Dave Nez and the OHO Group at the UAE

The 11th annual Ras Al Khaimah Fine Arts Festival (RAKFAF) officially opened to the public on February 3rd, 2023, at the Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village – the historic home of the ancient Al Za’ab tribe and pearling village dating back to the 17th century. This year’s festival will showcase the talent of more than 120 local and international artists from over 35 countries under the theme of Nature.

The 2023 theme displays artists’ interpretations of nature emphasizing the creative minds of painters, sculptors, designers, filmmakers, and photographers. A key highlight of the festival is the Avant-garde artworks from Central and Eastern Europe presented by Croatian curator and art collector, Marinko Sudac. Themed ‘The Solitude of Thought’, the exhibition will include works from variety of artists including featured artists, Marko Pogacnik and David Nez.

Taking his images and mobiles of extinction and climate change to RAKFAF, Dave Nez has set up a group of his justifiably famous installations at various spots in the exhibition. Indoor mobiles with twisting, turning stencil panels allow light beams to project phantasmagoric, momentary images on the walls of traditional Arab interiors. Outside, stationary stenciled kites snapping in the wind, as well as ephemeral sand paintings depict a world whose natural aspects are being rapidly erased.

As part of the 1960s and ‘70s Slovenian OHO Group, an art collective active in the former Yugoslavia, Nez and several other former Group participants have assembled recently in Slovenia to contribute new installations, and to help with a new documentary about the group and its influences, even as its members have scattered around the world. Nez, for example, lives in Portland, Oregon.

Nez’s current UAE show will be unfortunately short-lived. Perhaps in keeping with the ephemeral natural of his work, the various components will only be available for viewing during the month of February 2023. To see more of Dave Nez’s work, visit his website at https://davidnez.portfoliobox.....

I might add, Mr. Nez is the author of a remarkable book, Tree of Visions: Visionary Traditions of the Western World, Shamanism, Magic & Myth from Prehistory to the Present. This volume traces the roots of visionary traditions throughout the centuries to the present. I highly recommend it.