art dubai

January - March | 2008 1

January - March | 2008 1January - March | 2008 1

Banking & Brokerage | Financial Markets | Islamic Finance | Professional Service Providers | Re-insurance & Captives | Wealth Management

Your Gateway to Growth

Dubai International Financial Centre

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is a custom-built financial hub that serves the world’s largest untapped

market for wholesale financial services. With an internationally recognised legal framework, independent regulator and

modern financial exchange, the DIFC is the established home for over 500 registered firms. Companies benefit from

zero tax, 100 percent foreign ownership and a growing institutional client base.

The DIFC is the world’s fastest growing global financial hub. It aims to develop the same stature as New York, London

and Hong Kong. It primarily serves the vast region between Western Europe and East Asia.

Since it opened in September 2004, the DIFC has attracted high calibre firms from around the globe as well as its region.

A world-class stock exchange, the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX), opened in the DIFC in September

2005.

The DIFC is a 110-acre free zone. It is part of the larger vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al

Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, together with the Government of Dubai,

to create an environment for progress and economic development in the UAE and the wider region.

Sector Focus

The DIFC focuses on several sectors of financial activity: Banking and Brokerage Services (Investment Banking, Corporate

Banking & Private Banking); Capital Markets (Equity, Debt Instruments, Derivatives and Commodity Trading); Wealth

Management; Reinsurance and Captives; Islamic Finance; and Professional Service Providers.

Financial institutions may apply for licences in the above sectors. Firms operating in the DIFC are eligible for benefits

such as a zero tax rate on profits, 100 per cent foreign ownership, no restrictions on foreign exchange or repatriation

of capital, operational support and business continuity facilities.

Financial services in the DIFC are regulated to international standards by the Dubai Financial Services Authority

(DFSA).

For further information, please visit www.difc.ae

2 Soura Magazine | Special Edition January - March | 2008 3

Coverpage | Jitish Kallat

‘Collidonthus’ (2007) is a life-size recreation of an accident-hit car with simulated bones as if it were the re-structured remains of some prehistoric specie. Much of Kallat’s work responds to his bustling home city of Mumbai.

The sculpture, somewhat grotesque, burlesque and arabesque in equal measure is rendered as a victim; shattered in the crossfire of a sectarian riot or the abandoned carcass of a discarded automobile in the fast-changing, strife-ridden Indian streetscape.

Image courtesy of the artist and Albion Gallery, London.

Publisher & Editor-in-ChiefAhmed R. Abou Naja

Creative DirectorMarwa R. Abou Naja

Design Editor & PhotographerAl Zahraa Sulaiman

Editorial AssistantAfreen Ahmad

Guest EditorLaura Trelford

Marketing ExecutiveMark Hartnett

Art Consultant - UAERawan Muwahid Editorial Consultant – DohaMohammad Nabil Suleiman

Editorial Consultant – USA Maher Sami

Published by

"Collidonthus" resin, steel, brass. life-size.

Tickets: 0871 231 0820www.form-london.com

LONDON’S ONLY MODERN + CONTEMPORARY ART + DESIGN EXHIBITIONSee, buy and celebrate 20th and 21st Century Art, Design, Photography and Sculpture

FORMMODERN + CONTEMPORARY | ART + DESIGN

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Introductory statements

Participating Galleries

Art Projects

Educational Initiatives

International Curators in Dubai

Other local exhibitions

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Art Dubai takes place every March at the Madinat Arena. As the first contemporary art fair in Dubai, the Fair has become a cornerstone for the rapidly growing art community of the Middle East.

The 2008 fair will host nearly seventy galleries from the Middle East, Asia, Europe, North and South America, North Africa and Australia.

Dates: 19th - 22nd March 2007

Venue: Madinat Jumeriah, Dubai

Monday 17 March 2008

18:00 - midnight START Charity Fundraiser, at the DIFC

Tuesday 18 March 2008

19:00 – 22:00 Patrons Preview

Wednesday 19 March 2008

10:30 - 18:3014:00 – 17:0017:00 - 22:00

Global Art Forum

Vernissage Preview

Thursday 20 March 2008

10:30 - 19:3012:00 - 20:00

Global Art ForumPublic Day

Friday 21 March 2 2008 (Iranian New Year)

10:30 - 18:3012:00 - 20:00

Global Art ForumPublic Day

Saturday 22 March 2008

11:00 – 17:00 Public Day

Tim

eta

ble


Art has boundless potential – it can create a world that hardly exists and then make you believe in it. It can capture and keep different cultures within and provide historical insights into a civilization past.

Today, Soura joins hands with ‘Art Dubai’, to ring in a festival of art and commemorate this fantastic platform that will bring together artists from all over the world. We, at Soura, feel honored to publish the official magazine for ‘Art Dubai’ and let you delve into all the wonderful pieces of the art world.

Soura has always followed photography and art closely. In fact in our latest issue, our selected artists seek to merge the two. But then, we have believed all along that photography is, indeed, a form of art.

We do not seek fame or fortune; we only hope to be able to bring forth art in entirety; so that we, along with ‘Art Dubai’, are able to highlight the many worlds, the many cultures and the many faces of art, converging in our very own city of Dubai.

Coming to you in a year which marks the second anniversary of the ascension of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, we thus, pay tribute to the visions of Sheikh Maktoum - his visions of creating a modern and magnificent Dubai.

Amidst this atmosphere of celebrations, ‘Art Dubai’ and Soura seek to create an amalgamation of international talent and local skill and vow to leave you with a brilliant perspective of both.

Ahmed Abou NajaPublisher of Soura Magazine

EMIRATES PALACENOVEMBER 17 - 20, 2008www.artparis-abudhabi.com


I am delighted that Soura are a media partner for Art Dubai, they are a key new arts publication for the region and a very important vehicle for the growing number of talented photographers based here. We look forward to welcoming them to the fair and thank them for working with us on presentingthis supplement.

Anyone who visited Art Basel Miami this December will understand the concept of chronic art fatigue. Art Dubai seeks to offer both residents and visitors to the city this spring a taster of such an experience. The art scene in Dubai has developed at an expediential rate over the past year with new artists and curators coming to town and is proving it can become a seriously considered global art city.

The fair itself will be substantially bigger, with galleries from across the world, many returning and many experiencing Dubai for the first time. There is a significant growth in Middle Eastern talent represented by these galleries, and that will be supported by a plethora of other art projects, videos and events. The Global Art Forum will take place over three days for the second time with a programme of talks and discussions tackling current pertinent issues within the contemporary art world. The new Art Park will entice visitors underground while ‘Desperately Seeking Paradise’ will retain people’s attention on the water terraces surrounding Fort Island.

At a time when the international art world is looking to the Middle East, Art Dubai gives the city of Dubai a platform to demonstrate the wealth of local talent as well as welcoming globally recognized artists, curators, critics and collectors.

We welcome you to a week of total art emersion!

Laura TrelfordEducation & Project Manager, Art Dubai


John Martin Fair Director

Art Dubai was the first international contemporary art fair in the Middle East. It sets itself apart by its international diversity whilst always seeking to maintain the highest curatorial and commercial standards. Whilst we acknowledge the importance of all forms of contemporary art, Art Dubai seeks out innovative and experimental work rather than traditional art forms. As such it follows the accepted practice and standards of most major international contemporary art galleries, foundations, fairs and public institutions working in the field of modern art.

Art Dubai’s selection committee work to ensure the quality, independence and credibility of Art Dubai, and the fair seeks to be relevant within the region, as well as internationally.

Art Dubai will seek ways to present contemporary art in an open and accessible, primarily enjoyable and secondly instructional.

Most importantly, it has to be fun!

We look forward to welcoming you to Art Dubai 2008.

Art Dubai was founded by John Martin and Benedict Floyd and is run by a team in two offices, London and Dubai.


In a city whose landscape is forever changing, there is a new and welcome buzzword in Dubai: Art. It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment in which this trend was unleashed, but for anybody familiar with Dubai this development has been dramatic. We are now fortunate to live in a city that not only offers beaches and luxury hotels, but also is home to international auction houses, a wealth of local art galleries, art magazines and, of course, a first class contemporary art fair. The foundations necessary for a city to lay claim to having a serious international art scene are being laid and over the next few years we will see how the local corporate world joins hands with this emerging local art scene.

Historically corporate institutions have played a big role in supporting and becoming patrons of the arts: whether by building their own art collections, setting up foundations or sponsoring the arts, corporations are an essential player in promoting a thriving arts culture. Indeed we have already seen this in Dubai with the DIFC supporting the Fair. My role as the Managing Director of at Art Dubai has been to engage with the local corporate community, both the local companies and international firms, and to encourage them to get involved in the promotion of Dubai’s art scene.

My discussions have resulted in the exchange of so many exciting ideas that it seemed that the most obvious next step would be to provide a platform to share these discussions with the public: and so the conference on Art & Patronage in the Business Age was born. Taking place on the 16-17 of March at the DIFC as part of the Global Art Forum, this conference brings together top international corporate collectors and patrons to talk about their experiences in the art world. It will make fascinating listening for businesses in Dubai, both for those who are already supporting the arts and those who are just curious to see what being an art patron is all about. These discussions aim to inspire, and it will be interesting to see over the next few years which companies emerge as true supporters of the arts and culture in Dubai.

Asmaa Al-ShabibiManaging Director, Art Dubai


The Honorary Patron of Art Dubai is His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE, Ruler of Dubai. Visiting the art fair in March 2007 with John Martin

The Islamic world has always appreciated art in all its forms and in recent months there has been a resurgence of interest in contemporary art, not only in Dubai, but across the region. This, I believe, is due in part to the growing recognition of some excellent artists that we have among us as well as the awareness generated amongst the art-loving public through visiting art galleries as well as the efforts of the Dubai International Financial Centre through initiatives such as Art Dubai and its own collection. Since the inception of the DIFC in late 2004, we have had a clear desire to promote the arts of the region in the region and the world. As DIFC bridges the East and the West and serves as the gateway to the financial world to people in forty-two countries, we additionally aim to be the gateway for art. Art Dubai, a DIFC subsidiary, has been very successful. The DIFC has a significant art collection of its own, and has long considered the collection, display and promotion of regional and contemporary art as

integral to our vision. We firmly believe that Dubai can become a truly global centre for art – and that the DIFC can play an integral role in that process. Indeed. The DIFC art strategy is to establish itself as both an international and regional presence – collecting, displaying and promoting artists from this region and across the world.

