The Mirage Effect

In her short film, ‘The Mirage Effect’, which combines video projection, projection mapping, literary texts, and sound design, Dana Dawud delves into the interplay of virtual and physical realms within urban landscapes. In the work, buildings are illuminated with fragments of unpublished fiction on Dubai by renowned writer and intellectual Shumon Basar, engaging with themes of loss, futurity, and the dynamic relationship between history and urban transformation. Parallel to the exhibition’s theme, her work is an exploration of culture and nature, attending and alluding to a new approach to seeing reality as a network of objects and things.

Dana Dawud is a Dubai-based painter and filmmaker. Through painting, sound design, and film, she examines the way online existence shapes the aesthetics and politics of art production, elucidating how the digital space has fostered a new level of collaboration, participation, and co-creation.