Situated on the new Al Khayat Avenue in Dubai’s Al Quoz district just a short five-minute walk away from the bustling Alserkal Avenue arts hub is NIKA Project Space, a new art gallery situated across two floors that opened in early March. Founded by Veronika Berezina, based between the UAE and Switzerland, the mission of NIKA is to offer a space for cross-cultural dialogue and research particularly through the genre of Conceptual art with an emphasis on female artists.
“I've always loved conceptual art largely due to its intellectual aspect. The visual component is of course of great importance, but what I love is how it leads you to think in new directions—to expand your mind in new ways. At NIKA Project Space we are trying to expand on the international element of Conceptual Art, how it brings together people from around the world, the Middle East and elsewhere to offer a global dialogue between artists and cultures.”
Inside, on the first floor which takes the shape of an elongated rectangle are works by various artists made in a multitude of various materials but all reflective of the theme of nostalgia, the focus of the gallery’s inaugural exhibition, titled Fragments of Time Unending (until April 23).
Placed here in unison are works by Saudi artist Muhannad Shono, Kazakh Alexander Ugay, London-based Nika Neelova, Russian Olga Chernysheva, and Beirut-based Honduran artist Adrian Pepe. The power of the works on display, created using contemporary, non-figurative genre and highly conceptual methods, is the common representation of fragility, vulnerability, and the beauty of everyday life despite its uncertainties.
“There’s also this opportunity with a work of conceptual art to discover something new, particularly in the realm of ideas,” says Berezina. “I think conceptual art offers a deep way of communication with the viewer; particularly the way the work of one reflects on oneself. These works are thought provoking. Every time you are in contact with a conceptual artwork, it prompts new thoughts in you because we change with time. Every second we are changing; change is our constant.”
Curated by Lebanese Dubai-based Sarah Daher, the poignancy of this show is revealed through the interactions of the artworks on display created by artists that hail from countries around the world. An intricate and delicate work in ink on paper by Shono titled I’m Sorry from Above (2016) explore moments of mass trauma that ripple across the globe captured from a satellite distance in miniature form. Like a moment of severe distress or loss, the work looks conceptually at what happens when balance is loss en masse. In a similar vein that also looks at the effect of real-world events is a work from Ugay’s Obscurations (2018) series revealing layered abstractions inspired by cataclysmic events that he then reconstructs as pinhole-camera-inspired objects that are then photographed in space.
“A work of conceptual art engages the viewer to have thoughts and insights into what is taking place around the world, but also the feelings and unique insights of the one’s inner world,” explains Berezina.
Meanwhile, Pepe’s Composition (2020) displayed on a wall on the first floor incorporates found textiles trapped in felt in a way that reveals a sense of cohesion, togetherness but also disarray and confusion.
Berezina launched NIKA Project Space as a new platform for artistic experiments, research, and the advancement of curatorial practice. But why Dubai? She was lured by the city’s cosmopolitan character that attracts a multitude of nationalities and encourages a spirit of entrepreneurship. From a young age, Berezina had a desire to engage with art and artists and began studying art history and taking courses on collecting while studying International Law for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees she obtained at Moscow State University of International Relations. After graduating, she worked as an international tax lawyer, but her love was always with art. She continued to attend art exhibitions and biennials throughout the world and began collecting art in 2013, first from emerging artists she discovered in galleries in St. Petersburg after which she pursued works by international artists.
Dubai became the ideal place in which to launch a gallery for its multicultural nature. It is here in the United Arab Emirates’ sprawling, ever-changing city that has over the years begun a global capital for business and culture, that she hopes to foster links through art between the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.
“One of my goals through the space is to foster cross-cultural dialogue, especially during these times when people have been separated due to global challenges. There’s a feeling of disconnection and I want to restore the link through art in my space. Dubai is also a great place to do this because there are so many people from so many different nations and cultures and countries living here together, side by side. Dubai is a magnetic city in terms of its cosmopolitan nature.”
Another focus, one which Berezina is particularly keen to push, is the art of female artists.
“Though recently there has been a great increase in the number of women involved in art sphere, the industry is tough and still challenging for women artists and dealers,” she says. “I want to give women the chance to be equally represented at the gallery to champion change in the scene and increased visibility for women.” To this end, Berezina will stage a female-focused exhibition in the upcoming months.
On the ground floor are two works by Russian female artists. Neelova’s Knots series (2022) made from reassembled, reclaimed mahogany handrails appear twisted like the form of a giant entanglement. The curves appear gentle though, even if the lines are trapped, just like vibrant seemingly dancing mass of flowers in Chernysheva’s oil on canvas work Flower Riot (2022) as if to say that even in the madness and uncertainty that engulfs us today there is still a thread of beauty and hope to be found.
