A moment that yet to Come
In response to the first event, that is the deployment of Arabsat, the artist anticipates another great success of a GCC country that will also shape the dreams of the younger generation and become part of their popular culture. Regardless of the international doubts about Qatar’s ability to host the world cup in 2022, the constant collective success of the GCC dusts these false allegations away and reveal that the main reason for that is ignorance. For years people’s perspective on the Arab region was affected by some bias travel journals of the early Orientalists written from a narrow Eurocentric point of view. They could only see the hardship of the dessert life, but never considered the brilliant survival skills of its dwellers, their competitive spirit, and their great ambition to defeat the impossible to reach their goals and keep their long lasting culture alive. In fact, there was not much appreciation of that culture.
However, this is no longer the case in the satellite era. The history of the GCC will no longer be written from a bias perspective, they will be the ones who decide what to show the world about their land. As such, the artist celebrates this revolution by capturing the announcement of the bid winners and some of many reactions we all watched live. Qatar proved to the world its ability to win the bid, and will soon defeat the allegations and show what it can offer to the world. The three small square panels show different moments from different GCC TV channels, and one of which shows the reveal of the first purpose built stadium for the event. The latter signifies Qatar’s ability to move forward and surpass negative doubts. The work also reflects the collective joy of the GCC countries by sharing and celebrating this accomplishment. Between these two historical moments, 1985 and 2022, many events have been –and will be– remembered forever in the archives of mass media and will somehow affect our popular culture.
However, this is no longer the case in the satellite era. The history of the GCC will no longer be written from a bias perspective, they will be the ones who decide what to show the world about their land. As such, the artist celebrates this revolution by capturing the announcement of the bid winners and some of many reactions we all watched live. Qatar proved to the world its ability to win the bid, and will soon defeat the allegations and show what it can offer to the world. The three small square panels show different moments from different GCC TV channels, and one of which shows the reveal of the first purpose built stadium for the event. The latter signifies Qatar’s ability to move forward and surpass negative doubts. The work also reflects the collective joy of the GCC countries by sharing and celebrating this accomplishment. Between these two historical moments, 1985 and 2022, many events have been –and will be– remembered forever in the archives of mass media and will somehow affect our popular culture.