Art and Migration to the Gulf: Unpacking the “Binary States, India-UAE” Exhibition at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale

Abstract This article presents an alternative narrative about the role of transnational migration in Gulf societies, that was developed in the contemporary art scene. It was presented in 2016–17 in the shape of an exhibition at the third Kochi-Muziris Biennale of Contemporary Art in Kerala, South India and explored how contemporary art can provide a space of freedom to address certain delicate issues in the Gulf context. The exhibition was put on by a collective based in Dubai, but was presented abroad at a Biennale located in the state of Kerala that is famous for its massive outmigration to the Middle East. The article examines how this context of production influenced the contents presented at the Biennale, and considers how it may have been received.