Life & Style | Leisure

Al Serkal new season opening

A brand new creative season at Al Serkal Ave means a big ol' block party to visit this week

By Farah Andrews, Scene magazine
Published: 11:31 September 5, 2012

Image Credit: Supplied picture
Jaber Al Azmeh at Green Art Gallery.

With a new season comes a glam art gallery party at Dubai’s art hub, Al Serkal Avenue, and from 7pm on Monday September 10, 20 galleries will throw open their doors and invite the public to mingle with artists, collectors and enthusiasts.

Wind your way through the different galleries and check out the art (as well as the quirky arty types), and our route will kick off at Lawrie Shabibi gallery, which is the first gallery you encounter as you enter, and is showing Placebo – a group exhibition by artists Driss Ouadahi, Shahpour Pouyan, Gazelle Samizay and Sama Alshaibi. We’ll then head to the neighbouring Ayyam Art Centre for Telling Spaces by avant-garde photographer Majid Koorang Beheshti. Then, turn the corner to find Green Art Gallery, which is showing Wounds by Syrian photographer Jaber Al Azmeh, before continuing on to Grey Noise gallery’s multimedia exhibition, Understanding Magnetism by Irish artist Michael John Whelan. At the bottom of the second avenue is The Mojo Gallery, which is exhibiting colourful exhibition ‘Jahkaas!’ Mumbai – A Study Of Beautiful Chaos by wonderful Dubai-based artist Hatty Pedder.

On the third and final avenue, walk up to Carbon 12 to enjoy Lisbon-born artist Gil Heitor Cortesão’s Coming Home, then visit Gulf Photo Plus, who are opening a show of portraits of Afghan women by Lana Slezic called A Window Inside. The final destination on the gallery crawl is Showcase Gallery, which is displaying South African Andrew Verster’s paintings in an exhibit called A Brief History Of Insignificant Things.
There are also other galleries that will throw their doors open to the public, and you’ll also find art talks and debates in La Galerie Nationale from 6pm1. As an added bonus, experimental music space The Fridge2 will be welcoming the public to their new venue.

FOOTNOTES

1. La Galerie Nationale are launching Design Stories – discussions led by artists, which focus on items on show in the gallery’s exhibition, Art Generation.

2. The popular art and performance space The Fridge is opening the doors to their brand new Al Serkal warehouse with a Kalubela show – an exciting vocal and aerial extravaganza which will be heading to The First Group Theatre in October. Plus, hip hop and City Of Life star The Narcicyst will also be performing.

Al Serkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai | 6pm, Monday September 10 | www.alserkalavenue.com