A newborn will not eat anything bitter, but instinctively loves the taste of sweetness. Why is that? Our DNA holds memory. And for a newborn baby, it holds the knowledge that bitter indicates danger.
DNA doesn’t shape us. We shape DNA. The thousands of years of history we see today were made by people. It wasn’t made by science – it was made by culture. From the beginning of time, it was there. Uniting us all. But we shaped the strands of DNA through our infinite connections. Represented by these rings, linking spaces with old stories, victories, lives come and gone, traditions. Combined together to make life itself. You are looking at where we came from. At where our story started.
Maybe our story started even earlier – we don’t know. But you are looking at one significant pit stop to that links our heritage with our journey to the unknown, and the past with the future. Giving us the ability to see through time. Creating a space in the temporal fabric that we can peek through at something timeless yet everlasting.
This piece is a contemporary representation of DNA. Not of its scientific properties but of its beautiful nature. Of the the esthetic qualities that make up a refined grace and elegance.
“DNA is not just a question of science - it holds something even more profound. Somewhere within its structure, DNA stores culture. It holds the key to the origin of beauty, the unconscious taste that drives us with no sense of logic. For me, the UAE DNA monument is not a symbol of scientific advancement but rather an emblem of the beauty and culture unearthed at Saruq Al Hadid.”
ANTONIO SIGNORINI
The symmetry of time and the cycles of heritage. Inspired by a small metallic ring that was found in this very location – possibly a link in a chain, an adornment – up to ten thousand years old. Just like in the ring that gave birth to this archeological museum, the DNA monument is comprised of faces that all link to one another but are unique in their own right.
The vertical monument rises up from the ground, much in the same way this country rose up from the sands and dunes. From nothing into something astounding. DNA is evidence of our existence far beyond the knowledge we hold today, and a language by which we understand the mysteries that run through our veins and our customs.
Yet these building blocks of existence transcend culture and borders and race, uniting us all and allowing us to progress. To keep building. To advance, through our commonalities.
This piece also tells a second story – that of the artist. The archeological site on which it stands is the reason the artist moved to the UAE. His passion for ancient worlds steeped in history and enigmas led him to reside closer to where he could find insight and connect with the intricacies of being. Humanity was born here. This monument is a foreign artist’s proof of love for this country. A symbol of thanks – for the place where inspiration and ideas originate – our DNA.