Behind the scenes
I've shared numerous times about our trips to the Abu Dhabi Children's Library which became a weekly activity for us at our homeschool. Since it's Ramadan, the timings have changed and we have not visited for a while. We had to go last week because we have some books that are due and we got to witness something interesting.
They are setting up for the upcoming exhibits!
Location:
This one will open in May and will run until November, 2023.
LOBI LOBI: Pascale Marthine Tayou
Location: Cultural Foundation, Ground Floor
Minimum Age: All ages
Entry: Free
“LOBI LOBI: Pascale Marthine Tayou” celebrates the work of internationally renowned contemporary artist Pascale Marthine Tayou. This exhibition presents works which examine the scarcity and excess of resources in the contemporary landscape. Named after the artist’s poem LOBI LOBI, the exhibition highlights the rich paradoxes of consumer and material culture. The show comprises vibrant and thought-provoking sculptures, mixed media, and installation works.
The kids and I spent a considerable amount of time watching this passionate team at work. We had the chance to see the tools and machines they use to put the installations together.
Have you been on one of these scissor lifts? These lift the workers so high up, they could almost reach the building's ceiling!
We felt dizzy and got wobbly feet even while just watching. We could not help but be amused at these guys at what they do.
There were lots of materials in bog boxes and crates that were being unloaded. They had inclined planes to make the job easy, but it still required a some manpower to make sure everything is safe. Just imagine if this crate would be left to slide down on its own. LOL. We saw some figurines that vary in sizes, some small, some up to 4ft. tall, if I gauge it correctly.
As we kept on watching, we could not help but wonder how they were able to put together these big installations. It must take a lot of planning and expertise to execute this.
Physics.
My eldest quipped. Yes, I agreed. So get curious and study more. :D
Hanging houses. We no longer saw how they were able to put these up. It would have been interesting. But I guess, it also adds to the magic of viewing these art pieces, when we do not know how they were done exactly.
I also wonder if the artist was present during this installation process, or if the team are just putting them together like pieces to a jigzaw puzzle. Here, we can see them working on a big ball of plastic! Whew!
We are already looking forward to see this exhibition in it's complete state. We will definitely not miss that. It will run for seven (7) months, so there's no reason not to witness these amazing works of art and learn more about them. In the meantime, it was nice to also have a glimpse of at least part of the preparation for a big project such as this.
More from the Cultural Center Foundation Building
We came across the above work in progress while we were going out from the Children's Library, which is on the first floor of the Cultural Foundation Building. We walked all the way down the hall and reached the VIP Lounge near the Theatre.
We sat down there like VIP's when we got tired of watching the workers of the exhibit.
This set of couches got my attention for its beautiful color and the amount of natural lighting it gets . It sits against a mosaic designed tiled wall -- a humongous wall!
I stepped back a bit to get a full view of this side and get a shot of the lighting source! Ingenious design, indeed. I makes use of natural light -- one Abu Dhabi has a lot of.
There's another set of chairs at the left side that has similar lighting mode.
The Children's Library also has a similar design - the floor goes around an open space that gets direct sunlight. There's a roof above it, but the inner side of the library gets lots of natural light. It's our favorite spot in the library. I was even able to make a couple of Shadow Hunters post for Hive because of this.
 | Shadow Hunters Round 247 - Library Day |
|---|
We spent just under three hours at the library during our last visit, but we definitely had a great time. On our next visit, the exhibit will already be open. There will be two more exhibits that will run along side LOBI LOBI. I look forward to sharing that experience with you all.
