Spring-Summer 2019 programme

Jameel Arts Centre, one of the first major contemporary arts institutions in Dubai, presents robust programming throughout Spring-Summer 2019, including: new exhibitions and installations, a symposium, film screenings, workshops, artists’ talks, performances, reading groups, and a Centre-wide takeover by the inaugural Youth Assembly. Since the Jameel first opened in November 2018, it has received active engagement from diverse communities across the UAE as well as regional and international artists, curators and cultural tourists.

Crude Symposium
Crude, the critically-lauded exhibition featuring 17 artists and collectives, curated by Murtaza Vali, and exploring oil as an agent of social, cultural and economic transformation across the Middle East, continues through March 30. To mark the show’s closing weekend, the Jameel convenes an international symposium exploring key themes in the exhibition—the social, cultural and ecological histories and impacts of oil—through a series of talks, films and panel discussions. Participants include artists Shirin Sabahi and Ala Younis, historians Amanda Boetzkes and Nelida Fuccaro, writer Graeme Macdonald and curator Cuauhtemoc Medina, among others. Expanding on themes related to Crude, a film series curated by Murtaza Vali and Mona Damluji will be on view continuously from March 24 to April 7.

Exhibitions
The Jameel Prize 5 exhibition—featuring works by Kamrooz Aram, Hayv Kahraman, Hala Kaiksow, Mehdi Moutashar, naqsh collective, Younes Rahmoun, Marina Tabassum and Wardha Shabbir—tours to Dubai from the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, who organise the Prize in collaboration with Art Jameel (April 25-September 14). The Jameel Prize is awarded biennially to artists and designers inspired by Islamic design and visual culture.

Three newly opened Artist’s Rooms by Hemali Bhuta, Farah Al Qasimi and the duo of Seher Shah and Randhir Singh, run through until June 8, 2019. Drawn largely from the Art Jameel Collection, Artist’s Rooms is a series of solo exhibitions by influential, innovative artists with a particular focus on practitioners from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota’s commissioned, site-specific installation, has been extended through September 7, 2019, by popular demand.

Jameel Library 
A new monthly programme, Library Circles, invites UAE-based practitioners to present research and works via public presentations and an experimental exhibition format in the Jameel library. The first in the series is led by Rand Abdul Jabbar. Public programmes also include children’s and family workshops, curator-led tours, reading groups and discussions.

Youth Assembly Takeover
The inaugural Jameel Youth Assembly has been meeting since October 2018, debating ideas and devising programming. On April 26, they take over the Jameel, with a public event featuring new installations, digital works, films, performances, discussions and music by 20 emerging UAE-based artists. The programme is wholly curated and commissioned by the nine Youth Assembly members.

Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park
The Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park, adjacent to the Jameel and developed in partnership with Dubai Holding as the UAE’s first arts-themed park, will be the site of several programmes, including a night of spoken word by Backyard Poetry co-founders Qutouf Yahia and Safwa Hashim, and performances of an Urdu-language theatre production by Qissa-Go. New sculptural works for spring include the 36 elements of Desert Cast by Kuwait-based designers Ricardas Blazukas, Kawther Al Saffar and Jassim Al Nashmi.

Over the summer, the grounds will be prepared for a major installation by Hassan Khan, Composition for a Public Park, from the Art Jameel Collection. The installation was previously shown at the 57th Venice Biennial, where it won the Silver Lion; unfolding in three movements across the Park, this edition of Khan’s multi-channel work includes a spoken libretto recorded by male and female actors in Arabic, Urdu and English. Opening October 8, 2019, and running through June 8, 2020, the work will be freely accessible for all to experience, day and night.

For a full list of programming, visit jameelartscentre.org

Entrance to the Jameel is free and open to all

Press contact
Sareh Faraj
sareh@artjameel.org