March 18–21, 2015
Madinat Jumeirah
Dubai
UAE
– 2015 marks the launch of Art Dubai Commissions, featuring site-specific works by mid-career regional and international artists.
– A.i.R Dubai residency programme, a partnership between Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Tashkeel, Delfina Foundation and Art Dubai, returns to Al Fahidi and grows to include an extended educational outreach programme.
Art Dubai Projects invites artists to create new, site-specific works, exhibited at the fair, March 18 to 21, 2015, as part of an expansive not-for-profit programme. Artists selected for the 2015 programme include Jumana Emil Abboud, Rheim Alkadhi, Maria Thereza Alves, Mehraneh Atashi, Fari Bradley & Chris Weaver, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Jessica Mein, Hind Mezaina, Mehreen Murtaza, Sharmeen Syed and the collective Umashankar and the Earchaeologists.
Both A.i.R Dubai residencies and Art Dubai Commissions are curated by Lara Khaldi, an independent curator based between Ramallah and Amsterdam who previously curated the Jerusalem Show and Riwaq Biennial, Palestine (2012) and was Assistant Director for programmes at Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE (2009–11).
Art Dubai Commissions gives artists the opportunity to develop dynamic site-specific works for both the grounds of the fair and the city-at-large. All five commissions are developed with local and international partner organisations: the collaborative model is designed to extend the life and influence of the project beyond the fair in March.
Art Dubai Commissions collaborates with Alserkal Avenue to commission Brazilian artist Maria Thereza Alves to develop a garden from reclaimed dormant seeds in the UAE, while Lahore-based Mehreen Murtaza creates an interactive installation that references narratives of science fiction. Both artists are working with the industrial environment of Alserkal Avenue, where the works will be exhibited.
Palestinian multi-media artist Jumana Emil Abboud is in-residence at the Delfina Foundation in London, and developing ideas for an interactive installation and performance work for the fair’s home at Madinat Jumeirah. Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah, is supporting this project and will follow up by presenting Abboud’s project beyond Art Dubai, in 2015–16.
Umashankar and the Earchaeologists—a collective comprised of Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Nida Ghouse and Umashankar Manthravadi—embarks on a two-year commission with Art Dubai. The work is an “acoustic archaeology” investigation, looking at how sound can influence our understanding of ancient—and contemporary—sites. The project, supported by the British Council, will manifest through an audio essay in 2015, building up to a multifaceted project at Art Dubai 2016.
Fari Bradley and Chris Weaver return to Art Dubai in 2015 with a major new sound installation and performance based on their research in the UAE, where they have been based as artists-in-residence at Tashkeel for the past year. This work is developed for Art Dubai Commissions in partnership with Tashkeel.
A.i.R Dubai, the residency programme run by Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Tashkeel, Delfina Foundation and Art Dubai, returns to Al Fahidi historical neighbourhood for the fourth year. Six artists are invited to develop projects for Art Dubai through a three-month residency, working together in studios and taking part in an expanded outreach programme of talks, reading groups, screenings, publications and open studios.
In 2015, the residency programme is particularly diverse: UAE-based artists selected via a competitive Open Call include the established Khorfakkan-based artist Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim; photographer and writer Hind Mezaina; Sharmeen Syed, whose practice references architectural research; and multi-media artist Jessica Mein. The artists joining them in the residency from abroad are the Amsterdam-based, former Rijksakademie resident Mehraneh Atashi, who works in photography, video and installation and has been recently pre-occupied with the concept of entropy, as well as Beirut-based artist Rheim Alkadhi, who weaves poetic collages from objects, texts and images.
About Art Dubai
Art Dubai is held in partnership with The Abraaj Group and is sponsored by Emaar and Julius Baer. Madinat Jumeirah is home to the event. The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority is a strategic partner of Art Dubai, and supports the fair’s year-round education programme.
The ninth edition of Art Dubai takes place March 18 to 21, 2015. The gallery halls include 91 galleries from 40 countries exhibiting across three programmes: Contemporary, Modern and Marker. The fair’s extensive not-for-profit programme includes an exhibition of works by winners of The Abraaj Group Art Prize and the critically acclaimed Global Art Forum.
For more information on Art Dubai Commissions, click here.
For more information on A.i.R Dubai, click here.