We are expanding the DIFC District, the area immediately surrounding our financial centre, to publicly display works of art from both the DIFC’s own collection and regional and international galleries. We’ve been busy – and will be busier still in the months to come. While such change will not occur overnight, I am confident that we will realise our ambition over time. Indeed, we have already begun the process of reaching out and communicating the universal value of the experience of art. The DIFC has a two-pronged approach in encouraging local artists with their practice. The first is to identify promising talent and to evaluate the work to see if it is world class. Once that is done, we bring that artist’s work to the public eye through exhibiting the work at the DIFC District as well as at the various art fairs and exhibitions. The DIFC also adds to its own collection, thus helping raise the value of the works of local and regional artists. Art Dubai is very important to us. It is an expression of the cultural philosophy of the DIFC and as such is themed to promote Dubai and the DIFC in all its aspects as a hub for art – a meeting point of the Occident and the Orient. As the DIFC brings together and promotes financial union across the globe, Art Dubai and other art initiatives of DIFC aim to promote cultural understanding

through art. Art is an international language that appeals equally to diverse people. Art Dubai is not just a display of art pieces that is held for a couple of days once a year. It is an on-going process that takes place throughout the year in an ever-expanding cycle. For example, the planning of the next event begins right after the current one is over. That includes a marketing and promotional campaign which aims to introduce the public to Art Dubai and what is new in it. What art means and what is available in the market and who is new and which work is in demand. It also highlights trends and fashions increasing the visibility of both local and regional art. Works bought at Art Dubai or as a result of it benefit the buyers who may have acquired works of art for pleasure or as an investment. During the inaugural Gulf Art Fair, we received 9,000 visitors over the three days it ran. We are pleased that some 1,500 of them came from overseas. We had works from 41 galleries and collective sales during the event had stood at US $9-11 million, a significant figure for a first-time event of its kind in the Arab World. It also raised US $500,000 in support of START – a project that funds children’s art workshops in underprivileged areas in the region. It had some 40 journalists from abroad in addition to the 100 from the region. Our target is to surpass all these achievements. Art Dubai 2008 is already double the size with seventy international galleries confirming participation. We are paying special attention to the galleries and artists from the region, South and Central Asia and the Far East to ensure that this truly global event serves as an important showcase for contemporary art to the world.


18 Soura Magazine | Special Edition

Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governorof DIFC and Chairman of Art Dubai visits the DIFC Gulf Art Fair



After months of anxiety, hope and high expectations, one could never know what the outcome would be but the inaugural DIFC Gulf Art Fair was inspirational. The entire region, not just the Gulf, feels energized in terms of its commitment to contemporary art and architecture. I am a frequent visitor to Dubai, going about twice a year for the last eight years and I have never seen such a lively arts scene among gallerists, collectors and institutions as in the past year, which I almost wholly attribute to the Gulf Art Fair. As a member of the Board of Patrons of the fair, I have had the opportunity to watch this evolution. Although the region is still in the early stages of private and institutional collecting, there is great potential. I say this not just as a board member, but also as a director of the Albion Gallery of London.

Furthermore, I had to consider what artists and works to introduce and what impact they would have on the public. I wanted to emphasize that contemporary art need not be intimidating and also that even “difficult” pieces were open to interpretation, discussion and analysis for anyone who attended the fair. It bodes well for the future that people expressed such interest in the art at the fair.

Artists that are particularly significant to contemporary art in the Middle East are, of course, the obvious choices of Kader Attia, Walid Raad/The Atlas Group, and Mona Hatoum among others, but, also, I believe a real effort needs to be made to expand the collecting base to support non-Arab/Iranian artists and non-traditional techniques.

Collecting in general must NOT be seen as solely a regional exercise. Of course, special attention must be paid to Arab, Iranian and Turkish artists as well as to ancient art forms such as calligraphy, but artists and designers (and styles) from around the world must be incorporated into collections and museum shows--only in this manner will Dubai and the rest of the Middle East be taken seriously as an area

to find sophisticated collections and critics; for instance, I love the work of artists like Mariko Mori, the Campanas, Mark Bradford and David Adjaye—although much of my taste is influenced by the contact I have with these remarkable individuals. People are interested in art in the Middle East but there must be significant acts of patronage and collecting surrounding this discourse.

Many of the galleries such as Albion were successful with works from a wide geographic range of artists such as Shilpa Gupta, Kader Attia and Kristian Ryokan (however this was due by-and-large to non-local collectors) and some of their other bodies of work will be shown as well as some new artists presented at the second fair. I am excited for the 2008 edition of Art Dubai and, of course, I am looking forward to all of the events surrounding it--art fair veterans know sometimes the most fun to be had, and the most information to be found, is at the parties. I am particularly excited for the return of the Al-Madad dinner and Canvas and Bidoun events, as well as, of course, the Albion opening night party at Trilogy.

Representative from the Board of Patrons:Princess Alia Al-Senussi speaks about her experiences in Dubai

“Wall and Ghost Haifa”Kader AttiaAlbion Gallery

Princess Alia Al Senussi with Yasmin Alireza

LT You have been living and working as an artist in the Middle East for many years. Why have you found yourself spending the majority of your time in Dubai recently?

PM I have spent a lot of time here with Arab artists over the past twenty-five years and was an early member of the Emirates Fine Art Society. Recently with the growth of Dubai and the international interest in this major hub, art has been thriving- it is a natural progression. Art auctions, the DIFC Gulf Art Fair (now known as Art Dubai) the growth of galleries, art forums, international quality art magazines and national collections being built has all brought a wider range of art and new media to Dubai. It is very exciting and stimulating to be a part of this. I am also involved in art developmentand dubaiis the place.

LT What did Art Dubai bring to the region?

PM A whole different way of looking and thinking about art in Dubai and for Dubai looking at itself as an art market and being seen as an art market... an international art market. It was a quantum leap for art for the region.

LT Was it a success?

PM I think so. It brought some of the top galleries in the world here. It brought top artists that showed international projects . It allowed people who lived here to see some of the best galleries in the world right in their own city. The Global Art Forum brought critical analysis and open discussion and this has been followed by the Thinking Cloud that you have formed. The international gallery directors who came here brought a high buying group of people in that saw the local galleries and local artists. These were good connections for the future besides the initial financial rewards. The international press reports brought Dubai to the world art markets attention.

LT What do you hope it will achieve during the next five years?

PM Next years gallery list is even bigger and some great new galleries. The standard is high. i believe it will only develop and grow. I believe it will the international fair for the region and the Middle East will be seen as a valid area for art and art collectors come to and buy.

Patricia Millns presented an art project at the first Art Dubai to tremendous acclaim, and continues to be a pivotal figure in the growing art scene stemming from Dubai. Laura Trelford asked her some questions:

22 Soura Magazine | Special Edition January - March | 2008 23January - March | 2008 23

“Contemporary art is proving to be one of the most powerful and durable of international languages.— Jan Dalley, Financial Times Arts Editor

“This fair offers the chance for people to experience global art practices first hand whilst providing much needed support for the emerging regional arts scene — Charles Asprey, Curator & Collector

“Dubai has become the region’s art-trading hub. The culmination of all this interest will make the DIFC Gulf Art Fair one of the biggest contemporary art events in the region. — CNN Traveller

“Everyone agrees that Dubai is one of the most exciting places to be right now. And Art Dubai is one of the first great art initiatives. An art fair, as we have seen in Miami, along with several other key elements can act as an important instigator in the development of a cultural climate.— Dana Farouki, Member of Executive Committee, Art Dubai.



The seventy galleries have been chosen from over four hundred applications by a Selection Committee who met in Continua, San Gimignano in Summer 2007. The committee is made up of Gallery Directors who participated in DIFC Gulf Art Fair (now known as Art Dubai) and span the globe.

Lorenzo Fiaschi, Director of Continua hosted this most important of meetings:

I was on the Cologne Art Fair Committee for four years, and the FIAC Selection Committee for five years so I was delighted to host the Selection Committee for Art Dubai in San Gimignano this summer. It was intended to be a sociable occasion to bring different personalities together in a tranquil small town in the Tuscan countryside which perfectly combined the ancient and

the contemporary – stimulating our work putting together this new fair. The idea was to invite the galleries that can best help to present and bring in Dubai what seems interesting and pertinent in the Western Art World and, conversely, to show what seems interesting and pertinent in that world over to Europe and USA.

We wanted the galleries which support art and artists in their country and abroad, with a dynamic and open-minded approach. The most exciting element of this adventure is this new field of exchanges and encounters that we have opened. The future of this fair is to develop not only a new market, but also new avenues of collaboration and projects that bring the Occident and Orient closer together.Galleria Continua has a particular interest in acting as a bridge for ideas, facilitating mutual understanding between different cultures. Showing Western art in Dubai for us is a first step to creating a cultural bridge. In my opinion, the first fair went very well, it

Selection CommitteeMario Cristiani, Maurizio Rigillo & Lorenzo FiaschiGalleria Continua, San Gimignano -Beijing

Akram Zaatari, Studio Sherazade, 2006, Courtesy of Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamberg, Beirut’

was a real surprise. A few months later we were quite astonished when some Arab collectors came to San Gimignano to visit the gallery, that is extremely rare and a sign of progression.

Andrée Sfeir-Semler Director, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg, Germany & Beirut, Lebanon also a member of the selection committee comments:

In terms of selection, we have chosen in terms of quality the best from the applications we got. I am personally very happy that John did not make it too big. The fair has to concentrate on our part of the world, this is the strength of the fair but has at the same time to maintain top quality, so we did not open doors to everybody as it wouldn’t have the level we wanted it to have. It is an important learning process for galleries; particularly those in the region who I hope will grow over the next few years and become the standard required for admission.

