This year, Alserkal Avenue’s Art Week is all about presenting contemporary art to the public.
Running from Saturday until March 3 between 10am and 10pm each day, the event will showcase something for all art enthusiasts with events spread out across galleries, art spaces and outdoors settings.
From solo exhibitions to art tours and live performances to installations, food pop-ups and more, here are The National's top six must-see events happening at Alserkal Art Week.
Slow Art Walks with Mo Reda
Artist and curator Mo Reda invites visitors on a slow art walk to take the time to consider and unpack the varying aspects of the artistic process.
The tour down Alserkal Avenue will highlight a number of works that focus on how artists use materials to translate their vision into reality. From texture to dimension and colour, each component of a material chosen by an artist has meaning.
Date and time: Tuesday, 8pm
To register participation please visit: alserkal.online/event/slow-art-walks
Posters for Gaza Group Exhibition
Zawyeh Gallery presents the work of 26 artists who have come together to raise their voices in support of Palestine through a series of specially created posters.
Representing a long tradition within the context of Palestinian history, political posters have been seen as a form of protest through art and were produced extensively in the 1970s and 1980s by Palestinian, Arab and international artists.
The exhibition showcases posters of varying styles and materials including acrylics, inks, charcoal, collage and digital techniques all expressing the underlying narratives linked to the Palestinian cause.
Location: Zawyeh Gallery
The Farmers' Market
The Alserkal Avenue Farmers' Market takes place each Saturday with local farmers gathering to present their freshly harvested produce from all over the country, along with sourdough bakeries and traditional kitchens offering up natural and diet-conscious foods.
There will be an abundance of organic fruit and vegetable on offer from IGR Organic Farms, Hasabi Organic Farms and Deema Organic Farm. Tasty treats will also be available from Palestinian bakery Albaraka Healthy Bites, and Emirati kitchen Tamra & Somsom will provide traditional snacks.
Location: Main Avenue
Time: Saturdays, 9am-2pm
Can You Hear Me? by Nalini Malani
Considered part of India’s first generation of video artists, Nalini Malani will screen her work Can You Hear Me? the week at Concrete.
The piece features textual and visual quotations interplaying with snippets of sound and music where Malani expresses outrage against social violence and global injustice. Her immersive hand-drawn animations will be projected in large scale for a theatrical experience.
Incorporating visual references from Indian poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Irish novelist Samuel Beckett to German philosopher Hannah Arendt and Spanish painter Goya, the work also combines Malani’s consistent engagement across cultures, art and literature.
There will also be a series of outdoor screenings in The Yard of an adapted version of Malani’s seminal work Ballad of a Woman.
Location: Concrete
Guardians of the Land by Noreen Ali
Dastaangoi Gallery from Pakistan, in collaboration with Alserkal Avenue, will showcase the work of multidisciplinary artist Noreen Ali in an exhibition entitled Guardians of the Land.
Ali’s works are inspired by ancient trees witnessing the passage of time while coexisting with other creatures within the ecosystem. Her stunning portrayal of animals in various settings, frames them as cohabitants while her choice of colour and composition depicts their majesty within our spaces.
Location: Jossa by Alserkal Avenue
Talisman performance by Mandy El-Sayegh
Malaysian-British artist Mandy El-Sayegh will present a new performance piece entitled Talisman as part of her solo exhibition A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.
The performance draws on varying sources for inspiration, including diverse forms of prayer rituals.
Talisman will explore new possibilities for presenting sound and performance art and is infused with complex movements and layered with audio and kaleidoscopic projections.
Location: Lawrie Shabibi
Date and time: Tuesday, 8.30pm
Alserkal Art week will be running from Saturday until March 3 at Alserkal Avenue.
