined the term Gulf Futurism” ,<ref name="dazeddigital1"/><ref>http://www.zoominfo.com</ref> Renowned science fiction author ] discussed the concept in two of his regular columns in Wired Magazine.<ref name="wired1"/><ref name="wired2"/> | ||
| The influential Dutch art institution ], which presents critical and creative views on contemporary media culture and innovative audiovisual arts in an interdisciplinary context included discussion of the concept during its 2012 festival, stating in its catalogue for the exhibition "No More Westerns" that | The influential Dutch art institution ], which presents critical and creative views on contemporary media culture and innovative audiovisual arts in an interdisciplinary context included discussion of the concept during its 2012 festival, stating in its catalogue for the exhibition "No More Westerns" that | ||
| "Sophia Al-Maria is interested in that which is coming. Her work as a writer, filmmaker and artist focuses on Gulf Futurism and the inkling that the state of the contemporary Arabian Gulf (sic) is a premonition of our global future. She is based in Doha, Qatar. Her project “Sci-Fi Wahabi,” as illustrated by videos and essays, is an epic deep-dive into a displaced futurism that can only be glimpsed through the contemporary-surrealism of the Gulf States".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://impakt.nl/headquarters/news/festival-exhibition-no-more-westerns/ |title=Festival Exhibition: The Impossible Black Tulip of Cartography | IMPAKT – critical and creative views on contemporary media culture |publisher=Impakt.nl |date=2012-10-28 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-propeller-group.com/news |title=News |publisher=The Propeller Group |date= |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> | "Sophia Al-Maria is interested in that which is coming. Her work as a writer, filmmaker and artist focuses on Gulf Futurism and the inkling that the state of the contemporary Arabian Gulf (sic) is a premonition of our global future. She is based in Doha, Qatar. Her project “Sci-Fi Wahabi,” as illustrated by videos and essays, is an epic deep-dive into a displaced futurism that can only be glimpsed through the contemporary-surrealism of the Gulf States".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://impakt.nl/headquarters/news/festival-exhibition-no-more-westerns/ |title=Festival Exhibition: The Impossible Black Tulip of Cartography | IMPAKT – critical and creative views on contemporary media culture |publisher=Impakt.nl |date=2012-10-28 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-propeller-group.com/news |title=News |publisher=The Propeller Group |date= |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> | ||
| The concept is also cited by the website “Islam and Science Fiction” <ref>http://islamscifi.com/sci-fi-wahabi/</ref> | The concept is also cited by the website “Islam and Science Fiction” <ref>{{cite web|url=http://islamscifi.com/sci-fi-wahabi/ |title=Islam and Science Fiction » News SF by Muslims » Sophia Al-Maria (Sci-Fi Wahabi) |publisher=Islamscifi.com |date=2012-01-24 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> | ||
| ==="Scout"=== | ==="Scout"=== | ||
| Line 32: | Line 31: | ||
| ===Examples=== | ===Examples=== | ||
| Examples of Gulf Futurism can be seen in urban planning in cities such as Dubai and architectural bids such as the Al-Haram Masjid Mecca Expansion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thesunnivoice.com/2008/01/29/new-expansion-to-masjid-al-haram-makkah/ |title=New expansion to Masjid Al-Haram (makkah) « The Sunni Voice |publisher=Thesunnivoice.com |date=2008-01-29 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> The obsession with master plans is evident in the Qatar 2030 Vision document.<ref>http://www.gsdp.gov.qa/portal/page/portal/gsdp_en/qatar_national_vision</ref> There are also individual artists such as musician ], who are concerned with its ideas as well as artists from previous generations such as ], ] and Mahmoud Sabri.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quantumrealism.co.uk |title=Quantum Realism |publisher=Quantum Realism |date=1987-12-19 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> Further examples compiled by Sophia Al Maria and Fatima Al Qadiri are included in a Dazed Digital article <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/15037/1/my-obsession-al-qadiri-al-maria-on-gulf-futurism |title=Al Qadiri & Al-Maria on Gulf Futurism |publisher=Dazed Digital |date= |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> | Examples of Gulf Futurism can be seen in urban planning in cities such as Dubai and architectural bids such as the Al-Haram Masjid Mecca Expansion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thesunnivoice.com/2008/01/29/new-expansion-to-masjid-al-haram-makkah/ |title=New expansion to Masjid Al-Haram (makkah) « The Sunni Voice |publisher=Thesunnivoice.com |date=2008-01-29 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> The obsession with master plans is evident in the Qatar 2030 Vision document.<ref>{{dead link|date=November 2012}}</ref> There are also individual artists such as musician ], who are concerned with its ideas as well as artists from previous generations such as ], ] and Mahmoud Sabri.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.quantumrealism.co.uk |title=Quantum Realism |publisher=Quantum Realism |date=1987-12-19 |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> Further examples compiled by Sophia Al Maria and Fatima Al Qadiri are included in a Dazed Digital article <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/15037/1/my-obsession-al-qadiri-al-maria-on-gulf-futurism |title=Al Qadiri & Al-Maria on Gulf Futurism |publisher=Dazed Digital |date= |accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 13:28, 30 November 2012
Sophia Al Maria is an artist, writer, and filmmaker. She studied comparative literature at the American University in Cairo, and aural and visual cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work has been exhibited at the Gwangju Biennale, the New Museum in New York, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Her writing has appeared in Harper's Magazine, Five Dials, Triple Canopy, and Bidoun.