Main Entrance, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, Kendell Geers, House of Spirits 2005



Hrair Sarkissian, Untitled, 2007, lamda print, 100 x 150 cm, Courtesy of Kalfayan Galleries, Athens-Thessaloniki

19-22 March 2008 Madinat Jumeirah Dubai www.artdubai.ae


100 Tonson Gallery Bangkok

Agial Art Gallery Beirut

Aicon Gallery London / New York

Aidan Gallery Moscow

Albareh Art Gallery Bahrain

Albion London

Artspace Dubai

Atassi Gallery Damascus

Baudoin Lebon Paris

B21 Dubai

Ben Brown Fine Arts London

Bolsa de Arte Porto Alegre

Bonni Benrubi New York

Cais Gallery Seoul

Chemould Prescott Road Mumbai

Christine König Vienna

Continua San Gimignano / Beijing

Contrasts Gallery Shanghai

Diana Lowenstein Miami

Distrito Cu4tro Madrid

Filomena Soares Lisbon

Gabriele Senn Galerie Vienna

Galerie Chantal Crousel Paris

Galerie El Marsa Tunis

Galerie Enriço Navarra Paris

Galeria Enrique Guerrero Mexico City

Galerie Forsblom Helsinki

Galerie Krinzinger Vienna

Galerie Michael Schultz Berlin / Seoul / Beijing

Galerie Sfeir-Semler Hamburg / Beirut

Galerie Tanit Munich

Galerie Thomas Munich

Galerie Volker Diehl Berlin

Galleria Mario Sequeira Braga

Galeria Millan São Paulo

Galleries Direct Sydney

Galerist Istanbul

Gallery Espace New Delhi

Giorgio Persano Turin

Green Art Gallery Dubai

Green Cardamom London

Grosvenor Vadehra London / New Delhi

Horrach Moyà Mallorca

Kalfayan Galleries Athens / Thessaloniki

Kamel Mennour Paris

Kashya Hildebrand Zurich

Kukje Gallery Seoul

Le Violon Bleu Tunis / London

Lio Malca New York

MAM Mario Mauroner Vienna

Max Lang New York

October Gallery London

OREDARIA Arti Contemporanee Rome

Produzentengalerie Hamburg Hamburg

PYO Gallery Seoul

RHYS Gallery Boston

Rossi + Rossi London

Sakshi Gallery Mumbai

Salomon Contemporary East Hampton

SCAI The Bathhouse Tokyo

Silk Road Gallery Tehran

Sundaram Tagore New York

SUN Gallery & Gallery SUN contemporary Seoul

The Third Line Dubai

TORCH GALLERY Amsterdam

Townhouse Gallery Cairo

Vacio 9 Madrid

VONDERBANK Artgalleries Berlin

Walsh Gallery Chicago

Yvon Lambert Paris / New York

ART SOURA_S1_AW.indd 1-2 21/1/08 12:04:03



A TASTER OF NEW GALLERIES AT ART DUBAI 2008

Kalfayan Galleries Athens – Thessaloniki, Greece Hrair Sarkissian

Kukje GallerySeoul, South Korea Yeondoo Jung

October GalleryLondonKenji Yoshida InochiTo Heiwa (Life and Peace)

Galleria Millan Sao Paolo, BrasilAnna Maria Maiolino

101 Tonson GalleryBangkok, ThailandChatchai Puipia



The gallery sources the most unique and captivating Australian artworks from across the vast landscape, including contemporary aboriginal dot paintings, beautiful oil painted landscapes, expressionistic portraits and intriguing photographic compositions. In recent years Indigenous art has grown in popularity in Australia and is gaining recognition worldwide in Europe, America and Asia.

Indigenous desert art is art made by the native Australians from the remote desert areas of Australia. The artworks are visually captivating, and the pieces have been carefully constructed with a deep spiritual and cultural significance to both the artist and the particular community. To the unknowing viewer, the pieces appear like optical themed artworks, made up of a series of non-descript shapes composed with thousands of minute coloured dots. Often the shapes consist of concentric circles, rippling lines, and varied bold colours. However delving behind the immediate appearance reveals a deep symbolism embedded within each motif. Each shape symbolically represents an element from the artists’ community including native animals, tracks, campsites, human figures, or waterholes and more.

The symbols are decipherable by members of the community, galleries and expert art collectors. Occasionally the entire art work may represent what some see as a bird’s eye view of the landscape, a space - with a spiritual dimension attached, or an object with spiritual significance. The primary function of most Indigenous art is to record important elements of the native history, landscape, objects, animals, people and culture to ensure the history is visually documented and passed on to future generations.

One such artist is Naata Nungurrayi, who is famous for her bold expressive art works with richly textured surfaces and strong radiance attracting buyers from around the globe. Naata is from the Pintupi Language group located in Kintore, and is one of the leading senior elders of the Kintore women’s artist movement. Her art works are associated with women’s concerns and Women’s Law (Tingari Cycle). She paints traditional designs depicting sacred women’s sites and women performing sacred women’s ceremonies in the Kintore area as well as the designs that they paint on their bodies when performing ceremonies.

Aboriginal art has come of age in Australia, and according to the Australian Art Sales Digest, between 1993 to 2006 Aboriginal art sales at auction have seen a compound annual growth rate of 34.1%. In addition to the enticing visual properties, many investors and art collectors are realising these pieces also hold strong investment potential.

Galleries Direct will also feature some intriguing photographic pieces by Australian photographer Maree Azzopardi. Maree has a long list of achievements and her thoughtful compositions are highly sought after internationally. Azzopardi’s creative flair has gained her recognition from successful international artists, and she has exhibited alongside some of the best in the industry including Cindy Sherman, Annie Leibovitz (United States of America), and Tracey Moffatt (Australia).

For more information email [email protected] or visit www.galleriesdirect.com

Galleries Direct from New South Wales, Australia will exhibit their world class collection of Australian and contemporary aboriginal art at Art Dubai 2008.

Gloria Petyarre, Bush Medicine Leaves, acrylic on Belgiun linen.

Naata Nungurrayi, Rock holes at Marrapiti, synthetic polymers on linen

Maree Azzopardi, Shadow - The Man Alone


Gonkar was born in Lhasa, Tibet, and studied fine art at the Central Arts Academy in Bejing, China and at Central St Martins and the Chelsea School of Design in London, UK is the founder of the Sweet Tea House (London) the first gallery in Europe devoted to showcasing contemporary Tibetan Art. His work has been exhibited in London, Oxford, Zurich, Helsinki, Karlsruhe, New Delhi, New York, Washington, Boulder, Los Angeles and Atlanta. He has been a recipient of the Leverhulme Fellowship in 2003 as an Artist-in-Residence at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford as well as fellow at the library of Tibetan Works & Archive, Dharamsala, India for traditional Tibetan painting studies. Gonkar currently lives and works in London. Gonkar Gyatso’s journeys and shifts in culture and environments are reflected in his work and his ability as an artist to translate these shifts and make them universally understood. His different garb in his My Identity series of photographically generated self portraits, presents the different chapters of his personal history; a traditional Tibetan painter, a maker of Maoist imagery, a refugee follower of the Dalai Lama and finally a Western artist in a modern studio. The My Identity series encapsulate a recurring preoccupation for Gyatso: how to communicate with those who do not share your history or language. Gonkar’s answer is to challenge and explain through his art. A telling detail in the My Identity series summarize his argument. The wooden box that recurs in each image represents the tools of the artist trade: brushes, pigments and most important knowledge and

Rossi & Rossi has been active in the field of Oriental art for over thirty years, based in central London. They will bring the Tibetan artist Gonkar Gyatso to Dubai in March.

skill. It records the past and makes it transportable and usable in the present, particularly in the “emergency” conditions of uprootedness. The artist needs only these tools to function, whether in Lhasa or London. Gonkar has said that the only “Tibetan” element in his work is the shape of the Buddha, which reveals his training in traditional Buddhist painting, in which figures and deities are carefully mapped on a grid to achieve preset idealized proportions. This meticulous measurement can be seen in the two pieces attached; LA Confidential and Puzzle Buddha.

In Puzzle Buddha he takes this precision further by having the piece build into an enormous crossword puzzle, complete with clues, combing western and eastern sensibilities and building a piece of significant intellectual importance which reflects present geo-political situation. He himself says “I would take what I know of Buddhism, and compare it with what I know about Western culture - the many interpretations Buddhism has gone through depending on fashion and trends”. We can see this in LA Confidential where he references global consumerism and titles it after one of his favourite films. For Gonkar Gyatso the Buddha icon is the tool for exploration of his own art, which also becomes a reflection on modern life and the inner and outer journeys of all of us. The many different elements to his oeuvre - installation, photography, stickers work, drawings - show Gonkar’s enormous versatility and dynamism as an artist of our times.

For more information email [email protected]



Julie Walsh, owner of Walsh Gallery, felt it was only natural to bring the gallery to Art Dubai 2008, since contemporary Asian art has such a global appeal. All the artists that are featured in the gallery are leaders in their field and are internationally recognized due to Walsh’s interest and help.

Walsh Gallery is known for displaying artworks in innovative ways, working with new media and working with performance artists from Asia, which will all be featured in Art Dubai 2008.

Walsh believes that artists from Asia are focusing more and more on the use of technology in contemporary art. She said, “I did put together a panel discussion on art and technology in Asia in 2004. I’ve felt for a long time that artists in China, India, and Korea have been making some of the most challenging new media art. With the rapid changes of reconstruction and urbanization around them, many Chinese artists in particular felt the need to record what was happening to them. Photography and new media were incorporated into their art practices in favor of more traditional mediums. Meanwhile, Korea has been the most wired country in the world for sometime. The video art from this country reflects the type of technological vitality that is so much a part of everyone’s lifestyle. India has some great new media artists that are always challenging the medium. I am quite excited to bring a sampling of the best works by the most well known artists from these countries,”

Walsh Gallery usually features young artists, but for most of them, their careers have already taken off. Ravinder Reddy, one of the young sculptors Walsh deals with, will be coming to Art Dubai 2008. Reddy creates monumental sized women’s heads and figures, which are based on inner fortitude. Reddy’s inspiration comes from Egyptian and African sculpture, but most importantly, from the women he sees every day on the streets in his home town in India. The women he creates are contemporary divine beings, which have a sense of timelessness to them. “He uses contemporary materials like fiberglass to create his sculptures, although the sculpture entitled “Radha”, which will be shown in Art Dubai 2008, is covered in gold leaf and paint. “Radha” has most recently traveled to Shanghai where she was in Shanghai Contemporary,” Walsh said.


Walsh Gallery will be coming to the Middle East for the very first time in 2008.

