Theaster Gates Hosts Prada Mode in Abu Dhabi

Few people understand the connection between art and fashion more organically than Miuccia Prada. It’s not just that her cerebral clothes are a go-to for gallerists and museum directors; Prada herself is a well-known art collector, and for many years she has enlisted artists to create backdrops for her runway shows, both at Prada and its sister brand, Miu Miu. In 2015, she went even further by opening the Fondazione Prada, an impressive complex designed by Rem Koolhaas. It has hosted exhibitions by artists such as Goshka Macuga, Francesco Vezzoli, and Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch, dramatically transforming the arts scene in Milan.

Another important part of this commitment to culture has been Prada Mode, a series of site-specific events that originated in 2008 with the Prada Double Club, an installation—and raging party—that the artist Carsten Holler brought to life in London. Since then, artists, directors, and photographers including Kate Crawford and Trevor Paglen, Martine Syms, Damien Hirst, Jia Zhang-Ke, and Kazuyo Sejima have all collaborated with Prada on experiences that journey across art, music, food, design, and entertainment, in cities as varied as Miami, Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo.

The latest iteration of Prada Mode, which opened on February 11 in Abu Dhabi for a short but powerful four days, is the brainchild of the American artist Theaster Gates, whose work has been featured at the Serpentine Gallery in London, Punta della Dogana in Venice, the New Museum in New York, and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, as well as in pretty much every other major institution in the world. Originally trained as an urban planner, Gates has been spearheading an arts-led reinvigoration of a neighborhood in the south side of his native Chicago for years. His practice, which includes sculpture, land art, ceramics, and performance, aims to give life to disappearing or undervalued histories, places, and traditions, especially within communities of color.

The setting chosen for this iteration of Prada Mode was MiZa, an old port area in Abu Dhabi littered with disused boats, which is being converted into a cultural district with galleries, creative-exchange hubs, and an arthouse cinema. In a nondescript warehouse, Gates started out with a simple concept: “a circle within a square.” The artist designed a welcoming, carpeted, intimate cylindrical gathering space, open from above to encourage introspection and contemplation. It was the setting for acoustic performances by musicians like the Mauritanian singer Noura Mint Seymali, a spoken word performance by Afra Atiq, and workshops centered on preserving local crafts like traditional weaving done by women. By contrast, everything that took place outside of the cylinder—in a conventionally square room—was boisterous and energetic, with live DJ sets and a thumping dance atmosphere. There, Gates projected images related to the cultural legacy of the Middle East, sourced from his personal trove of 60,000 slides of historic artworks and architectural plans.

“My practice depends on being present with people who are great, or working in a place that is great, but people haven’t recognized that greatness,” Gates said. “The space I created in Abu Dhabi is made for one thing, not 20 things. It’s to hold performances really well.” He emphasized the importance of the other artists that were being showcased there, who were all female, and how Prada could give them a platform in which to showcase their talents. “All I brought was the idea of women, a circle, and a square,” Gates continued. “That was enough of a prompt, from which great things could emerge.”

At a time when digital interactions and everything AI seem to dominate the narrative, Gates’s reaffirmation of the importance of in-person conversations, interactions, and transmission of knowledge felt especially powerful. To be a part of his club, you really had to be there.