Bringing the Past and Present Together Through Art

The Resonance installation, created by graphic designer Maryam Namvar and architect Neda Salmanpour, is an immersive and interactive art piece that invites visitors into a sensory conversation with the past and present of Al Shindagha. Curated by Munira Al Sayegh, the piece comprises three delicately suspended metal panels that move with the wind, reflect shifting light, and echo the rhythms of the creek. The installation draws inspiration from the constant movement of water, trade, architecture, languages, and communities that have long shaped life in this area. The piece’s dynamic nature highlights the cultural evolution of Al Shindagha, incorporating elements of the community’s history, while also adding a contemporary touch.

Promoting Public Art for Community Engagement

Dr. Saeed Mubarak bin Kharbash, CEO of the Arts, Design and Literature Sector at Dubai Culture, stressed that public art plays an essential role in the emirate’s cultural ecosystem. He emphasized that the Dubai Public Art Strategy is a platform for artists to draw from Dubai’s rich cultural heritage and express their creative visions. “Al Shindagha Historic Neighbourhood stands as a witness to the evolution of Dubai into a global city,” said Dr. Bin Kharbash, highlighting the importance of the site in Dubai’s collective memory.

Maryam Namvar and Neda Salmanpour, the artists behind the installation, said, “Al Shindagha serves as a cultural and historical touchstone, and, with our artwork Resonance, we wanted to capture the emotion of being there. We aim to contribute to the ever-evolving culture and context of the city by creating a piece that will evoke thought, emotion, and conversation.”

Continuing Dubai’s Public Art Journey

Resonance is the first in a series of three Dubai Public Art projects, which will continue to bring thought-provoking art into public spaces like the Shindagha Historic District, Al Quoz Creative Zone, and Hatta. This initiative reflects Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and Alserkal Arts Foundation’s ongoing commitment to nurturing artistic excellence among UAE-based artists, fostering deeper connections between the city’s creative community and its people.

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The week-long programme will begin with Alserkal Lates on Monday, 20 November (5-10 PM),
and will be followed by a curated Majlis Talks series, guest projects, a dance performance by
Sima Dance Company, a storytelling performance, as well as more than 15 new exhibitions
across the Avenue. Alserkal Arts Foundation will also host their open studios for their current
residency cycle on Monday, 20 November. The Alserkal Art Week programme takes inspiration
from this year’s Majlis Talks, for which Alserkal Avenue commissioned Mari Spirito, curator and
Executive Director of Protocinema. Titled Fierce Grace, the term for knowledge gained through
hardship, the programme asks us to shift our awareness to recognise ourselves as part of a
bigger whole.

A collaborative exhibition

On This Land, which opens at 6 PM on 19 November and runs from 20-26 November
(10AM-midnight), is an exhibition that opens an unexpected window onto Gaza to prompt a
collective imagination of a possible future through the prism of a past made manifest.
Bringing together the digital archive of The Palestinian Museum and works from the Barjeel Art
Foundation’s collection, On This Land, harnesses the power of spontaneous collaboration not
only to protect what is being silenced but to generate a triangulated and amplified response.

Intervention by Hazem Harb

Long-time Alserkal Avenue collaborator Hazem Harb will begin his intervention on the 19
November, until 26 November, marking a return to charcoal on paper after a hiatus of more than
a decade. The use of the medium holds profound significance for Harb, the black carbon dust
echoes that which now settles in his home, Gaza. Combining elements of abstraction and
figuration, the works attempt to visualise the unspeakable and encapsulate a profound sense of
loss.

Majlis Talks: a common ground for discussion

The majlis has always been a source of thoughtful and inspiring conversations and reflection.
From the majlis we begin a convergence of differences, mingling vantage points, allowing new
questions to rise as we bring artists, curators, researchers, and art-world professionals together.
Starting at 4 PM on 23 November 2023 and running across five thirty-minute sessions, this
year’s Majlis Talks, titled Fierce Grace, curated by Mari Spirito, will see conversations with
curator Duygu Demir, artist Stéphanie Saadé, artist Marianne Fahmy, and author Kaya Genc.
Topics to be discussed will range from attention to the small details of life we overlook (like our
skin cells left on our phone’s touch screen), to un-learning social conditioning, futurism on rising
seas, invisibility as a means of survival, and interconnecting across geographies.

