Rise of the art residencies in the UAE


Melissa Gronlund
  • English
  • Arabic

In 1954, a cash-strapped Jacques Cousteau pitched British Petroleum to lead a reconnaissance mission in the waters off the coast of Abu Dhabi. Despite reluctance over the French explorer and filmmaker's "showboat" character, BP enlisted Cousteau and his boat, the Calypso, on geological surveys mapping the ocean floor – not an idle pursuit, as the mid-1950s was the time of competition for oil concessions among the Gulf States, with Shell Oil planes reportedly "buzzing" the Cousteau-BP operation.

This meeting of fame, oil claims and marine history is the subject of an investigation by Michael John Whelan, a Berlin-based Irish artist in residency in Alserkal Avenue's new studios, which are tucked in a row behind the Concrete exhibition space. In four identical rooms, accessed through opaque sliding doors and kitted out sparsely but functionally, Alserkal Avenue is welcoming its second cohort in a residency programme that began last year.

Warehouse 421, too, has just opened artists' studios, hidden behind the site's exhibition space and looking out onto the fully equipped studio of Nagwa, with its whirring 3D printer and lightning-flashing laser cutter. Warehouse421's studios, which will later be open to UAE residents, are hosting three artists, from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Lithuania, from the new Art Dubai Residents programme, with another Art Dubai cohort at in5 Design at D3 in Dubai and still another at Tashkeel. And Art Jameel has also recently announced it will partner with the London-based Delfina Foundation across a range of programmes. These include the development of residencies at its sites, including Jameel Arts Centre, when it opens in Dubai this winter, and the forthcoming Hayy: Creative Hub in Jeddah.

Art residencies in the UAE

Residencies are nothing novel in the UAE. The Sharjah Art Foundation and Maraya Art Centre, among others, have long hosted artists to come to live and work for short periods in Sharjah. Tashkeel in Dubai has run a residency programme since 2008, in addition to hosting artists on A.i.R Dubai, the former Art Dubai residency programme.

But they have become more frequent, both within the UAE and abroad.

Less public-facing than other components of the art world, such as exhibitions or art fairs, residencies play an important role in the development of an artist's career. Organisers often set up studio visits to local curators and writers, giving the artists exposure to networks and knowledge.

“Residencies are an alternative form of education,” says Aaron Cesar, director of the Delfina Foundation, who has recently been appointed as senior adviser to Art Jameel. “If you take a case like Dubai, there is an artist community there, but it isn’t equitable in terms of commercial versus non-commercial. The clusters of artists’ studios, grassroots organisations – all these things are only now emerging to complement the commercial gallery system that Dubai has had for a while. In this context, residences are important for artists because similar to a developing country or one that doesn’t have a strong education system, residencies can be an important form of engagement around artistic practice.”

And they tend to have, as Areej Kaoud, who undertook an A.i.R Dubai residency at Tashkeel in 2016, puts it, “a knock-on effect. Residencies act as a form of representation”, similar to that of a gallery’s representation of an artist, she says. She notes the exposure and number of opportunities that arose out of her time in the A.i.R programme.

The importance of residencies

They also offer a chance for artists to focus, away from domestic or – to a large extent – financial pressures. Residencies vary in terms of what they offer, but most give artists studio space and accommodation, and some give a stipend. The Alserkal Avenue artists, in what should surely be the plot of a sitcom, live together in a villa, and generally commute into work together – by Uber – each sliding through the doors into their respective studios.

Relatively speaking, Alserkal Avenue's is a sober set-up. Other residencies offer studio spaces in a floating "ice island" (itself a work by American artist Andrea Zittel), sited near Indianapolis, or in bold sheds dotted around Fogo Island, an island off Newfoundland in Canada. "Residency-hopping", or living from residency to residency, has become a popular way to avoid high rents in European capitals (even better if you can offer your flat on Airbnb at a profit). There is, already, a backlash against this practice.

For an emerging art scene such as Dubai, which has been commercially-led, residencies are a way of bringing artists into the community, and of creating long-term links. eL Seed, for example, had a residency with Tashkeel in 2013, and is now based here.

