The exhibition A Sounding of the Earth presents works by Kuwaiti-Puerto Rican artist Alia Farid.

Exploring the many intertwined narratives that characterise the Arabian Gulf across time, Farid connects ancient artifacts with today's global oil industry, examining how ecosystems, cultures and ways of life are influenced by political forces and extractive industries, but also how they bear witness to resistance and survival.

Through sculpture and installation, Farid reflects the ecological and social crises of her own time, drawing on ancient materials and protective objects. She draws on both handmade and industrial objects, combining materials with seemingly disparate meanings – from blue faience with a 6,000-year history to polyester resin, a by-product of the 20th century oil industry.

The contrast between the materials also reflects the landscapes of the Gulf itself, where archaeology and industry have long coexisted. Here, ruins and pipelines crisscross the same land as archaeologists and oil companies dig for both oil reservoirs and traces of past civilizations. In this terrain of excavation and extraction, Farid’s works take shape, bridging the gap between the traces we find from the past and those we ourselves leave behind.

At the Glyptotek, Farid is showing two completely new versions of her previous works Palm Orchard and Kupol LR 3303 Talisman , as well as a large site-specific installation created for the Glyptotek’s Winter Garden. Together, they form a network of protective places and objects in the museum’s architecture. Here, among the Glyptotek’s own collections of migrated objects, Farid’s works invite us to question the forces that control the passage of bodies, objects and species across borders and through time.

Special exhibition in collaboration between the Glyptoteket and Copenhagen Contemporary.

For further information head to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek website.

Tagged 24/11.