The Garden of Light of Alia Farid and Aseel AlYaqoub

On the terrace that connects the two wings of the Jameel Arts Centre, there is a botanical garden - various species of trees of various sizes, typical of the vegetation of the Middle East. An artificial garden whose plants, created with LED lights, are the results of an artistic project that permitted Alia Farid and Aseel AlYaqoub, both born in Kuwait in the second half of the ‘80s, to win the first edition of Art Jameel Commissions, a competition begun in 2018 which invited artists to create with light. Farid and AlYaqoub conceived and created this immersive installation entitled Contrary Life: A Botanical Light Garden Devoted to Trees, starting from the idea and desire to have people reflect, without prejudice, on artificiality and its impact. The result is a garden of artificial plants which, during the day can deceive, seeming quite real, but at night, once they are “turned on”, they reveal their true nature while creating a fairy-tale atmosphere.