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Participating GalleriesBird’s Eye View: New Beijing 9, 2007 | Weng Fen

“Beautiful New World” Photographs by Weng Fen“Dual Paintings” by Yang Qian 15 March - 19 April 2008

Studio . Gallery . Consulting . Events

The Jam Jar | St. 17a Al Quoz, P.O Box 27554, DubaiT: 04 3417303 | E: [email protected] | www.thejamjardubai.com

jamjar_ad_chinese_230x280mm.indd 1 14/1/08 16:15:05


I have been stopping over in Dubai over the last ten years and have seen it transform beyond recognition in that time. It now holds its own as an international business hub, and is a destination in its own right. For Dubai to become a truly global art city It needs to have a number of ingredients: a culture of producing, viewing, discussing and buying art; a critical mass of good galleries and serious collectors; and a public art infrastructure that underpins the market and the audience. By infrastructure I mean the institutions—academia, exhibition spaces, publications—and the people (artists, curators, academics, critics, writers) to make these institutions more than just empty buildings.

From observing Dubai’s burgeoning gallery scene, being involved in the last Sharjah Biennial and noting Abu Dhabi’s ambitions, it is clear that the UAE as a whole has many of the components in place. It also has a location of strategic importance, with deep connections to South and Central Asia and the wider Middle East. So it is ideally located to explore a different slice of the art world. What will take time is for infrastructure to develop and for the right caliber of people to populate it. But Dubai has shown the world this ability to act on vision and create the right conditions to find or grow the right ingredients. It is unlikely to push out London or New York in the next five to ten years. But there are not too many other cities that are beyond Dubai’s long-term ambitions. Art Dubai offers an opportunity to showcase the artists we work with to an international audience, one that will bring different expectations and ways of seeing than what we might come across in London or Lahore. It will be valuable to get this fresh response to the work. Green Cardamom, of which I am a co-founder, is an arts organisation that combines the talents and experiences of many individuals: Anna Sloan in the US is an academic teaching and researching both Islamic Art and Contemporary art history at the University of Michigan; Leyla Fakhr is a London-based Iranian curator, who also works with Tate Britain and carries out independent projects in Iran; Nada Raza has organised shows in Dubai (with the Third Line gallery) and was one of the co-founders of Quintessentially Art (a London art advisory company); Louise Sunderland has worked on education projects with the Tate and the Whitechapel galleries; Vipul Sangoi runs his own design and photography practice; Kaif Ghaznavi is a Lahore-based artist, lecturer and curator, and co-founder Anita Dawood has edited a number of publications in the UK, Switzerland and Pakistan. The whole team informs the projects we take on.

Green Cardomom are taking a stand at Art Dubai and in addition will present some projects in and around the art fair, including in the Art Park. Hammad Nasar gave the following thoughts about Dubai and their participation.

We are an international arts organisation. When most organisations in London or New York say that, what they really mean is that they work with Euro-American artists, or in other words they work around the Atlantic Ocean. But our version of international is focused on the Indian Ocean. And it is that view of the world that you will find reflected in our programme.

Mohammed ZeeshanAmbiguity rules in the work of Zeeshan Muhammad Zeeshan. Working in contemporary Pakistani miniature painting, video and drawing, he has been described as an observer who voices his thoughts only after some reflection. This considered approach lends a certain richness to his manipulation of subjects that could otherwise be heavily politicised. Weapons and animals are amongst the symbols used to touch on these areas, though often disguised or camouflaged. Rodents appear delicately treated with silver leaf; birds are wrapped in white cloth (but does this bind or protect?) In tackling themes such as masculinity, dominance and local and international violence, he injects beauty into what could be a stark repertoire of images.

Zeeshan started his career as a commercial cinema painter, seeking to appease his family and society. In making the shift to edgier themes and media he has faced criticism in his home country for “adulterating” the true miniaturist style. This description jars. Despite the often difficult subject matter he chooses, there is a gentleness and concern for beauty that pervades this work and is quietly silencing critics. Coming from Lahore, the ‘Heart of Pakistan’, Zeeshan borrows imagery from Pakistani television and advertising. Links to international politics are made, but implicitly. This means the work is of local concern – and global relevance.

For more information visit:www.greencardomom.co.uk

In God We Trust, Mohammed Zeeshan

Top: Unbearable lightness of beingKhalil Chrishtee

Bottom: Mahbub Shah



Tarek ZakiTownhouse Gallery - Cairo

Art Dubai helds an event in Cairo in November 2007 in collaboration with the Townhouse Gallery. The director of Townhouse came to the first art fair in Dubai as a speaker at the Global Art Forum and aslo brought Lara Baladi’s Roba Vecchia which was displayed outside the DIFC. For Art Dubai 2008 Townhouse returns with a project by Tarek Zaki.

Tarek Zaki, born in 1975, graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, Cairo with a BA in Graphics, in 1998. As well as his solo exhibitions Tarek has participated in several group exhibitions and residencies in Egyptand abroad in Switzerland, New York, Amsterdam amongst others. Zaki creates objects that are not specific to any certain age. “By sculpting objects of the everyday life, he positions the spectator as an archaeologist from the future, looking at remains of the present.” He transforms records of the present into found objects of the future.

“‘Monument X’” is dismantled pieces. Sections of columns, plinths, arches and sculpted body parts made of plaster and cement are deliberately cut and grouped. Viewing the monument, it is not clear if the monument is being restored or deconstructed. How the whole monument should look like or what it represents stays ambiguous. Some parts are even missing and it is left to the viewers’ imagination to complete the whole picture”, Tarek Zaki.

For further information about Townhouse and its activities, visit: www.thetownhousegallery.com

Art Projects


Amir H. Fallah lives and works in Los Angeles. He founded Beautiful/Decay magazine when he was sixteen years old and has seen it go from a black and white zine to an internationally distributed colorful publication. From framed miniatures on paper, to large scale canvases and murals, Fallah’s works lie somewhere between the amorphous painterly blobs of a Philip Guston and the flashy candy coated gloss of computer generated illustrations. Less clearly derived from graffiti than his previous body of work, Fallah still combines so-called high and low forms of culture to make vibrant art that surpasses such simplistic categorizations.

Born in Tehran, Iran in 1979, Amir H. Fallah holds an MFA in Painting from UCLA, Los Angeles, as well as a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute of College of Art in Baltimore. He has been included in group exhibitions and art fairs in Los Angeles and New York since 2000, and in 2005 he made a solo exhibition debut at Third Line Gallery in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Fallah is a founder of and has been a creative director for Beautiful Decay, L. A.-based quarterly pop culture & art magazine since 2002.

INTERVIEW WITH COLIN RHYS, RHYS GALLERY

I had been following the development of the infrastructure in Dubai through some of my undergrad business courses and was very interested in traveling to this place that was literally being designed and developed as I read the articles, and for me I knew I had to experience this place in person to really get a grasp on what was going on there. It also so happened that this was the first year of the DIFC Gulf Art Fair (now known as Art Dubai), so it was like killing two birds with one stone... go to a place i was very interested in, plus get to go the fair, and best of all, it can get written off as business expense.

There were two main highlights for me. The first was seeing all these both younger and older people, some from Dubai others from other points of the world, buying lot’s of books from the booths, it showed a genuine desire to learn about contemporary art and what was happening in the art world on a global scale. It is very easy for art fairs to turn into a shopping frenzy, and it was really nice to see young people walking out with stacks of books they had purchased about the different artists from assorted booths. Another highlight of the fair was seeing the galleries that had been selected to participate in the first contemporary art fair in Dubai, and the different regions that they all came from, though most of them were very established and

at a very high price point, it was good to see so many foreign galleries there, with a lot of these new foreign fairs, the booths are often dominated from galleries from that immediate region. It is really staying in line with Dubai mission at becoming a global hub not just for finance or trade, but also for the creative things, which often is overlooked or pushed to the side during a time of such rapid development, and that was very nice to see. I have a strong interest in any place that is changing or developing in some way, for a young person like myself, I want to be a part of building something, a catalyst for change and development where ever my gallery is doing something, whether it is an installation at an art fair or a permanent exhibition space. Before I arrived in dubai, I think I just wanted to go to see it, though I didn’t know what my role could be there, I just knew I had to get there. After being there for almost three weeks last year during the fair, I felt very comfortable there, and I began to see how my vision would fall in line with Dubai and the future of contemporary art there.

Amir and I have been working together for just under a year, it will be a year this march, which is actually where i discovered his work. I was walking through the halls of the fair on preview night, and was feeling a little frustrated by the lack of edgy or challenging work, then i

stumbled on the Third Line booth, which for me was really exciting to see a booth like Sunny and Claudia’s when so many others were packed with Haring’s and Hirsts, which are great to see, though i can see that work anywhere, i was really curious to see galleries that were from Dubai or other parts of the middle east.

Amir had a small painting hanging in the booth, i was instantly drawn to it, both the colors and the subject matter he was dealing with really spoke to my aesthetic for work and what I respond to. In usual fair fashion, Sunny was swamped with people trying to talk to her, i understand the situation at fairs, so i politely handed her my business card and asked if she would send info on Amir’s work.

A day or so later she sent me his email, and i contacted him, i had no idea that he lived in LA, which i still think is it pretty ironic that i had to go all the way to Dubai to pick up an artist who works in California, but i guess that is how it goes. I asked him if he wanted to build a fort in the gallery so that was that. He had his solo show with us this past september and it was a huge success... physically we were both destroyed after building it, we moved over 2 tons of dirt into the gallery in black trash bags... that was no fun, nor was removing it one month later.

For further information, visit: www.rhysgallery.com

Colin came to the first edition of the art fair in March from Boston, USA. He liked it so much he discovered new artists and is bringing one of them back.

Art Projects


Art Dubai is pleased to announce a new project space - the Art Park will be devoted to experimental and site-specific work with particular emphasis on work from non-profit organisations within the Middle East. This year Bidoun will be curating three video programmes in a special space designed by Antonia Carver and the design team of Traffic. Laura Trelford had conversations with them both.

