Monira Al Qadiri (*1983) is a Kuwaiti artist who was born in Senegal and trained in Japan. Her work has been shown internationally in renowned institutions, including exhibitions in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the USA. In 2022, she was part of the central exhibition "The Milk of Dreams" at the Venice Biennale.
One focus of Monira Al Qadiri's work is on the socio-cultural impact of the oil industry and its history and future. She has been researching and working on this topic for over 10 years and has helped shape the discourse on oil, patriarchy and globalization. Her work reflects on the links between the establishment of oil as the most important fossil fuel in the mid-20th century and the expansion of consumer capitalism in the post-war period. She often develops her works from autobiographical experiences, including those she had in Kuwait in the 1980s and 1990s, and takes a critical look at existing historical and political narratives.
The examination of oil always also means an examination of the history of human interaction with the earth, its exploitation and its resilience. For the Berlinische Galerie, Al Qadiri is developing a site-specific installation consisting of a large-format mural, objects and sound, in which oil is far more than a "resource". It is also symbolic of the violence, memories and personal stories associated with its extraction.
July 11, 2025 to August 17, 2026