She originated the concept of "Gulf Futurism". This concept was discussed by Bruce Sterling in two of his columns in Wired magazine. He writes of her "There needs to be an exclusive first-class purdah lounge somewhere, where people like Sophia Al-Maria can hang out because they’re too gifted, intelligent and interesting to be exposed to the actual Internet."
Her memoir The Girl Who Fell To Earth will be published by HarperCollins on November 27, 2012.
Gulf Futurism
Gulf Futurism is a term coined Sophia Al Maria to explain an existing phenomena she has observed in architecture, urban planning, art, aesthetics and popular culture in the post-oil Persian Gulf.
Her interest in these areas arises from her youth growing up in the Persian Gulf area during the 1980s and 1990s, experiences she describes in The Girl Who Fell To Earth.
Definition
Sharing some qualities with 20th century movements like Futurism, Gulf Futurism is evident in the agenda of the dominant class of this region, concerned with master planning and world building, and with a local youth culture that exhibits an asset bubble fuelled sense of entitlement and is preoccupied with fast cars and fast technology.
“The Arabian Gulf (sic) is a region that has been hyper-driven into a present made up of interior wastelands, municipal master plans and environmental collapse, thus making it a projection of a global future.
The themes and ideas present in Gulf Futurism include the isolation of individuals via technology, wealth and reactionary Islam, the corrosive elements of consumerism on the soul and industry on the earth, the replacement of history with glorified heritage fantasy in the collective memory and in many cases, the erasure of existing physical surroundings.
Informed by texts such as Baudrillard’s The Illusion of the End, As-Sufi’s Islamic Book of the Dead and Zizek’s The Desert of the Unreal, Gulf Futurism also uses imagery from Islamic eschatology, corporate ideology, posthumanism and the global mythos of Science Fiction.” From “ Sci Fi Wahabi” by Sophia Al Maria
Origins
The concept originated in a 2007 essay called “The Gaze of Sci Fi Wahabi” which was made available as a limited edition book and can also be seen on a related website. More recently it was the subject of a feature entitled "Deserts of the Unreal" in Dazed & Confused Magazine which declares the article gives "the scoop on Gulf futurist and video artist Sophia Al-Maria" and states “Sophia Al-Maria coined the term Gulf Futurism” , Renowned science fiction author Bruce Sterling discussed the concept in two of his regular columns in Wired Magazine.
The influential Dutch art institution Impakt, which presents critical and creative views on contemporary media culture and innovative audiovisual arts in an interdisciplinary context included discussion of the concept during its 2012 festival, stating in its catalogue for the exhibition "No More Westerns" that "Sophia Al-Maria is interested in that which is coming. Her work as a writer, filmmaker and artist focuses on Gulf Futurism and the inkling that the state of the contemporary Arabian Gulf (sic) is a premonition of our global future. She is based in Doha, Qatar. Her project “Sci-Fi Wahabi,” as illustrated by videos and essays, is an epic deep-dive into a displaced futurism that can only be glimpsed through the contemporary-surrealism of the Gulf States".
The concept is also cited by the website “Islam and Science Fiction”
"Scout"
This interest is further explored in "Scout", her entry for the 2012 edition of the internationally renowned art event Gwangju Biennale. “Scout”, is a sculpture and sound installation which makes use of an echoing voice inside a mysterious fibre glass sculpture. The soundtrack includes an Arabic excerpt from the 1977 Voyager spacecraft's golden record of sounds from Earth and it's inhabitants. This piece was reviewed in the leading art magazine Flash Art
Examples
Examples of Gulf Futurism can be seen in urban planning in cities such as Dubai and architectural bids such as the Al-Haram Masjid Mecca Expansion. The obsession with master plans is evident in the Qatar 2030 Vision document. There are also individual artists such as musician Fatima Al Qadiri, who are concerned with its ideas as well as artists from previous generations such as Khalifa Al Qattan, Hassan Sharif and Mahmoud Sabri. Further examples compiled by Sophia Al Maria and Fatima Al Qadiri are included in a Dazed Digital article
References
- Sophia Al-Maria (2010-03-24). "Sophia Al-Maria from HarperCollins Publishers". Harpercollins.ca. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
- ^ "The desert of the unreal". Dazed Digital. 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- ^ Bruce Sterling (1972-11-29). "Gulf Futurism | Beyond The Beyond". Wired.com. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- ^ Bruce Sterling (1972-11-29). "Some Cogent Examples of "Gulf Futurism" | Beyond The Beyond". Wired.com. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- The Girl Who Fell to Earth: A Memoir. "The Girl Who Fell to Earth: A Memoir: Sophia Al-Maria". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
- Sophia Al-Maria (2008-09-07). "The Gaze of Sci-Fi Wahabi". Scifiwahabi.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- http://www.zoominfo.com
- "Festival Exhibition: The Impossible Black Tulip of Cartography | IMPAKT – critical and creative views on contemporary media culture". Impakt.nl. 2012-10-28. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- "News". The Propeller Group. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- "Islam and Science Fiction » News SF by Muslims » Sophia Al-Maria (Sci-Fi Wahabi)". Islamscifi.com. 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- "Gwangju Biennale 2012". Gwangjubiennale.org. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- "SCOUT on Vimeo". Vimeo.com. 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- "Article detail OnWeb - Flash Art". Flashartonline.com. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- "New expansion to Masjid Al-Haram (makkah) « The Sunni Voice". Thesunnivoice.com. 2008-01-29. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- "Quantum Realism". Quantum Realism. 1987-12-19. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
- "Al Qadiri & Al-Maria on Gulf Futurism". Dazed Digital. Retrieved 2012-11-30.
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