This stunning journey into Cai Guo-Qiang’s first solo exhibition in the Arab world features 17 new, site-specific artworks by one of the most influential contemporary artists in the world. Saraab (mirage in Arabic) is an ambitious publication that commemorates Cai’s rarely shown artworks on paper, canvas and porcelain alongside his spectacular gunpowder explosions. Visual and historical links between the Arabian Gulf and China include maritime imagery and fragments from the ancient community of Muslims in Cai’s hometown of Quanzhou.
The book also features conversations between the artist and a team of Sino-Arab historians, documentation of Cai’s collaboration with local volunteers in creating his monumental gunpowder works and an essay by curator Yuko Hasegawa, the artistic director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.
Language English/Arabic
Publication date 2011
ISBN (Hardback) 978-8857-214-34-4
(Paperback) 978-8857-214-35-1