Monira Al Qadiri, oil tanker visions at Berlinische Galerie
Published on 08/21/2026 at 16:38 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Monira Al Qadiri currently anchors a major solo exhibition titled Hero at Berlinische Galerie in Berlin. As the museum's 2026 exhibition overview confirms, the show runs until August 17, 2026 and centers on several new work groups built around the motif of the oil tanker.Berlinische Galerie exhibition overview 2026
The solo show in Berlin
The exhibition Hero occupies Berlinische Galerie from July 11, 2025 through August 17, 2026, a notably long run for a single-artist installation project.e-flux exhibition announcement The museum assigns the central space to a complex ensemble of sculpture, video and mural works.
According to Berlinische Galerie's program text, Al Qadiri develops site-specific pieces that treat crude oil as more than a resource, tracing its links to consumer capitalism, exploitation and structural dependency.Berlinische Galerie exhibition overview 2026 The oil tanker appears as both infrastructure giant and symbol of global power politics.
Presence at biennials and fairs
Beyond Berlin, Monira Al Qadiri participates in the project Sensitive Resources within the Biennial (Re)Connecting Earth in Geneva, on view from April 29 to June 14, 2026, where resource extraction and ecology again form the core theme.Artist shows overview The biennial situates her work among global positions on climate and logistics.
Her painted aluminum sculpture First Sun, co-commissioned by Public Art Fund and Lassonde Art Trail, was installed at Doris C. Freedman Plaza in Central Park, New York, from September 3, 2025 to August 2, 2026.Public Art Fund exhibition listing The piece marked her first public art presentation in North America and translated petro-political concerns into a hybrid human-scarab figure.
Exhibitions, public art and biennials in overview
For collectors and curators who follow Monira Al Qadiri across institutions, public art commissions and biennials, the AD HOC NEWS archive offers further context and market-adjacent reports.
The work core in oil imagery
Monira Al Qadiri works primarily with sculpture, installation and video that parse the cultural imagination around oil economies. Her projects often turn industrial forms into iridescent, quasi-organic objects, echoing both fossil origins and consumer surfaces.Perrotin Dubai press release Altered States
In Altered States, her solo exhibition at Perrotin Dubai from March 4 to April 10, 2026, four sculptural bodies of work addressed how global economies hinge on extraction and how these processes shape political geographies and everyday life.Perrotin Dubai press release Altered States The show reinforced her status in the Gulf's contemporary discourse.
Where the artist stands now
Within the current 30-day window, Monira Al Qadiri's work remains on view in the group exhibition New Humans: Memories of the Future at New Museum in New York, running on the museum's second and third floors through August 31, 2026.New Museum exhibition page
Key facts on Monira Al Qadiri
- Artist: Monira Al Qadiri
- Medium / Genre: Sculpture and installation (conceptual)
- Born: 1983, Dakar, Senegal
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice between Berlin and the Gulf region
- Active since: Early 2010s, with wider institutional visibility from mid-2010s
- Key work groups: Future Dystopia, Gulf Dream, Alien Technology, Hero
- Current/last exhibition: Hero, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, July 11, 2025 - August 17, 2026
- Major collections: Berlinische Galerie (Berlin), New Museum (New York), Kiasma Museum (Helsinki), Bozar (Brussels), SCAD Museum of Art (Savannah)
- Awards: Various regional recognitions in Gulf art contexts, including curatorial commendations
- Next date: August 31, 2026 - closing of New Humans: Memories of the Future at New Museum, New York
Frequently asked questions about Monira Al Qadiri
Where is Monira Al Qadiri currently on view?
Her work is prominently on view in the solo exhibition Hero at Berlinische Galerie in Berlin until August 17, 2026 and in the group exhibition New Humans: Memories of the Future at New Museum in New York through August 31, 2026.
What defines the exhibition Hero at Berlinische Galerie?
Hero centers on the oil tanker as a sculptural and mural motif, examining connections between fossil fuel economies, consumer capitalism, geopolitical power and ecological crisis through large-format installation, sound and video.
How does First Sun in Central Park fit into Monira Al Qadiri's practice?
First Sun translates her interest in petro-economies and mythology into a public sculpture that merges a human bust with a scarab figure, referencing Khepri and reflecting on human-nature interdependence in an urban, high-visibility setting.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