Performance by Sima Dance performance in partnership with Al Tayer Motors & Maserati

Sima Dance Company, in partnership with Al Tayer Motors & Maserati, presents RHYME. A
theatrical laboratory, RHYME shows Arab and Eastern cultural heritage through an artistic lens.
Choreographed by Artistic Director and Choreographer, Alaa Krimed, the 30-minute
contemporary dance performance is the result of Alaa’s research into a collection of old and
modern Arabic language and poetry. Music, narration and bodies translate its melodic and
experimental character in a dynamic performance on 20 and 26 November from 7 PM.

New exhibitions at the galleries

More than 15 openings of contemporary art exhibitions will showcase a fascination with
geometry, explore the surreal, and artworks that use volcanic rock to address abstraction as a
concept.

Green Art Gallery is showing a solo exhibition by multi-media Emirati artist Afra Al Dhaheri,
whose work is rooted in her experiences growing up in the UAE. Nima Nabavi’s precise
pencil-line drawings will be exhibited at The Third Line, alongside the intricate watercolour work
of Jason Seife. Leila Heller Gallery brings together three solo exhibitions featuring artists
Diane Tuft, Maxi Cohen, and Clifford Ross. After an 18-month hiatus, Gallery Isabelle will
reopen, with a solo exhibition Disjunctions by Lubna Chowdhary. Fahd Burki, whose practice
moves between non-representational and figurative realms, will be exhibiting at Grey Noise,
Dubai. Ayyam Gallery presents Roshanak Aminelahi in Faces of Resilience. It lies beyond is
the central installation in the exhibition by Rashid Rana at Volte Art Projects that, whilst
looking like a seascape, are in fact photographs of heaps of garbage.

Bronze limited edition sculptures by Salvador Dali will be on view in Firetti Contemporary,
alongside Sawsan Al Bahar’s works. A group show, titled Reviewing Landscape, will be at
Elmarsa Gallery. The Black Flags of Medea covers a fundamental period of introspection for
Austrian artist Philip Mueller at Carbon 12. The first exhibition after their grand reopening,
TETHYS at Lawrie Shabibi exhibits the work of Nabil Nahas who draws inspiration from his
Mediterranean roots and reconnects to the places of his childhood, Lebanon and Egypt, to
explore themes through the lens of colour, texture, and the enigmatic world of nature.

Guest projects

Gazelli Art House will spotlight pressing environmental concerns in their group exhibition
جوهر /Jawhar, featuring: Recycle Group, Libby Heaney, Kalliopi Lemos, Aida Mahmudova,
Elnara Nasirli, Aidan Salakhova, and Matteo Zamagni. Ranging from artworks crafted from
recycled materials, to the creation of quantum-inspired visuals and augmented environments,
this exhibition explores themes of ecological fragility, and the potential of technological
advancements in rectifying these weaknesses.

Iris Projects presents The Return (راجعون(, new paintings by Juma Al Haj that chronicle
self-reflections on existence, triggered by loss. The immersive canvases explore spirituality and
the implausibility of memories in time. While Al Haj maintains his distinctive technique of
abstracted text, The Return signifies a clear development in his practice—his choice of sand as
a medium, the transition from script to tally marks, the shift to geometric abstraction.
Open studios at Alserkal Arts Foundation

The residents of the Fall 2023 cycle at Alserkal Arts Foundation will be hosting open studios for
Alserkal Lates. The residents include Christian Sleiman, a Lebanese artist, whose practice
examines various methods of food production, from foraging to industrial agriculture. Marika
Sardar, a consultant and independent scholar, is taking advantage of the setting in the UAE to
connect with local curators, artists, and members of the public. Smita Urmila Rajmane, a public
intervention artist, performer, and educator, explores major themes in her work that deal with
societal norms arising from class/caste and gender discrimination, communal violence,
projections of hate, and the differences that pervade today’s world. Vipin Vijay, a multiple
award-winning filmmaker and film academic, is an alumnus of Satyajit Ray Film & Television
Institute, Kolkata. Vipin’s public presentation delves into burial culture across diverse
archaeological sites and historical epochs on 23 November from 7PM.