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Read more:

Celebrating 10 years of the pioneering arts hub Tashkeel

Changing Saudi art scene: New arts complex to open in Jeddah

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For Tashkeel, which offers studio spaces to local artists and designers, residencies have become an important extension of its identity. “We have learnt that six to 12 months is the optimum duration for a residency at Tashkeel,” says Lisa Ball-Lechgar, the deputy director. “The impact of such an extended experience on the artist’s practice is profound and the connections made with the practitioners and residents of Dubai are deep. Just as Tashkeel wishes to be a part of the artist’s story, so too do we want them to part of ours. Any shorter than six months, a residency risks simply scratching the surface of a place as multi-layered and fascinating as Dubai.”

The artists

Art Dubai’s artists come for a shorter period – generally four to eight weeks – with the residency geared towards a project to be exhibited at Art Dubai. This year, the residencies are co-organised with the artists’ galleries, who nominate the artists and then show their work in a dedicated section of the fair. The idea is to expose the artists not only to new connections, but also to inspiration from the city.

Kristina Alisauskaite, a painter from Lithuania who is based at one of Warehouse421's studios, has begun a series of portraits based on traditional Khaleeji women's clothing. Iabodiou Piko, from Indonesia, is creating wild canvases with a personal iconography representing his time here, with small scribbled mosques and significant terms such as the number of his bus route and his hotel room, and even the hotel name – Marriott – found among the elements. For another painting, he mixed Abu Dhabi sand with bitumen to paint a canvas in large-scale, gestural scrawls.

Sand – that elemental material – seems a favourite among residents. In the Alserkal Avenue studio occupied by Whelan, with his project on Cousteau, a neat pile of sand and two bottles of sea water all sit on the floor, like keen guests waiting for the party to arrive. Whelan will make a film based on Cousteau's expedition, in addition to the 1809 Battle of Ras Al Khaimah, in which the British won the power of the seas – an event he found out about since arriving here.

'We don’t reserve the residency only for artists'

Alserkal Avenue's programme is relatively unique for being open to writers and curators as well as artists, reflecting the needs of other art professionals. "Just as Alserkal Avenue wants to serve many different kinds of creative practice," says Vilma Jurkute, the director of Alserkal Avenue. "We don't reserve the residency only for artists."

Art Jameel has announced few details on its programme, which revives a collaboration between Antonia Carver, who used to head Art Dubai, and the Delfina Foundation, which also partnered on A.i.R Dubai.

"We're also keeping the exact nature of the co-programming we can now do, as partners, open-ended," says Carver. "Part of the joy of like-minded collaborations is to allow for brainstorming and open discussions with artists and other practitioners. Delfina Foundation will work with Art Jameel to help us plan out and activate the studio spaces we have in the Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai and Hayy: Creative Hub in Jeddah. And we are starting to explore how we can create further opportunities for artists and for exchange across all the sites both organisations work in – London, Jeddah, Dubai, Cairo and beyond."

The Alserkal Avenue residents host open studies on March 19 from 11am–8pm in the residency spaces, off the Yard, and their works are on show from March 19 to March 24. The Art Dubai Residents’ work will be shown in a space between Exhibition Halls 1 and 2

Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

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'The Sky is Everywhere'

Director:Josephine Decker

Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon

Rating:2/5

Various Artists 
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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The specs

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History's medical milestones

1799 - First small pox vaccine administered

1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery

1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases

1895 - Discovery of x-rays

1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time

1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

1953 - Structure of DNA discovered

1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place 

1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill

1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.

1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out

Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.” 

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From Zero

Artist: Linkin Park

Label: Warner Records

Number of tracks: 11

Rating: 4/5

Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction

Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.

Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.

Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.

Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.

Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.

What are the guidelines?

Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.

Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.

Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.

Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.

Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.

Source: American Paediatric Association
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed

Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.

Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.

The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.

One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.

That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.

Draw for Europa League last-16

Istanbul Basaksehir v Copenhagen; Olympiakos Piraeus v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Rangers v Bayer Leverkusen; VfL Wolfsburg v Shakhtar Donetsk; Inter Milan v Getafe

Sevilla v AS Roma; Eintracht Frankfurt or Salzburg v Basel; LASK v Manchester United

Abu Dhabi racecard

5pm: Maiden (Purebred Arabians); Dh80,000; 1,400m.
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6pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (PA); Group 3; Dh500,000; 1,600m.
6.30pm: Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan National Day Cup (Thoroughbred); Listed; Dh380,000; 1,600m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup for Private Owners Handicap (PA); Dh70,000; 1,400m.
7.30pm: Handicap (PA); Dh80,000; 1,600m