421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi announces spring 2024 schedule

Platform will hold two major exhibitions and 14 workshops

The 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi. Its spring programme will begin from April 19. Photo: 421 Art Campus

421 Arts Campus has announced its spring 2024 exhibitions and public programmes, which will include workshops, talks and special events.

The independent platform in Abu Dhabi, which focuses on supporting emerging creative practices, is set to have two major exhibitions and 14 workshops running from April 19.

Both exhibitions will open on May 16. The first, titled On a Timeline, is the 2024 MFA graduate group show and features the work of New York University Abu Dhabi’s art and media graduates. The exhibition will showcase the research and experimentation of NYUAD's 2024 MFA cohort, whose work gives insights into contemporary global issues.

On a Timeline will feature works by Sara Alahbabi, Ciel Arbour-Boehme, Zara Mahmood, Fatima Al Romaithi and Farah Soltani across a series of disciplines, including drawing, painting, sculpture, installation and mixed media.

The first solo exhibition of Palestinian visual artist Mona Ayyash, titled The Clock Doesn’t Care, is also included in the programmes. Ayyash is part of this year’s edition of the 421 Artistic Development Programme and will present, as part of the exhibition, a collaborative video piece with a group of actors, dancers and performance artists.

The video is a close study focusing on small body repetitive non-functional movements that serve no purpose or productivity.

Ayyash questions the tension between passing time and wasting time, through the mundane and repetitive. Without a clear narrative in her videos, the work attempts to explore the notion of time itself, playfully commenting on how it continues to pass despite our individual intentions or efforts.

Running alongside the exhibitions, from April 19 until June 6, is the spring 2024 programme titled Reverberations.

Through workshops, jamming sessions and, for the first time, 421’s Block Barty community event, Reverberations will introduce various spaces of interaction and exchange as a response to continuing social, political, environmental and technological disturbances around the world. Topics to be explored include the overload of information, the rise of artificial intelligence and the effects of political and climate change.

The inaugural Block Barty event will take place from April 19 to 21 at 421 across the Mina Zayed neighbourhood.

Taking inspiration from the history of urban block parties, the event is open to the public and is set to feature independent retailers, pop-ups, entertainment, workshops and art installations.

Some of the workshops to take place range from the conceptual to the literary and culinary.

There is also Performance Co/Lab, which invites creative participants to explore movement practices such as improvisation and breath work. In Jamming Sessions, mother and daughter duo Elita and Anita will teach foodies how to make galnish, a traditional Chechen dish. For bookworms, there is Journey to Liberation, a new reading group series where writers and readers gather every two months to discuss a selection of short stories and excerpts.

More information on the exhibition, a full list of workshops and registration details are available at www.421.online