VCUarts Qatar Heads to Venice with Aghrab Idrāk

Set within Palazzo Cavanis at the Zattere, part of the  61st International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Aghrab Idrāk brings together faculty-led research from across VCUarts Qatar’s Institute for Creative Research. Co-curated by Dr Hesperia Iliadou and Chase Westfall, Aghrab Idrāk unfolds not as a single narrative but as a layered set of investigations into perception, memory, and systems of knowledge.

أغرب إدراك  | Aghrab Idrāk: Thresholds of Perception, a collateral event at the 61st International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, marking a distinction that places the University among the world’s leading cultural institutions.

“La Biennale di Venezia marks a significant milestone in VCUarts Qatar’s international engagement and offers an opportunity to situate our work within a truly global conversation,” said Amir Berbić, Dean of VCUarts Qatar. “Our participation reflects our investment in research-driven creative practice and interdisciplinary collaboration while showcasing how VCUarts Qatar, as a higher education institution, is redefining how universities contribute to global cultural production.”

“La Biennale di Venezia marks a significant milestone in VCUarts Qatar’s international engagement and offers an opportunity to situate our work within a truly global conversation,” said Amir Berbić, Dean of VCUarts Qatar. “Our participation reflects our investment in research-driven creative practice and interdisciplinary collaboration while showcasing how VCUarts Qatar, as a higher education institution, is redefining how universities contribute to global cultural production.”

The Collateral Event is co-curated by Dr Hesperia Iliadou, Director of the Museums & Exhibitions Study Society in Venice, and Chase Westfall, Head of Gallery at VCUarts Qatar. It will showcase faculty-led creative research from across VCUarts Qatar’s Institute for Creative Research’s interdisciplinary labs, featuring projects developed by (In)>Tangible Lab, TypeAraby, GA:MA Lab, AlBokeh Lab, xLab, Water With Water, Sonic Jeel, Boost Lab, Mesh Lab, and Anthro-tech Atelier.

At the core of the exhibition is a wide-ranging body of work that moves across mediums and disciplines:

Mapping Migration Memories traces Qatar’s historic movement between desert and sea through a multimedia installation combining sound, light, and oral histories, foregrounding intangible cultural practices and generational knowledge.

Bandhani Arabi: From Thread to Word brings together South Asian textile traditions and Arabic calligraphy, positioning craft and language as shared cultural infrastructures across the Indian Ocean.

Oceans & Lands: Drifting Senses and Knowledges creates an immersive sound environment that reimagines connections between Asia and Africa through movement, memory, and exchange.

…and I Was Left Behind (راحوا و خلوني…) is a large-scale film installation that revisits personal histories of home, loss, and intergenerational relationships between women.

Preceding Emptiness takes the form of a kinetic light installation, exploring Arabic as a living system—one that carries both heritage and transformation.

The Gulf Between Us operates as both a photography zine and sculptural installation, capturing everyday life and overlooked narratives across the Arab Gulf.

Sonic Fields reimagines the traditional majlis as a sonic lounge, where field recordings and generative audio create an evolving spatial experience.

Chrysalis presents a kinetic, air-cleaning sculpture that merges environmental function with material experimentation, transforming fabric into a “breathing” system.

A Monocular Monologue introduces an AI-powered robotic entity that engages visitors, questioning how humans perceive and relate to machines.

Whisper from United Geekdom compiles video portraits of Qatar’s “geek” communities, expanding representation and challenging cultural stereotypes.

More than an exhibition

Together, these works reflect the breadth of research across labs including (In)>Tangible Lab, TypeAraby, GA: MA Lab, AlBokeh Lab, xLab, Water With Water, Sonic Jeel, Boost Lab, Mesh Lab, and Anthro-tech Atelier.

Rather than resolving into a single theme, the exhibition operates through accumulation. As described by the curatorial framework, the projects unfold as “a constellation of interconnected works,” allowing multiple entry points into questions of perception, identity, and collective memory.

Running alongside the exhibition, a two-day symposium titled Relational Ecologies: Perception, Mobility, and Collective Form will extend these conversations, bringing together faculty from VCU Richmond, researchers from Qatar, and international collaborators.

On view from June 1 to November 22, 2026, ‘Aghrab Idrāk: Thresholds of Perception’ positions VCUarts Qatar within a global network of cultural production, grounded in research, but open to interpretation.