A series of high profile artists and curators have been announced as part of this year’s Abu Dhabi Art – taking place in November.
A new part of the fair’s programming involves commissioning artists to make new pieces of work under the Beyond section - an annual exhibition of large-scale sculptures and installations located in and around the fair.
The artists will include Saudis Manal Al Dowayan, whose work focuses on the female perspective and Nasser Al Salem, who is a trained calligrapher but who reinterprets the ancient art in new and refreshing ways. Egyptian sound artist Magdi Mostafa is also on board to create a new piece.
In a further development to the Beyond sector, Abu Dhabi Art has invited Mohammed Kazem and Cristiana de Marchi to spearhead a new initiative called Beyond: Emerging Artists. The project will see Kazem, one of the UAE’s most prominent artists and de Marchi, a leading UAE-based curator, select three emerging locally based artists to undertake a tailor made artist programme with them. At the end of the programme the artists will be commissioned to create works for exhibition at Abu Dhabi Art 2017 and the works will remain on exhibition for an additional two months.
The country’s most active and talented curators are also involved in the fair’s non-profit sectors this year. Maya Allison, the curator at New York University Abu Dhabi has been invited to curate an exhibition as part of the Gateway section and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Curator Munira Al Sayegh has been invited to curate the talks programme with a focus on debating and documenting local and GCC art histories and narratives. Dr. Omar Kholeif, Manilow Senior Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, will create a curated Galleries section at Abu Dhabi Art entitled Focus: Beyond Territory, which will introduce a group of inter-generational artists and major projects from both emerging and leading galleries to a Middle Eastern audience for the first time, offering them an international platform.
The choice of including so many locally based artists and curators is the first insight that we are getting into the real changes being made to the fair by the new director Dyala Nusseibah. Her choices are credit to her understanding of the artistic landscape of the country.
She has also chosen to use the photographs of one of the UAE’s most celebrated artists for the promotional material for the fair. Tarek Al Ghoussein who has been documenting the development of the Saadiyat Island district for over seven years and whose images are some of the most truthful insights into the UAE’s constantly changing landscape, will be used in the Abu Dhabi Art advertising and branding campaigns across print and digital platforms.
Nusseibeh says the changes will contribute to making this the most engaging edition of the fair to date. “The fair continues to grow and expand upon its offering to the public through exhibitions, talks, partnerships, events and of course the installations that take us out of the fair space and into the city itself. Working with local and regional galleries, institutions, curators and artists, remains a key focus for us. We are laying the foundations for initiatives that we hope will contribute in a meaningful way to the existing and evolving art eco-system of the emirate and the UAE,” she says.
His Excellency Saif Saeed Ghobash, Director General, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority said: “Abu Dhabi Art is a cornerstone in the mission and vision of TCA Abu Dhabi to create a vibrant and sustainable cultural ecosystem in the capital. Each year we see the finest creative minds in the region gathered together on Saadiyat Island to offer visitors fascinating and inspiring experiences. This year will be no different as we see the Abu Dhabi Art programme expand into a more diverse offering than ever before.”
Abu Dhabi Art will run from November 8-11 at Manarat Al Saadiyat