ANTONIA CARVER INTERVIEW

What was Bidoun’s involvement with the first edition of the art fair in March 2007?We created a ‘lounge’ - the idea was to use the space on Fort Island as a platform to further Bidoun’s role in supporting and promoting contemporary Middle Eastern artists. In the lounge, we had a video booth, showing rolling programmes of work by upcoming artists from the region - including Wael Shawky, Ahmet Ogut, Solmaz Shahbazi, and Iman Issa. Wael’s work has since become something of a ‘classic’, but it had never been seen in the Gulf. In the video, he recites a soura from the Koran while walking around a supermarket - and the juxtaposition of his expression of his faith and the commercial environment raises so many issues pertinent to the Gulf - it became quite a talking point. We also wanted to be sure to attract new audiences for their work, so we worked with the fair and teachers from local colleges to bring students along to the lounge, and they’ve since used the experience in their classes. The Lounge also showed sculptural and installation work curated

in collaboration with The Third Line, and the Bidoun editor - curators a library of magazines, exhibition brochures, rare books and so on, about contemporay artists in the region, available to everyone in a browsing area. The space was sponsored by Bloomberg, and we partnered with them in organising a Collectors’ Evening on the opening night of the fair, aimed at bringing together young and potential collectors with gallerists and artists - with the longterm goal of developing the collectors’ base in Dubai. It was a packed night! We also commissioned a group of young artists based in Dubai (not yet represented by galleries) to make limited edition cushion covers for sale at the fair. This is part of a series of multiples and limited edition works that we commission from time to time. Many people said that it was fantastic to have, within the fair, a window to what was happening arts-wise in the region, and a non-commercial, chilled-out space, open to all.

How do you choose the artists you commission to do artworks?Bidoun is kind of a collective of writers, artists and architects, based throughout the Middle East and the west, and we’re in constant email contact, talking about new work we’ve seen, and people pitch in with ideas. The core group is made up of the editors - me in Dubai, Asal Farjam in New York, Negar Azimi in Tehran and New York, and Hassan Khan in Cairo, but we work closely with others in the network. It partly depends on what kind of commission it is - each issue we commission artists to make new work for the pages of the magazine, and then, when it comes to public spaces, we try to commission artists according to the space, what they’re working on, and how they want to further their practice... We generally try to give exposure to upcoming, contemporary artists from the region who are making particularly exciting work that hasn’t received the recognition it should. Or more established artists who want to do something special, something different from their usual practice.

What is in the pipeline for Bidoun involvement in Art Dubai 2008?We’re really looking forward to it! The idea is to focus on video, but mix programmes with discussions with artists/curators and local audiences, in order to further the appreciation of video in the Gulf. Together

with Art Dubai we will create an ‘artists’ cinema’ to show the work, and alongside, create a Bidoun Lounge, which will offer more inimate and less formal ways of viewing video, and opportunities for discussions with artists. The Bidoun Artists’ Cinema will feature three programmes: one curated by Bidoun editor-curators featuring work by upcoming artists from the region, and other programmes curated by Bidoun guest curators Tirdad Zolghadr (titled ‘Thanks for Sharing: Films for an Art Fair’, the programme explores “the pleasures of incommunicado or semi-miscommunication”, and features work by Anna Witt, Shahab Fotouhi, Walter Benjamin, Yoshua Okon and Ziad Antar) and Nav Haq which looks at future scenarios, and includes work by Chris Evans, LouLou Cherinet, David Maljkovic and Huluk Akakce. The Bidoun Lounge will also feature a ‘video bar’ with continuous screenings of the video programmes on plasma screens with headphones, for more intimate viewing.

Did you curate the video booth programme last year and what were the criteria used to select work?Us four editor-curators worked on the Bidoun programme together, and then we also asked the Third Line to partner with us in showing some of their artists - as they also promote contemporary artists from the region. For our programme, we didn’t theme it as such, but pooled ideas of work that we thought was seminal or particularly thought-provoking in this context. None of the video had been seen in the Gulf before, and some not in the Middle East.

Do you feel that Dubai has a way to go as far as displaying video art and art film and if so how do you feel Dubai could develop as a centre for film and video?Yes - definitely it has a way to go - particularly in terms of public venues - although we’re hoping to encourage multiple ways of distributing and viewing video, including online. Bidoun is one of very few independent, non-profit-making organisations in the region, and the others are mostly based in Cairo and Beirut. Without so many institutional buyers yet, it’s hard for commercial galleries to exhibit much video, or installation although galleries such as Total Arts and the Third Line have done so, despite it not necessarily being a commercial venture as yet.

ART PARK - Bidoun

Traffic is one of the most exciting new spaces to open in Dubai in 2007. A cultural commercial space - Traffic was setup as a platform to discuss & develop design awareness in the region and showcase works from international and regional talents.Traffic recently launched the regions first product and interior design competition. Visit www.viatraffic.org for further details.The creator of the concept is Rami Farook, a UAE national with a US education. For Rami, traffic is a personal passion and he is delighted to be working with Art Dubai. Laura Trelford asked him a few questions.

Why is Art Dubai a project you want to work on?I enjoy art & design in general so being part of a great initiative like Art Dubai allows me to satisfy my cultural needs and communicate my views to the community.

What has Art Dubai done for the region?Art Dubai has created and opportunity for collectors, gallerists and art lovers of

the region to have an open dialogue and exchange their passion & experiences.

What is the most exciting aspect of the fair in your opinion?Having the whole city in that ‘mood’ is an amazing experience. This year Art Park will débuting to bring an alternative & casual vibe into the fair.

What do you think about the Art Park as a concept?I think Art Park is an amazing way to take us into an unconventional art experience with its deep, dark and sexy lounge, video bar and other installations.

Talk me through how you begin thinking of a way to design this space.I always start with type, behavior and movement of the crowd. I then look into the mood I want to create and that’s when lighting, colors, and materials come into play. Once all that has been processed, I start sketching the environment i’m visualizing and placing icons that represent the pieces I want to place.

Have you worked on any unusual projects like this anywhere?My apartment in college was interesting with CD walls and a kitchen floor bathed in candle wax - but that was a during my ‘experimentation’ phase. The Bidoun Lounge is definitely the sexiest thing I’ve done so far.

Tell me about Traffic, it is such an exciting initiative – a beautiful use of space with design pieces from all over the world on display.Traffic is the 1st design gallery in the Middle East to exhibit contemporary furniture & accessories, host design events and house a library. We opened in September of ‘07 to act as a platform for the designers of the region to show, source and discuss the latest in design.

Who is the most interesting designer currently working in the UAE?Khaled Al Najjar and Omran Al Owais’s, 2 local architects, have stood out with their cutting edge design. I also like the work the Raghda Bukhash, a.k.a Pink Sushi, is doing and her experimentation of different mediums.

What plans do you have for the space – I hear a rumour Est & Sons will be here in Dubai in March?True, we’re launching Established & Sons during Art Dubai. This brand is a signal of revolutionizing design movement coming from the UK. By fostering British talent and presenting their collection in a design meets art format Established & Sons have changed the way we view furniture.

Art Projects


EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES

The Global Art Forumin association with The Financial Times

FIAC launch of the transcripts

Global Art Forum:2 in March 2008 will continue to create links between East and West through examining professional and public interests in art. Art is a business, and the Global Art Forum will examine public support for the arts, corporate and private collecting, and art patronage. Yet, it cannot be ignored that art is a form of cultural heritage, and so the museum’s role in preserving the past and hosting the future will be integral to the discussion program. The artist and collector have become nomads in today’s global art world, and the journey to find inspiration also leads to self-discovery. This journey will be the backdrop for a series of conversations between artist and collectors. In collaboration with FIAC in Paris, the Global Art Forum will host Paris/Dubai, which will unite artists and intellectuals from the Middle East living in Paris through the topic of art in transition.

“What’s so interesting about Dubai...you come there and you have to start again… everybody gets a fresh chance in a country that is not necessarily going to take it all for granted. I find it really exciting to be in a place that is able to encourage big projects…there is an enormous energy to build and build and build’ — Wim Delvoye, Artist, Brussels, Belgium

“Our only chance in this region is to just hold hands and work all together and Beirut is one seed and can bring what it can. Dubai has other qualities, it has money and it has the energy. Look at this city and you will see that growth everywhere, so I really think that we all can get somewhere and in terms of globalization and the world is now so small and we want to bring our own identities and to be out and show the world that we have our own art. We are not looking westwards to find work, but we have an oriental art based and rooted in this region but which looks out at the world’ — Andree Sfeir-Semler

Global Art Forum timings:Monday 17 MarchArt Patronage in the Business Age:- Building a Corporate Collection- Working with Corporations- Corporate Communications & BrandingTuesday 18th MarchArt Patronage in the Business Age: - Private Passions: Collector-Philanthropists- Building Cultural CitiesWednesday 19th MarchArtists and New Productions:- Public Art Commissions- New Art Productions- The Art of Words: Calligraphy & TextThursday 20th MarchThe City in Transition:- The Artist, Collectors and Curators as NomadsParis-Dubai: From Tradition to TransitionFriday 21st March- The Future Museum and the Middle East17th & 18th March at the DIFC; 19th, 20th & 21st at the Madinat Jumeirah.

Confirmed speakers include Glenn Lowry, the Director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Maria de Corral, Anish Kapoor and Daniel Burren.

For further information contact [email protected]



Over twenty children aged 11-14 have had their first START workshops at the National Museum of Beirut. Chief curator Suzy Hakimian was there to welcome them to the collection before they began drawings of their favourite items, lead by the young artists previously trained by START and The British Council. During the workshops the children were introduced to filming equipment and were able to begin animations of their drawings. These workshops in Beirut will now run for 30 weeks during 2008.

In Dubai START will be working with British Museum curator Venetia Porter for the duration of Word into Art at the DIFC. Schools that START is already working with will be brought to meet artists exhibiting in this important exhibition. There will also be an online cross-cultural exchange with British schools and the children in Lebanon. The idea is that children will enjoy learning about one another by seeing images that they have created with START.

“I am happy to learn that the START artists are willing to visit our villages. Your art engagement can certainly help a lot. You can’t imagine how deep our children were touched with today‘s experience. It was full of joy and mainly of exploration and sharing and I am really grateful for this.

In March START looks forward to being the first event in the season surrounding Art Dubai by hosting its Gala Fundraiser on March 17th at the Dubai International Financial Centre. Art collectors in the region who wish to support the talents of tomorrow will no doubt be out in force. Ticketing for this event is managed by Platinum; tel +9714 361 2861, email [email protected].

START are leading the children’s education programme for the ‘Word Into Art’ in Dubai.

Thinking Cloud 5 will take place at the DIFC taking on the topic: ‘Methods of Display’. For further information email [email protected].

On the 7th February Venetia Porter will be leading an Artists’ as Educators day with will include a symposium entitled ‘The Artist, the scholar and the patron: the case of contemporary Middle Eastern Art’. Confirmed speakers include Lisa Ball Lechgar, Nada Shabout, Shiva Balaghi, Sylvia Naef and Stephen Stapleton from Off Screen. This will be accompanied by an Artists Training Programme which is open to artists and teachers in the region and a series of workshops and lectures throughout the opening of the exhibition.

