Phantom Limb at Jameel Art Centre

Bringing together 13 artists and collectives, ‘Phantom Limb’ interrogates our lived relationship to material heritage. Ranging across diverse media, the works on display pose pressing questions around the writing of history, the weaponization of heritage and the construction of foundation myths. From the circulation of artefacts to the destruction of architectural spaces, issues of material heritage are of global pertinence, yet are particularly charged in the Middle East, where layered realities of colonialization, war, and competing claims of cultural dominance form the backdrop to the research, preservation, trade and destruction of material heritage. At the heart of ‘Phantom Limb’ is the drive to reclaim lost histories, not only through documentation and archiving, but also through speculation and imagination.