Alserkal Avenue has announced that it will inaugurate a new event venue, Concrete, with an exhibition of modern and contemporary Syrian art, organised in collaboration with the Atassi Foundation. Concrete is designed by Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), founded by Pritzker award winner Rem Koolhas. It is a multidisciplinary event space, designed to host large-scale exhibitions, symposia, conferences, fashion, film and corporate events. The 600-square-metre space has high ceilings, movable walls, and a translucent front façade that can be positioned to create a seamless indoor-outdoor experience.
The Atassi Foundation was founded by Sadek and Mouna Atassi to promote and celebrate Syrian art and culture by exhibiting it, enhancing its global visibility and supporting creative production of young Syrian talent. Their inaugural exhibition in the region, “Syria: Into the Light”, will be open on March 9 and run until April 3, 2017. It will be curated by Mouna Atassi in collaboration with Rasha Salti and exhibition designer Michel Zayat, and will feature works by Syrian masters and emerging artists such as Toufiq Tarek, Fateh Moudarres, Youssef Abdelke, and Omran Younes. The museum quality show will be supported by a programme of talks, film screenings and commissions.
“It is a privilege to inaugurate the very first project in the UAE to be designed by OMA. The standard of design and technology that the practice has brought to this project highlights the intersections of art and architecture; it is indicative of the level of originality and inspiration that we hope Concrete will host in the months and years to come. I am especially pleased to show works from the Atassi Foundation’s collection in Alserkal Avenue, which has always been a platform for art and creativity from across the region and the world,” Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, founder of Alserkal Avenue, says.
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts-enthusiast based in Dubai.
