A walk in the garden can be the start of an artistic and a meditative exercise – at least, that is the idea behind an upcoming workshop at Tashkeel led by artist Vikram Divecha.
Tucked away at Dubai’s Nad Al Sheba neighbourhood, the art hub has a garden with local flora and fauna as well as winding stone paths. With Divecha, participants will explore the scents, colours and shapes of the garden through drawing, writing and performance.
Comprised of four sessions, the workshop – simply named Garden – intends to prompt a “slow, purposeful disengagement from our fast-paced lives” through activities such as map-drawing and writing exercises that reflect on our relationship to the environment.
Participants are also expected to share ideas and spark a dialogue through group readings and discussions led by the artist.
Divecha is a multi-disciplinary artist whose practice considers ideas of authorship and value. His 2017 artistic intervention Beej, commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation, asked municipal gardeners in Sharjah to plant vegetable and grain seeds from their family farms in Lahore and Punjab in the city's Al Naba'ah residential neighbourhood. The work looked at labour and land, spurring questions about the relationship of the gardeners to the UAE and Pakistan through the soil they cultivate.
The artist, who completed his masters in visual art at Columbia University, has exhibited at the Venice Biennale and Louvre Abu Dhabi. He is also a graduate of the Tashkeel Critical Practice Programme and Salama Emerging Artist Fellowship in the UAE.
The Garden workshop begins on Wednesday, February 17 and will take place weekly until March 10. Due to Covid-19 guidelines, it will be limited to six participants only. Taskheel has highlighted that social distancing will be enforced. The cost of the workshop is Dh755 per person.
More information is at tashkeel.org
