Taxidermy Dreams At Alserkal Avenue, Dubai

In Taxidermy Dreams, the artist delves into the parallel worlds of his mind, where animals recount mystical folktales and creatures frolic through an illusory zoo. Taxidermied dolls are choreographed into an uncanny dance that is at first wondrous and then macabre. Innocent toys and stories are thrust into a world of psychological panic in a large-scale multimedia installation comprised of paintings, in situ sculpture, video and sound.

Folktales in books have been the culmination of generations of oral history transmitted by storytellers. This intangible history turned written, was however skewed towards the powerful who had the possibility to transcribe their stories, leaving the marginalized and their narratives to be forgotten. Narrators thus become essential generational connectors passing down accounts to those seeking enlightenment and authenticity. When storytellers relate legends in their veracity, they take on a moral and educational role to preserve their popular culture.

Regardless of the perception on the tenacity of truth within, this method of passing on knowledge, young and old have gained awareness and dispersed it with an equal intention as a historical mode of transmission of facts. These narratives stem from the soul and essence of the event's space and time, often missed in the documented format. Due to its altering nature, the rebukes of storytelling created an atmosphere of doubt and mistrust, proclaimed as gossip and children chatter even though in reality it came to strengthen the identity and portrayal of communities.

Diminishing the role and importance of storytelling proves a rigidity of mind and the search for glory. When the narrator resorts to common and vernacular language it is a gesture of toning down certain painful events that civilians have lived and survived. When "Kalila and Dimna" was quoted it was in reference to the three young princes who had driven their tutors to despair and their father to distraction and the cruelty that this led to, using humorist strategies and the animalistic personifications in order to make the message accessible to a large audience, while remaining loyal to the core message.