Warehouse421 takes shape as Abu Dhabi’s newest arts hub

Abu Dhabi's latest arts space is set to open next month with a host of musical performances, exhibitions and workshops.

Construction at Warehouse 421 is nearly complete. The art space will open with a festival next month. Mona Al Marzooqi/ The National

A small grove of uncharacteristic trees opposite Mina Zayed’s dhow yard is the only clue to the location of the city’s latest arts hub.

A converted warehouse that sits on one side of a small new urban plaza, Warehouse421 is the latest project from the Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, the Abu Dhabi philanthropic organisation that funds art, culture, health and education projects throughout the capital and beyond.

----------------------------------

----------------------------------

The co-sponsor of the Qasr Al Hosn Festival and the UAE National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, the foundation hopes that its latest venture will act as a grass-roots “cultural destination” for the capital.

“We really want this to be one of the spaces where people can come and really engage with the arts, not just with exhibitions, but with workshops and lectures and a whole range of different activities,” says Angela Migally, the foundation’s executive director.

“Mina has always been one of the most vibrant places in Abu Dhabi, with its souqs and industry, warehouse and markets, and it has always attracted a really diverse range of people. We’ve tried to embody that in the warehouse and to attract people from all different walks of life, not just for the capital’s creative community but for people who might not normally go to high-end galleries.”

At 95 per cent complete, the warehouse is still a work in progress, but on November 19 it will open to the public with a three-day festival, Explore Your World, that will include nightly performances by international musicians including the Grammy Award-winners Tuareg group Tinariwen, public workshops, a “creative market” housed in a series of converted shipping containers outside the warehouse and a temporary food market.

To accommodate all of these events the street in front of the warehouse will be pedestrianised for the duration of the festival. The warehouse itself will act as a gallery, featuring four temporary exhibitions including Lest We Forget: Emirati Family Photographs 1950-1999 and Mina Zayed: Through the Lens of Jack Burlot, a photographic exhibition that will take visitors through a day in the lives of the people of Mina Zayed as captured by the French photographer on a visit he made to Abu Dhabi in 1974.

“This is just a beginning and, like a lot of our arts programmes, it is very organic. Through our Emerging Artists Fellowship Programme we found that there were amazing young emerging artists in the UAE, and we asked them ‘what do you need?’ – ‘how can we help you?’,” says Migally.

“What they all said was that there was a need just for programmes that support people but also for spaces that would allow them to engage with art and we discovered that there was a real demand for non-commercial spaces where workshops and exhibitions could take place.”

Once the festival and its first phase of exhibitions have ended, Warehouse421 will host a rolling programme of exhibitions, public workshops, lectures and other events that the Foundation hopes will keep drawing people to Mina, but as Migally explains, the plans for Warehouse421 will respond to the needs of Abu Dhabi’s public.

“We are very open to see where this thing leads us. We want to respond organically to the demands that come from our artists and from the public who come here.”

Despite the obvious similarities, Migally insists that Warehouse421 is not Abu Dhabi’s equivalent of Dubai’s Al Quoz.

“We don’t think of ourselves in those terms,” she says. “That suggests an overarching strategy and we don’t really have that. So many of our programmes develop organically and really what we saw in Abu Dhabi was that there was a really high demand for community-oriented spaces, and Warehouse421 is our response to that.”

Warehouse421 highlights

Mark your calendars: November 19, 20 and 21 are packed with live musical performances, art shows and workshops.

The performances

Tinariwen

8.30pm, November 19

The Grammy award-winning band of Tuareg musicians from northern Mali are known for their compositions of Berber and North African rhythms and instruments, including the lute and one-string fiddle.

Mulatu Astatke

8.30pm, November 20

The Ethiopian musician and music arranger is called “the father of Ethio-jazz”. Trained in London, New York City, and Boston, Astatke combines his love of jazz and Latin influences with folk music from Ethiopia.

Tarabband

8.30pm, November 21

Formed in 2008, the group is made up of six Swedish folk musicians originating from countries around the Arab world. Their music is influenced by folk, flamenco and jazz.

Art

Lest We Forget: Emirati Family Photographs 1950-1999 is a series of photographs spanning 49 years and shared with the public for the first time. Until June 18.

1:100 The Warehouse Reimagined presents various artistic representations of 3-D warehouse models. The exhibit continues until March 19.

Mina Zayed: Through the Lens of Jack Burlot, a French photographer, will take viewers through a day in the lives of people in Al Mina. Until March 19.

Workshops

Print-making by Mix & Match Abu Dhabi and Studio Kawakeb of Lebanon – create tote-bags with prints inspired by stamps related to the urban landscapes of Abu Dhabi and Mina Zayed.

Draw & Stitch – a craft-oriented workshop led by Ola Dajani of Vinny Dolls, to create figures inspired by famous figures from the art, design and fashion world.

A Vernacular Story – led by product designer Younes Duret from Morocco. After a tour of the Mina Zayed area, participants (design professionals and students) will use found materials to create new products.

Shopping

The Creative Market will feature stalls by 22 artists and designers from the region, featuring everything from jewellery and furniture to art. Look out for Abjad Design, Aljoud Lootah, Architecture + Other Things, Bil Arabi, Carlo Massoud, Etqaan, Ghassan Salameh, Hey Studio, Khaled El Mays, Khaled Shafar, MadeByNative, Mariam Mourabit, Naqsh Collective, Niloufar Afnan, Sayar&Garibeh, Silsal Design House, Taher Asad-Bakhtiari, Younes Duret, Visionaire, Tashkeel and more. Visit warehouse421.ae for more details.