Last night I was honoured to be part of the inaugurual edition of Art Index - an exhibition of photographs taken of artists and art professionals working in the UAE’s art scene. Emirati photographer Ammar Al Attar shot 50 portraits on his antique 4x5 camera and presented them as varying sized prints across the Maraya Art Centre’s gallery space. The show was like a who’s who of the art scene but it was also capturing a moment in history, documenting what is happening right now in the art scene and saving it for future generations.
Some images were formal portraits and others captured the subject more candidly and there was a mix of black and white and colour, which gave the exhibition a fresh feeling. The idea was to take the photos in artist’s studios, professional places of work or in galleries, so it is not only a documentation of the people but also of their daily lives.
Some personal favourites include the image of Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim on his Harley Davidson motorbike, Zainab Alhashemi sitting inside her concrete sculpture in DIFC and the artistic shot of Alia Al Shamsi against a villa in Dubai.
I have posted here a few of my images from the opening last night but really, you should make time before now and the end of August to go and visit yourself.
* Art Index 1.0 runs until August 29 at Maraya Art Centre. For more info visit www.maraya.ae