For more information visit www.startworld.org For further information visit www.dubaiholding.com or contact [email protected] or [email protected].

INTERNSHIP SCHEME

Working with universities across the UAE, current students and alumni have the opportunity of applying to join the Art Dubai team to experience a variety of working environments within the art world. Between October 2007 & March 2008 students will spend time with Art Dubai, working on all aspects of is planning and strategy such as event management, PR and marketing campaigns and design of the spaces. They will have the opportunity to work with other arts-related organisations such as the charity START that was formed at the fair in March and other arts organisations within the UAE such as the Dubai Cultural Council, the DIFC, local galleries, publications, radio stations and non-profit artist spaces. During Art Dubai they will actively be involved with international galleries and artists during set-up, the running of the fair and take down. The first group of interns have already undertaken an eight-week period of internship.

Sanaa Al-Falasi, Fourth year student at Zayed University.

During her internship, Sanaa has worked with START, Art Dubai, B21 Gallery and Time Out Dubai, lead photography workshops at DUCTAC and been live on Dubai Eye radio. She will return to work with Art Dubai and a participating gallery in March 2008.

“The Visual Arts Internship has improved my knowledge about the art world in the UAE and in the region tremendously. There is a great interest in the arts and cultures amongst people in the UAE due to Art Dubai and the numerous gallery openings that have been happening all over town. The internship programe has opened many doors for me as an artist. It has greatly enhanced my career prospects and there are now many possibilities for me to get my work out there and make a name for myself in the art industry. It is an honour and a great inspiration to be working with Art Dubai.

Bob Dahm, Design Chair, School of Architecture & Design, American University of Sharjah

“Art Dubai offers an opportunity for our students to become more familiar with the art and gallery world from a practical perspective, and will allow them to relate theory and skills learned in our programs to practical applications in industry in this area and abroad. Our students are excited about the internship opportunities Art Dubai offers and we look forward to a fruitful collaboration in the future.

Sara Al Madani, Zayed University International Studies majorSara spent eight weeks under Art Dubai’s supervision, working with Art Dubai, START, The Third Line Gallery and the DIFC Arts & Culture team. She will return to work during Art Dubai in March.

“What I feel benefited me the most from interning with Art Dubai is how my schedule was set to give me the opportunity of experiencing four different work atmospheres rather than just one.




The Photo BookBy the Editors of Phaidon Press

A book review written by an Art Dubai intern, Rajaa Khalid.

Five hundred stunning photographs, by five hundred photographers on five hundred pages, The Photo Book is an epic. The format is stylish and allows you to focus on the photographs which are reproduced faithfully. Each page is dedicated to a single photographer and the book is organized alpha-betically, which, if observed carefully makes for some interesting juxtaposi-tions such as Guy Bourdin’s Untitled fashion shot next to Margaret Bourke-White’s portrait of Gandhi.

The range is diverse and includes all the expected heavyweights such as Richard Avedon, Cecil Beaton, Henri Cartier- Bresson alongside contemporary legends like David LaChapelle, Rineke Djikstra and Annie Leibovitz.

The quick reference guide on each page will have you going back and fourth which means you can always come back to The Photo Book and stumble upon something you never noticed before, making it the mother ship for anyone with a passion for photography.

Books from FIAC Transcripts Book launch

Art Dubai is pleased to announce the launch of the Art Dubai Bookshop atArt Dubai next March. It will be the first commercial space dedicated to fineart books to appear in the UAE. We will also be presenting design items bylocal designers and publications related to the region. A series of book launches will be held during the week of Art Dubai.

One will be in collaboration with Raking Leaves, which is a new publishing imprint established to curate and commission artist projects that take the form of a book. Founded by the independent curator, Sharmini Pereira, all titles published under the Raking Leaves imprint embody curatorial projects that explore the manifold uses of the book to disclose their content and reach audiences. Working with some of the most significant contemporary artists from across the Asian region, Raking Leaves books are stand-alone projects, often representing the first,

substantial, book-making commissions for many artists from this region.Through the publication of affordable, innovatively designed artist bookprojects and special editions, Raking Leaves seeks to encourage a widerawareness, ownership and presentation of international contemporary art toaudiences globally.

Raking Leaves will be launched on the 28 February 2008 at the SerpentineGallery, London. Further launches will take place at Art Dubai as part of theGlobal Art Forum (19-22 March 2008) and in Tokyo in association with ArtsInitiative Tokyo and the Backers Foundation in July 2008. All launches will be accompanied by the publication of two new book projects by five critically acclaimed international artists: Muhanned Cader, Simryn Gill, Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan, Chandraguptha Thenuwara and Jagath Weerasinghe.

Art Books

The Thinking Cloud brings artists and art professionals together to debate pertinent issues in the contemporary art scene. It was founded in September 2007 by Laura Trelford & Sonia Brewin, the Director of START. It responds to a need within this time of tremendous expansion and development in the cultural sphere across the region: an open platform for talking about art. Plans for 2008 include collaboration with Word Into Art and other international art events.

The Thinking Cloud is evidence that the people of Dubai want to be a part of the UAE’s ever-growing art scene and are hungry to share their opinions on a variety of subjects.’ Lisa Ball-Lechgar, Editor of Canvas

The concept of the Thinking Cloud matches the princples of the Dubai Cultural Council in raising awareness of the current movements in the visual arts in Dubai and the UAE in general. It is very important to have a regular cultural art forum here, as it is an opportunity for artists and patrons to come together with the mentality of learning more about the arts scene. At Thinking Cloud there is a growing network of individuals willing to be challenged and to think more deeply about art, which is good’. Khalil Abdul Wahid, Dubai Cultural Council

Thanks to Thinking Cloud, I was very glad to be on the same table with some of my colleagues from different areas of the arts and culture sector of the UAE, and to be able to have an open and honest first public discussion about the pressing questions, concerns and wishes that we all have in the midst of the fast developing cultural

sector in this country. These are exciting times indeed but we need to be working in the right direction in order to capitalise on the fantastic opportunities that are opening up for artists, public organisations and the creative industries in the UAE keeping in mind first and foremost the interest of the residents and nationals of the UAE and their needs” Mahita El Bacha Urieta, writer, curator and Public Programming Manager, TDIC (Tourism, Development & Investment Company), Abu Dhabi

The Thinking Cloud

Thinking Cloud 2: ‘Are you the Audience?’ which took place on 3rd October 2007, kindly supported by the DIFC

Image by Al Zahraa Sulaiman

For more information contact [email protected]



Again there are top curators and museum directors speaking at the Global Art Forum – for example Stuart Comer who is the Film Curator at Tate Modern in London, Katie Gass from New York and Catherine David from Paris.

Salima Hashmi, curator of Desperately Seeking Paradise: special project at Art Dubai, 18-22nd March 2007, Madinat Jumeirah water terraces

Salima Hashmi has been a seminal figure in the arts scene Pakistan for several decades. A practicing artist, teacher, curator and critic – for Art Dubai she is bringing together a group of artists who are very much engaged with the current social and political situation in Pakistan, and also happen to be her teaching colleagues and former students.

The title of the project; ‘Desperately Seeking Paradise’ is inspired by the writings of Ziauddin Sardar. Salima has given the artists freedom of finding their own interpretation of the theme, but she did have in mind that each one in some way or another are

seeking something – whether on a spiritual, political or personal level – as she says they are interested in issues, they are interested in concerns. Pakistan celebrated sixty years as an independent nation in 2007. The artists work in a variety of media; the seminal Rashid Rana who has sold works with Christies, and creates digital paintings which are immensely provocative. Imran Qureshi will exhibiit work. Naiza Khan will bring an element of installation and intervention with the environment in her work. Many artists are female and this will be a factor close to the heart of the show, particularly Huma Mulji and Farida Batool.

Sophie Ernst – of western origins, she is from Holland – has adopted Lahore as her home and has been an inspirational force within Beaconhouse National University where she lectures alongside Salima. Salima herself states that Sophies work is very much to do with Pakistan and that she consciously wants to be a bridge and vehicle for dialogue, bringing a fresh window to Pakistan and how they see themselves and how they are viewed by the west. Her piece ‘Jannat’ was exhibited at the DIFC as part of the DIFC Gulf Art Fair, and Sophie returns to Dubai in March 2008 with new work commenting on the transient nature of contemporary life. As the curator so astutely comments ‘Whether we like it or not, the word is still a major component, you can’t do without it’.

She has become an important voice and record of the art scene, realizing how little serious art writing there was emerging from the region as artists were too busy making work. She comes from a family of social activists; people who were involved in the critical evolution of the nation, of which the

visual arts was a crucial component. Salima was actively involved in the formation of the National Gallery of Art which was finally inaugurated in August 2007 after twenty-five years of planning. I asked Salima if she felt having such a grand, new purpose built space was an inspiration to artists to produce new work. She agreed that it was going to happen ‘one thing artists notice is that they are going to alter the scale of their work for example be able to think in terms of installations which take into a certain kind of consideration of a configuration of space. Curators insisted on pushing new media such as video which is accepted. All of this has taken a giant leap forward and so one realizes the importance of architects and I have grown to understand why they are seen as being slightly megalomaniacal. Yes they can alter people’s vision and behaviour, they can affect ways of

We heard many of the most prominent international curators currently practicing speaking in the Global Art Forum in March 2007. We listened to Jean-Herbert Martin, former director of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, who is closely involved with projects in Abu Dhabi and this summer curated the spectacular exhibition Artempo: Where Time Becomes Art at the Fortuny Museum in Venice during ther Biennale. Jerome Sans, Lance Fung and Hans Ulrich Obrist all spoke.

This year we are very excitingly getting the opportunity of viewing exhibitions arranged by such top name curators, a trend which is a crucial ingredient to Dubai becoming a true cultural centre. Donna De Salvo, a delegate at the Global Art Forum last year, chief curator and associate Director for Programmes at the Whitney recently curated a retrospective of the internationally acclaimed artist Lawrence Weiner – who will be executing a project here in Dubai this year orchestrated by the gallery from the Hamptons, New York Salomon Contemporary. The Director of the gallery, James Salomon was in Dubai recently and is delighted to be bringing Lawrence’s work to Dubai. Both at the art fair itself, in the grounds of the DIFC and in galleries across Dubai curators from across the world will be exhibiting their wares this March. Here are a few of the highlights.

understanding and move things along, Naeem Pasha won the commission for the National Gallery in 1989. He is a painter himself and a wonderful collector. It was a perfect working relationship, he did far more than an architect needed to do, he helped to innovate, alter spaces and suggest things that could be done. Many things came about because of the active partnership of the artist, architect and curator.’These relationships are crucial within the creation of any exhibition.