Other highlights

For families, Rashid Almheiri, an Emirati visual artist, will be running two workshops, the first
exploring emotions through watercolour, followed by collograph printmaking. The Avenue’s new
outdoor screens will display work by Sofía Gallisá Muriente that makes visible the forms in
which climate programmes memory in the tropics. Wellness sessions, presented by The Chi
Room at DNA, will take place in The Yard, as well as a storytelling performance by Shereen
Saif on 25 November at 6PM, and Slow Art Walks throughout the week. On 20, 22 and 25,
Cinema Akil will be screening Farha, Gaza Mon Amour, and Foragers, in the Yard. An
experimental music performance by Bint Mbareh will be on 23 November at 7PM – the result of
the artist’s research into Palestinian songs, specifically the act of singing for the rain as a way of
affirming the collaborative relationship between communities and their environments.

Food and retail residencies

Visitors can enjoy Lebanese food at the contemporary manakishery Akhu Manoushe, premium
smash burgers at JT Burgers, a daily matcha at Blu Matcha, gourmet salads from Salata,
coffee and matcha from The Grotto, PHAT(where urban culture, music, art, and street food
collide), Wandr (wraps and bowls that strike a perfect balance between being indulgent,
nutritious and authentically-inspired), and Emirati owned bakery Local Foundry. Holistic
wellbeing specialists Maison Etherique is the Avenue’s current retail resident, alongside Swey,
showcasing a new wave of high quality eyewear.

Alserkal Art Week’s performance partner are Al Tayer Motors & Maserati. Al Tayer Motors will
showcase the New Maserati GranTurismo at Alserkal Art Week giving art lovers the opportunity
to see one of the finest examples of automotive art from the Italian auto manufacturer.
Full programme can be found on alserkal.online.

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The joint commitment to support artistic and curatorial excellence amongst UAE-based practitioners will lead each of the three public commissions. Munira Al Sayegh has been appointed curator for the open call for Al Shindagha Historic District, where she will lead a process-driven and participatory commission. In Al Quoz, Sumayya Vally will work with Alserkal Arts Foundation to consider the area’s industrial past and creative future, taking into account all those who use the space in innovative ways. Faysal Tabbarah will respond to the landscape itself in Hatta, seeking interventions that respect the environment and transform relationships with it.

Dubai Public Art is a new program launched by Dubai Culture to commission, curate, and activate three public works across Dubai, intended to create distinctive artistic interventions that will engage with the city and its individual neighborhoods. The program seeks to create meaningful opportunities for local artistic practice to thrive.

Dr. Saeed Mubarak bin Kharbash, CEO of the Arts and Literature Sector at Dubai Culture, affirmed that public art is an essential element in enhancing the strength of cultural tourism in Dubai. It contributes to enriching the emirate’s creative identity. He expressed his happiness in cooperating with Alserkal Arts Foundation to launch the open call. He continued, “Al Shindagha Neighbourhood is one of the most prominent historical areas of Dubai, and is considered a witness to the stages of the establishment and development of the emirate, and Alserkal Arts Foundation’s decision to select it to be part of the map of the distribution of Dubai Public Art reflects its importance and place in community memory.”

Vilma Jurkute, Executive Director of Alserkal Initiatives, reinforced the importance of public art in the social evolution of cities. She said, “Alserkal Arts Foundations’ ethos is grounded in shared authority and collective learning where open dialogue and long-term cooperation are foregrounded in our partnerships. Participatory art can help re-appraise current subjects and invite critical engagement, which creates an empowering space that can lead to social transformation. We look forward to working with Dubai Culture across the city to galvanize communities in Al Quoz, Shindagha, and Hatta, some of Dubai’s most historically-bound locations.”

