Venetian whispers: National Pavilion of United Arab Emirates exhibition at hand

The National Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates has announced its forthcoming exhibition Washwasha at the 6lst International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (May 9 - Nov. 22, pre-opening on May 6, 7, 8).

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Washwasha (“whispering” in Arabic) is curated by Bana Kattan, Curator and Associate Head of Exhibitions at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project, and Assistant Curator Tala Nassar.It brings together artists Mays Albaik, Jawad Al Malhi, Farah Al Qasimi, Alaa Edris, Lamya Gargash and Taus Makhacheva, whose practices contemplate contemporary soundscapes in the UAE, shaped by migration, transience, and long-term ties to the land. A phonetic transliteration of the Arabic word for “whispering”, Washwasha is a starting point for exploring themes of movement, technology, oral histories, and the relationship between language, body, and identity. The themes reflect the lived conditions of many who shape and are shaped by the UAE's cultural landscape.

The exhibition reflects on how shifts in infrastructure in the UAE - whether architectural, technological, or social-have transformed the ways communities hear and are heard. Inside the National Pavilion United Arab Emirates, Washwasha, designed by Büro Koray Duman (BKD) Architects, responds to the acoustic signature of the building's materiality and architecture. The exhibition is organised as a sequence of chambers, guiding visitors from zones of close listening to areas consumed by noise and sonic overlap. From oral storytelling to poetry circles and locally initiated broadcasting efforts, sound has long functioned as a platform for collective self-representation. Washwasha situates contemporary artistic practices within this continuum of transmission and exchange.