Courtesy: Reem Falaknaz
| Opening reception: | 16 March 2013, 18:00 |
| Panel discussions: | 16/3/2013, 15:00 – Sikka Art Fair 3/3/2013, 15:00 – Art Dubai’s Global Art Forum tent |
| Open studios: |
14 March 2013, 18:00 – 22:00 15 March 2013, 16:00 – 22:00 16 March 2013, 12:00 – 22:00 17 – 24 March 2013, 11:00 – 22:00, daily |
| Location: | House 11, Al Fahidi Historic Neighbourhood, Bur Dubai |
Artists-in-Residence (A.i.R) Dubai is a joint partnership between The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Delfina Foundation, Tashkeel and Art Dubai. This unique collaboration brings together expertise and resources from arts organisations in the UAE and the UK to support international exchange through artistic and curatorial residencies. A.i.R Dubai promotes research, production and critical discourse through a range of events, culminating in an open studios exhibition in association with SIKKA Art Fair and commissions at the Madinat Jumeirah as part of Art Dubai Projects.
For A.i.R. Dubai 2013, three Emirati artists, Reem Falaknaz, Ammar al Attar and Ebtisam Abdulaziz have been in residence alongside three international artists Yudi Noor, Joe Namy and Dina Danish and a curator, Bérénice Saliou, in association with ArtAsiaPacific.
Somewhere in-between an exhibition, open studio and site-specific response, the artists and curator are presenting outcomes of an organic dialogue between themselves, just as much as their artworks.
Works
Ebtisam Abdulaziz and Dina Danish collaboratively undertook research into the legacy of the neighbourhood. Based on archive materials relating to House 11, Ebtisam Abdulaziz created three artworks ranging from sculpture to video-performance and installation, interrogating the idea of preservation, while Dina Danish produced a series of site-specific drawings highlighting the relationship between memory and architecture. The two artists also collaborated on two interventions disrupting perceptions of time and place.
In a video observing the public’s interactions with the aquarium at Dubai Mall – the world’s largest shopping mall – Dina Danish questions the idea of spectacle and entertainment, a consideration that also lies at the core of Joe Namy’s sculpture and sound installation of an interactive disco floor that illuminates according to a mix of traditional Mdema rhythms and experimental compilations purchased from local shops.
Reem Falaknaz took advantage of her residency to develop the first stage of an ongoing project dealing with social issues and the notion of value, while questioning how personal narratives exist within the ever-changing urban environment of Dubai. Dealing with similar social issues, Ammar al Attar‘s photographs and videos of water coolers give an insight into a rather unknown practice in the UAE that subtly references a distinctive form of wealth distribution. Responding to Ammar al Attar’s video triptych, Joe Namy’s subtle sound installation releases atmospheric sounds collected around Dubai. The two works overlap and interact with a water well, one of the original features of the room where their works are presented.
Invading the central space of the house, a sculpture by Yudi Noor of horizontal water pipes foreshadows the artist’s main work, which is concentrated around a room that shelters the house’s barjeel or wind tower. Inspired by this architectural feature, the artist created a series of installations that bear witness to his accumulative and joyful practice based on chance encounters.
An essay by curator-in-residence, Bérénice Saliou,, accompanies the open studio exhibition.
The site-specific works for Art Dubai Projects by Yudi Noor, Joe Namy and Dina Danish can be viewed at Madinat Jumeirah during the opening hours of Art Dubai from 19/3 – 24/3/2013.
For more information on A.i.R Dubai and the 2013 residents, please click here.