Engendering Change: Charting a History of the Emirates through Women Artists

Abstract

Abstract Contrary to narratives of universally positive modernization in the United Arab Emirates, this article draws on the lives and work of women artists to offer a more detailed view of the UAE’s rapid urbanization and development. First, the article shows how changing educational structures and systems led to the privileging of the English language, which has resulted in differential generational access to a contemporary art world that operates predominantly in English. Second, the article looks at the losses of urbanization illustrated by artists reflecting on the changing experience of community, gendered norms of public behavior, the role of buildings and monuments in navigation and identity, and resource exploitation.