To conclude, Salima stresses an abiding sense of humour, which has largely held Pakistan together, the way people combat very stressful social and political situations. ‘If there is humour there is a great possibility of change’. The term ‘paradise’ pertains to something unattainable and unreachable in the scale of human existence – so the title of the show is almost snide in the way it takes on this idea of paradise that is always out of reach and how even despite a variety of different forms of struggle it is something that is simply not there to be found or reached in this world. Particularly pertinent thoughts for residents of Dubai; billed as the ultimate ‘paradise’ destination.

Within the current political instability and confusion in Pakistan, this exhibition takes on added resonance and makes a further statement that is so important to air to the Dubai audience.

‘At the End of a Rainbow’ is a 6 week community art project for manual labourers aiming to reach young men who rarely if ever have access to public cultural events in the UAE. During the course of the workshop, the project facilitator, Saba Qizilbash along with 6 AUD Photography students will teach a Photography Workshop to a group of 12 manual laborers. Over a period of 6 weeks, the group will meet every Friday with the participants to teach, step by step, the fundamentals of photography. The Friday sessions will begin with a seminar, followed by a snack break after which groups will pair off for field work. With the support of multi-media, visual references, group discussions, critiques and hands on activities, the participants will be introduced to the basic techniques of photography as well as its role in journalism, politics and marketing. The workshop will culminate with a body of work which will be displayed, along with other art works, at the Pakistan Pavilion.’

DESPERATELY SEEKING PARADISE


VENETIA PORTER, BRITISH MUSEUMCurator of Word Into Art, a British Museum Touring Exhibition, DIFC Atrium, 6 February – 30 April 2008The exhibition ‘Word Into Art’ held at the British Museum in London was a seminal moment in the recognition of the achievements of Middle Eastern artists in the field of contemporary art. It was sponsored by Dubai Holdings so there was always the possibility of the exhibition traveling to Dubai – which it is doing and opens on February 6th in the atrium at the DIFC. The first Thinking Cloud debate will be held in conjunction with the opening of this exhibition, with Venetia Porter on the panel. Laura Trelford asked her a couple of questions:

Where did the concept of Word Into Art originate?When it was first decided to create an exhibition based on our collection of modern and contemporary Middle eastern art, which we had been collecting in a modest way since the mid 1980s, I was looking for a strong theme to tie it all together. (The collection is not remotely extensive enough to group artists by where they come from ie all Egyptian artists, Iraqi artists etc. and anyway I am not sure whether that that approach would work as it would be too disparate.) Starting from the objects, it was clear to me that so many of the works had script on them in one way or another – not just straight ‘calligraphy’ but texts of various kinds, graffiti and so on. And once I had started looking at what was being written, the works naturally fell into different groups which are the sections that we have now: Sacred Script, Literature and Art and so on.Then it was why did the artists make certain choices which interested me and this led to demonstrable

links with literature, heritage on a number of different levels and the politics of today and I realised that everything had the potential to tell an interesting story.

Was it always the intention to bring the exhibition to the Middle East?I know Dubai Holding have been involved from early on. Dubai Holding worked in partnership with us supporting not only the exhibition but an intense programme of activity we created around the exhibition we called Middle East Now. It was always on the cards that the exhibition would be shown in Dubai but we could only really take this forward once the London exhibition had finished.

What do you want the local community to gain from the exhibition?I would like to think that we are contributing to what is an increasingly vibrant art scene in Dubai and the Emirates more broadly and that the exhibition will complement what is already going on. I hope that people will come and see it and express what they think and that we will attract a diverse audience from across the communities in Dubai specially including children and students.

Do you envisage public opinion of the show to be different in London, Dubai and Riyadh? In London we had a huge audience – 90,000 visitors over the three months. Much of people’s surprise at the breadth of the material was largely because only a small proportion of the visitors knew about modern Middle Eastern art. The situation will be different in Dubai as much of this material – but maybe not individual pieces- is more familiar. Its hard to guess what the audiences will think. People may be interested in the fact that it is the British Museum putting this on and may be interested in the approach we take which is quite didactic. We work very hard here to try and not only create beautiful and interesting displays but to make the material as understandable as possible through the labels. These will be in English and Arabic.

What are your thoughts on the way the art scene is developing here?Its very impressive – there is a real buzz and with the Art Dubai too its getting more and

more exciting. We are absolutely delighted at the British Museum that Word into Art will be on at the same time as Art Dubai.

Will there be work by UAE artists in the show?We have a number of new artists in the show from the Gulf. There is of course Abd al-Qader al-Raes with a work we have just acquired from the Waw series; Khalid al-Saai who lives in Sharjah. From Qatar we have Ali Hassan and Yussuf Ahmed. From Bahrain we have Abbas Youssif, Jamal Abd al-Rahim and Ebrahim Busaad. I was only able to make a limited number of changes but these works (with the exception of the Yussuf Ahmad) are recent acquisitions. There is a wealth of talent in the Gulf region and I am looking forward to getting to know more artists and acquiring their work for the growing collection of the British Museum.

Sharmini Pereira

Already mentioned as part of Art Books – the Art Bookshop launching at Art Dubai, Sharmini Pereira is the director and founder of Raking Leaves, who will hold an event in conjunction with Art Dubai and the Global Art Forum. In 2006 she co-curated the first Singapore Biennale in 2006. Between 2004-2005 she was the first ACAPA (Australia Centre for Asia Pacific Art) scholar in residence at the Queensland Art Gallery. She has worked internationally for over ten years, as an independent curator, writer, editor and curatorial consultant across the public and private sectors.

Organisations she has worked with include the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; the Imperial War Museum, London; eyestorm.com; The Royal Academy, London; The Japan Foundation, Japan; Albion, London; the Hayward Gallery, London and the British Council, Sri Lanka. She is a Trustee for Book Works, London and an academic advisor for the Asia Art Archive (AAA), Hong Kong.

Bose Krishnamachari1 x 1 Artspace & 1 x 1 ContemporaryMany of you who were in Dubai during March 2007 will remember the spectacular exhibition of Chittrovanu Mazumdar put on by the gallery 1 x 1 Artspace in a 4,000 sq. foot warehouse space in Al Quoz. Malini Gulrajani is delighted to announce that 1 x 1 are inaugurating a new, permanent warehouse space in March with the exhibition AfFAIR,.

Bose Krishnamachari is an artist and a curator taking charge of this two-part (the second part will be shown in the gallery space on Al Wasl Road) mammoth exploration of the best of contemporary Indian art practice with fifteen artists exhibiting. He visited Dubai earlier this month and is confident in his artists, saying this is going to be the best of shows.

He calls the current situation in India sad – there is no contemporary museum, trained critics or curators. He therefore decided to take his knowledge learnt in the UK, Bose himself studied in London at Goldsmiths, and arrange exhibitions both within India (he is based in Mumbai but is originally from Kerala) and internationally. As well as these exhibitions in Dubai this spring he is also working on shows in Milan, New York (Icon Gallery in Chelsea) and Innsbruck. He claims that experience gives confidence – he has met and worked alongside many of the familiar YBA names in London and the international art superstars. Bose enjoys working on educational projects, but makes sure he works on professional shows which enhance the quality of a particular gallery.

Bose claims that most artists start as painters then become photographers or sculptors, and that contemporary art is fundamentally a process of experimentation with different media. His role as a curator is finding and nurturing talent and relating it to other art forms in contemporary life, such as poster design, graphics, digital, music, dance. Nothing is dying (i.e. painting), but organically transforming into something else. Every medium can be a great work – cutting edge doesn’t mean it has to be digital, it can be everything combined,

everything can be relative. His work is about our contemporary time. The exhibition combines well known names such as Bharath Sikka and Riyas Komu as well as introducing new talents.

‘Everything is global, you can get everything in front of you’

www.1x1artspace.com



Gu Zhengqing, The Jam Jar, 15 March – 19 April 2008

The curator Gu Zengqing has been a leading force in creating awareness of Chinese art practice across the world. From 2003 – 2007 he worked as the Chief-Curator of Zhu Qizhan Art Museum and Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, but since 2001 he additionally curated over seventy exhibitions and symposiums worldwide such as the 2006 Liverpool Biennial, UK. He is also the founder and chief-Editor of the bi-lingual art magazine Visual Production and regularly lectures at academic institutions. He lives and works in Beijing and Shanghai and will be coming to Dubai in March to curate an exhibition at the Jam Jar in Al Quoz – an innovative space which is increasingly showcasing prominent international artists in their busy schedule.

Weng Fen’s Beautiful New World, by Gu Zhenqing

With the rising of China, the issue of modernity has become the top priority across the country. It is, I believe, also one of the key issues the Chinese contemporary art community has to address. Nevertheless, despite a huge number of artists who like to advocate their Chinese identity, few have made any attempt to express their thoughts on this special phenomenon. Weng Fen is one of the few artists who have created many series of work to depict the changes of urban residents’ mentality as well as the discrepancy between their expectation and the reality of the society, both caused by the nation’s rapid economic development in a global setting. His works include “On the Wall” photo series (2001), “Bird’s Eye” photo series (2002), installation “Viewing Stand” (2003) and “Staring at the Sea” photo series.

The photos taken by Weng Fen always leave the viewers with a complicated sensation that recedes slowly. In his works, issues of traditional and modern life, economic globalization and China’s own path, as well as the unbalanced development in the urban consumer society are intertwined in the common

background of modernity. Therefore, his work brings out subtle emotions that used to hide deep in our minds, leading to strong and irresistible emotional fluctuations. We also get the feeling of becoming an integral part of the pictures.

