Page 480 - MINISTRY OF CULTURE PR REPORT - MAY 2025 (ENGLISH)

5/12/25, 2:35 PM Pressure Cooker serves food security at National Pavilion...
understanding, and dialogue are essential to the continued evolution of the UAE’s extraordinary architecture, art, and culture community.”
The Foundation is the Commissioner of the Pavilion. Based in Abu Dhabi, the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation is a private not-
for-profit foundation committed to the cultivation of a more creative, connected, and thriving UAE community.

Laila Binbrek, Director, National Pavilion UAE, commented that “the National Pavilion UAE continues to play a leading role in shaping the
UAE’s cultural landscape ... This is reflected in Azza Aboualam’s journey, who first engaged with the Pavilion as an intern in 2014. This
year’s exhibition introduces a new critical lens ... thoughtfully connected to the climate realities of our time.” Azza Aboualam said: “The
exhibition examines how architecture can help identify and address challenges in food production, bringing the UAE closer to its food
security goals.” Professor Michael Allen, Acting Vice President of Zayed University, said that “the partnership between Zayed University
and the National Pavilion UAE is an example of our commitment to advancing creativity through research, education, and collaboration.”
A publication titled Pressure Cooker Recipes: An Architectural Cookbook edited by Azza Aboualam and published by Kaph Books,
accompanies the exhibition. Holesum Studio is an interdisciplinary architecture and design practice based in New York, USA, and Sharjah,
UAE. Azza Aboualam co-founded the studio in 2021, a few years after graduating from Yale School of Architecture. Her scholarly interests
include the intersection of memory, architecture and society in the Middle East and North Africa region. She worked with the UAE Ministry
of Culture’s Architecture Initiative, and her field research, sketches and writing were published in the book In Search of Spaces of
Coexistence: An Architect’s Journey (2019). She also contributed research to Building Sharjah (2021), edited by Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi
and Todd Reisz, and Showpiece City: How Architecture Made Dubai (2020), written by Todd Reisz.

While working in Sharjah’s Department of Public Works, Aboualam managed the design and construction of large-scale projects such as
the Aga Khan Award–winning Wasit Wetland Center. The National Pavilion UAE is an independent, non-profit organisation, with a
permanent pavilion at the Arsenale – Sale d’Armi. The award-winner curates the untold stories about the UAE’s arts and architecture
through its participation in the International Art and Architecture Exhibitions organised by La Biennale di Venezia. It is supported by the
Ministry of Culture which champions Emirati cultural, artistic, and heritage institutions, providing a platform for creative and talented
individuals across various fields, and promoting dialogue between different cultures.

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