Mohammed Kazem is a conceptual artist who explores global transformation through everyday materials. A protégé of Hassan Sharif, he integrates his body into drawings, performances, and photographs to reflect on the rapid modernization of the UAE.
Since the 1990s, Kazem has visually represented sound by scratching paper with scissors in Scratches on Paper. In Photographs with Flags (1997–2003), he documents urban expansion by standing next to flags marking future developments. Directions (2002) involved tossing GPS- inscribed wooden panels into the Arabian Sea, later expanded into an immersive video installation at the 2013 Venice Biennale.
His work, blending photo-documentary techniques with poetic reflections on identity, has been exhibited internationally, including at major biennials like Sharjah, Havana, Singapore, and Venice. Kazem lives and works in Dubai.