The life of contemporary art lies in experimenting. “Building with Eggs” is the latest “experiment” carried out by Weng Fen’s “modern art lab”. Like a model built with toy bricks by a child, the simple yet meaningful eggshell installation reflects the unique viewpoint of the artist and his insight into social and cultural issues. As an artist who understands the minds of city dwellers, Weng Fen exposes the problems in urban development through a sand table model and reveals the fragileness and falseness of ignorant people trapped in this modern development crisis. As modernization is, to some extent, the origin of many economic, social and cultural problems in China. The courage Weng Fen shows when he addresses these problems through his works is an example of the artist’s rational criticism of the society and his active participation into the current social life, which is quite rare in China’s art scene now. (Translated by Steven Huang)

www.thejamjardubai.com



Art Projects

Without a doubt the most exciting and vibrant arena in which to experience the true nature of contemporary art that has been being produced in the UAE since its formation nearly forty-years ago is in a house in Al Quoz. The house is owned by Abdul-Raheem Sharif, but he has been evicted in order to make room to display the works of his brother,s Hassan and Hussein Sharif and the other members of the ‘7 UAE’.

Mohammed Kazem, a pupil of Hassan Sharif’s and a talented photographer, painter and curator who worked on the 8th Sharjah Biennial, has assisted Abdul-Raheem in creating a unique viewing experience at the Flying House. When you walk up the entrance steps (which are made of plastic and contain installation work) you really feel as if you are part of history in the making – this is the first foundation for indigenous visual arts produced in the UAE. It is the first steps in creating, dare I say it a national collection, and what is so special about it is its personal touch, making one reminiscent of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection on the shores of the Grand Canal in Venice or Sir John Soane’s Museum in the heart of London.

To quote Abdul-Raheem:‘With the help and support of the artists, I started in the early 1990s the documenting and publication of their works, a process that took me more than two years. In 2002, I coordinated an exhibition of five contemporary UAE artists at the Ludwig Forum for International Arts, Aachen, Germany. In 2006, I produced a documentary about five contemporary UAE artists which was successfully screened at a few International Film Festivals held in the UAE and abroad. In 2007, I coordinated an exhibition of seven contemporary UAE artists held at the Dubai Community

Theatre and Art Center (DUCTAC).After careful studies, and through the years of my association with the artists, I was convinced that it is essential to have a permanent location to meet the needs of contemporary UAE artists. To do this I established The Flying House- the aims of which are to create a permanent exhibition space and also keep proper documentation of their artists work, organize exhibitions internationally and maintain and encourage continuous debate involving the artists and international critics.’

The artists recently came together for a wonderful paintings exhibition at Total Arts at the Courtyard in Al Quoz, a venue which has supported and exhibited these artists for several years.

UAE artist and student Sanaa Al-Falasi visited the Flying House and gave this report:

‘The Flying House is like no other house I’ve been to. Once you set foot inside The Flying House, you feel you are in another world where every corner of the house breathes art. The work that is displayed there is tremendous. I think it’s a brilliant idea to have a place that references Emirati artists that can be known both nationally and internationally. Art is very rich in our cuture, but many do not know how to nuture it and let it grow. The Flying House provides a wonderful opportunity for young Emirati artists that are willing to be recognised on a world class level. This is just the kind of thing we need in the UAE.’

For further information or to arrange an appointment to visit the Flying House please contact Abdul-Raheem Sharif at [email protected] or visit www.the-flyinghouse.com.

THE FLYING HOUSE



The Dubai arts community lost a seminal figure this winter, Mayla Attassi, the co-director of Green Art Gallery who died at home in Dubai on November 21st 2007. Laura met Amna Dabbagh, her partner at Green Art Gallery to talk about all that Mayla brought to the Dubai Arts Community.

‘The most energetic person I have ever worked with’The name Green Art comes from Mayla’s first activity after arriving in Dubai in 1993, greeting cards made out of recycled paper. She was always interested and informed about art from the Middle East, and began by selling art from her home but it soon became necessary to have a proper public gallery and partners. They were the second gallery in Dubai after Majlis, and as Amna comments ‘when I look around and see so many galleries I am proud to be the second – it is healthy to have so many galleries’.

Amna claims that Mayla was her teacher when it came to choosing artists and curating exhibitions, and that she introduced Amna to all of the artists. Right from the start they worked very closely with Attassi Gallery, founded by Mayla’s sister Mona. They have had a highly professional relationship with the gallery constantly, and that will not change now that Mayla is gone.

Mayla had moved to Dubai from her native Syria with her husband, and the focus of Green Art Gallery was always as Amna labels them ‘the Arab Pioneers’ and they have remained consistent in the artists they exhibit throughout the twelve years they have been in operation. The nationalities represented were mainly Syrian because of Mona but also Lebanese and Iraqi to quote Amna ‘my personal opinion is that Iraq produces the best art in the Middle East’. She states that she feels the United Arab Emirates generates talent, there are a lot of artists producing work here that they show in the gallery, such as the Emirati Abdul Qadir Al Rais and Thaier Helal who works in Ajman originally from Syria.

Though the years Amna was lucky enough to get a work from each show, particular favourites of hers are Jeber Alwan and Fateh Moudarres, and these have now become the names to watch out for in the market. Mayla did a lot for the art scene in Dubai, she introduced these artists to the community. ‘We have been very lucky’

The wounds are still raw for Amna but by March, where Green Art Gallery will participate in Art Dubai in a joint stand with Attassi Gallery there will be time to remember Mayla and all she achieved.

GREEN ART GALLERY In Memory of Mayla Attassi

Mayla Attassi with artists at the 10th Anniversary of Green Art, 2005.

B21 Gallery in Al Quoz are going from strength to strength with a full line up of exhibitions throughout the year and they are participating in Art Dubai 2008.

Their exhibition in March will be paintings by the emerging Iranian artist, Rokni Haerizadeh. His canvases juxtapose female figures with quirky touches and a constant strong linear structure. From public baths to the streets of Tehran, Haerizadeh infuses each piece with recurring folkloric symbols and the trappings of Sufi mysticism. Through a satirical treatment of his subjects (which originate from poems, plays, folktales and modern urban myths), he carefully places intelligently woven metaphors within his works. His visual vernacular references everything from traditional carpet patterns, chadors and qajars to street art and iconic public spaces.

Within each colourful, spontaneous and sophisticated composition, Haerizadeh explores, expresses and redefines just what it means to be a modern Iranian artist. The viewer is encouraged to experience the force of a rich cultural heritage with an artist who exists beyond the realms of convention. It comes as no surprise to learn that Haerizadeh’s originality of expression has seduced several prominent art collectors in the Middle East and Europe.

OTHER GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS


The Third Line

Shezad Dawood Currently having his first solo show in London at Paradise Row, Shezad Dawood is based in London but always comments on his Middle Eastern roots in his art, even when referencing the American Wild West. He returns to the Third Line in an exhibition entitled ‘Till the End of the World’.

Elementa is a new gallery from the forces behind Gallerie 88 in Calcutta recently opened in the Dubai Airport Free Zone. The gallery space is spectacular with very high ceilings, and offering artists and curators alike the opportunity of displaying large scale works. Their first exhibition called ‘Foreground. Background’ brings together a group of UK artists curated by the Canadian Swapna Tamane and seeks to challenge our notions of perspective and space. During Art Dubai Elementa will hold a group show of Indian & Pakistani artists. This show will include works by Subodh Gupta, Bani Abidi, Rashid Rana and Bharti Kher, exploring video, sculpture, photography and found-materials. It opens on March 21st 2008.

Showcase will hold a second exhibition by the superb painter, Giddy Perry curated by Suzette Heydenreich, formerly of Art Dubai. In “Protected Environment”, Giddi is exhibiting recent paintings. Giddi’s art is rooted within Western painting traditions and is occupied with classical themes: landscapes, interiors, still lives, self portraits and figures. Those classical themes, which form Giddi’s artistic world, are dealt with in an individual way, creating a contemporary pictorial language. Perry received his artistic education in the years 1971-1975, the high days of conceptual and minimalist art in the Academy, yet he persistently remains a painter.

The early works relate to the landscape in a traditional way, in their romantic observation of landscapes. The more recent paintings depict breakage and dismantling of those landscapes. The paintings use figurative materials that pass through the subjectivity of the artist and provide building stones for expressive and colour saturated painting.

Meem Gallery will exhibit works by the seminal Turkish artist, Ismail Acar.

XVA Gallery have re-launched themselves as the first art hotel in Dubai, with Sameh El Shahat, Zayan Ghandour, Essa, Nada Debs and the resident Halim al Karim all contributing pieces to the designed suites. XVA has also recently merged with Ave Gallery and thus doubled their exhibiting space. Following the excellent exhibition ‘Design Meets Art’ during Ramadan which showcased the works of eleven top designers and artists XVA are swiftly becoming the place in the region to learn about design – enhanced by the new Management Team who formerly directed Moutamarat.

The Majlis Gallery, the oldest gallery in Dubai, housed in a beautiful old windtower house, continues to play an important part in the growing art scene in the area. They have struck up a relationship with the Grand Hyatt, and throughout Art Dubai the work of Khalid Al-Saai will on show in their ballrooms. At the Majlis there will be an exhibition of new Middle Eastern paintings by renown British painters Julian Barrow, Alexander Creswell and Paul Wadsworth. All four artists plan to be in Dubai during Art Dubai so the Majlis will be quite a forum for direct discussion and contact with four great talents.

The Bastakia quarter still continues to be a vibrant centre for contemporary art and design, and will be buzzing throughout the month of March.


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Issue 13 This issue marks Soura's second anniversary and new look. in collaboration with gulf photo plus 2007, soura brings you renowned international photographers such as Matt Hoyle, David Nightingale, Jack Picone, Joe Mcnally, Bobbi Lane, Alexis Bliss and Manal Al Dowayan

Issue 14 we feature surrealism in its best forms, brought to us by talented photographer Al Lapkovsky. Also, renowned photographer, Youssef Nabil masters the art of moving stills with his hand-colored black and white photographs. Along the works of George Haddad and Anas Al Shaikh.

Issue 16Culture and people are the focus of our 16th issue. With Ramadan round the corner, we celeberate diversity, humanity, and God’s marvelous creation. Our guest photographers-help us in thie quest, with photographers that tell us stories about human race and share with us the spirit of life.

Issue 17This issue marks the end of the year 2007. Our featured photographers capture moments of yet another runaway year. Photographs with fleeting moments, blurry movement, hurrying time amidst frozen minutes, capture the essence of a year rushing to an end. Danilo Piccioni, Maleonn, Xavier Portela,, Rarindra Prakarsa, KayLynn Deveney help capture little emotions held in many photographs.

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