Munira Al Sayegh said, “Public art remains one of the most powerful forms of art as it becomes directly accessible to any public that is within its reach. Dubai Culture’s investment in this domain is important for the community that surrounds it, and for the generous narratives we are collectively building for our shared future.”

Al Sayegh invites artists, designers, and architects to propose a project that engages deeply with the multiple histories and temporalities of the neighborhoods around Dubai Creek. The project, titled ‘Lamma | Coming Together,’ is designed to be program-led, inviting artists to propose ideas rooted in public participation. The commission presents a unique opportunity for artists, designers, and architects to collaborate with an established, locally-based curator in order to create an understanding of the impact and legacy of public art and the potential for meaningful social engagement in an urban heritage and museum context.

Apply Now: https://dubaiculture.gov.ae

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More than 250 international celebrities are anticipated to attend. The 16th iteration of Art Dubai will take place at Madinat Jumeirah from March 1–5, according to the season’s schedule. In order to explore the UAE’s experience in influencing the future, H. E Reem bint Ebrahim Al-Hashimy, the minister for international cooperation, and Hala Badri, the director-general of Dubai Culture, will also hold a joint session.

An exhibition showcasing Dubai in 1962 is being held by Dubai Culture to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic ties between the UAE and Japan. The photographs in the exhibition were taken by Japanese photojournalist Yoshio Kawashima during his trip to the Middle East. On Friday, the Taste of Dubai Festival will return to honor the culinary arts in Dubai and the surrounding area.

Up to March 17, an exhibition at the Al-Safa Art and Design Library will examine Dubai’s past, present, and daily life. The calendar of events also lists immersive entertainment parks with 12 zones of themed interactive experiences. Alserkal Avenue and Alserkal Arts Foundation will present a variety of imaginative cultural events, like art walks, throughout Dubai Art Season to offer other ways to interact with art.

According to Saeed Mubarak bin Kharbash, CEO of Dubai Culture’s Arts and Literature Sector, the Dubai Art Season has developed into a hub that unites many creative events in the emirate. The season provides opportunities for writers, artists and intellectuals to express their creativity in a variety of fields, which is consistent with Dubai Culture’s commitment to creating a sustainable and supportive artistic ecosystem for entrepreneurs, he said. This is consistent with the aim of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to establish Dubai as a hub for the world’s talent and culture.

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The foundation noted the potential for the space to become “an environment conducive to new conversations, enabling the cross-pollination of ideas between students, academics and cultural practitioners”.

The Common Room will be introduced to the public via a series of 30-minute presentations from local researchers and academics about their ongoing projects on Wednesday.

Presentations will begin at 6pm with Athoub Albusaily, whose research project questions the perception of the desert as a “waste land” and the connotations that go with this label, including assumptions of harshness, hostility and survival within the environment.

In her work, the Kuwaiti artist, researcher and art historian, who lives in Dubai, examines the ideas of borders, as well as the desert environment of her home country, often imbibing irony and visual metaphor. She has exhibited at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi and The Hub gallery in Kuwait.

Also presenting is cultural anthropologist Nidhi Mahajan, whose project Of Mobilities and Moorings: A View from the Dhow looks at the dhow as a symbol of transregional in the Indian Ocean. In a more specific local context, the dhow has also been used to represent pre-oil livelihoods in the UAE.

Mahajan’s research shows that outside of its use as a nostalgic symbol, the dhow is still used in trading across South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa.

Her project is part of a larger body of research, including a book titled Moorings: The Dhow Trade, States and Capital Across the Indian Ocean, based on a decade of archival and ethnographic research.

Finally, May Al-Dabbagh, an assistant professor at New York University Abu Dhabi, will discuss The Body Archive, her research on teaching gender and globalization in the Gulf.

Common Room is intended to be a permanent space at Alserkal Avenue and will continue its programming throughout the year.

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