collection - Sharjah Art Foundation

The Fairmont Hotel in the Clock Tower of the Abraaj al Bait complex has 858 rooms, each with an en suite bathroom with tub. Many wealthy families from the Gulf have a room booked year-round for themselves and their visitors.

Artwork Details

Artist Ahmed Mater
Title $3,000/Night Room
Date 2013
Medium Colour video projection with sound, framed colour photographs, furniture and fruit boal
Dimensions Overall dimensions variable
Duration 3 minutes

Overview

The Fairmont Hotel in the Clock Tower of the Abraaj al Bait complex has 858 rooms, each with an en suite bathroom with tub. One can choose between a room with a view of the city, the mosque or of the Ka’aba. The price of the latter can go up to 3,000 USD per night, especially during Ramadan, but the advantage is that one can pray facing the Ka’aba directly from one’s hotel room. The hotel rooms are connected to the sacred mosque’s sound system. Many wealthy families from the Gulf have a room booked year-round for themselves and their visitors.

$3,000/Night Room, 2013

Ahmed Mater
$3,000/Night Room, 2013
Colour video projection with sound, two framed colour photographs, furniture and fruit boal
Video: 3 minutes video; overall dimensions variable
Sharjah Art Foundation Collection

Mater, Ahmed

people

Informed by his education and work as a medical doctor as well as the social, religious and historical contexts of Saudi Arabia, Ahmed Mater’s practice explores the narratives of Islamic culture in an era of globalisation, consumerism and flux.