Mohammed Kazem

Mohammed Kazem (Dubai, 1969), is one of the most important representatives of contemporary art – not only in the United Arab Emirates, where he is considered a rising star. His name has been known worldwide since his sensational participation in the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), where he designed the UAE pavilion with a multimedia room. He initially trained at the Emirates Fine Arts Society and subsequently studied music at Al Rayat Music Institute of Dubai and painting at the Edinburgh College of Art. In 2012 he then earned an MFA from the University of the Arts of Philadelphia, developing a multidisciplinary approach that integrates sound, light, video, performance and installation.

At the age of 14 Kazem joined the class of Hassan Sharif, one of the first and most famous conceptual and performance artists in the United Arab Emirates. After his early experiences with painting on the one hand and performance on the other, in the early 1990s Kazem began to explore and play with the matter, extending the work into three dimensions, in an attempt to capture and visualise the intangible – sound, light, space and time – in a single moment. His practice explores perception, space, and environmental transformation, translating ephemeral phenomena into visual and sensory experiences that reflect on memory and the rapid changes shaping contemporary landscapes.

In recent years he has participated in many solo and group exhibitions including Art Dubai (2025), Dhai Dubai Exhibition (2025), Ludwig Museum of Koblenz (2023), Louvre Abu Dhabi (2021), 21.39 Jeddah Arts (2020), Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (2017), Guggenheim New York (2016), Yinchuan Biennial (2016), Sharjah Biennial (2015), Gwangju Museum, among others of Art (2014), Photo Festival Houston Biennale (2014), Boghossian Foundation, Brussels (2013) and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2012).