The stirrings of a cultural revival

Next week, it will be all art talk in the capital as the fourth edition of Abu Dhabi Art kicks off. From November 7 until November 10, the event will bring to the Saadiyat Cultural District some of the biggest names in art, design and architecture and a selection of art galleries from around the world.

Organised by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Cultural Authority, the event is considered “a catalyst for art and culture”, both locally and internationally, and one that allows artists and collectors to meet, acquire new artworks, network and exchange ideas.

Galleries will exhibit under Modern & Contemporary Galleries, Signature (which includes one emerging artist per exhibitor) and Beyond, which is designated to large-scale installations. The organisers will also give one emerging gallery the opportunity to take part in Bidaya, which is Arabic for “beginning”. This year, Abu Dhabi Art welcomes CDA Projects from Istanbul, which will be showcasing a range of young Turkish artists.

Weekend Review caught up with Shen Po Chen, senior project manager for Abu Dhabi Art, and Faisal Al Dhaheri, head of sponsorship and fundraising, to talk about some of the highlights from this year’s event, who to expect and what’s in store for the public.

Excerpts:

Can you tell us about some of the galleries that will be participating this year?

Shen Po Chen: This year we also position ourself as the boutique fair. We have about 50 galleries coming from 20 countries. We have 12 brand-new galleries joining the fair and these are from all over the world. We have galleries from Italy, Greece, London, Taiwan, Korea and Japan, so it is a good mix. One of our long-time support gallery, Lisson Gallery, is bringing one of the most recognised names internationally, Marina Abramovic. She’s one of the pioneers of performing arts. She likes to explore her own physical and mental endurance through her performances. What the gallery is bringing is artwork, but the artist herself is also going to be there. We’re having a conversation with the artist and we’re looking at other possible ways to engage with her while at the fair.

One gallery that is bringing some interesting work and maybe more familiar to audiences or visitors from this region is EOA.Projects; EOA stands for Edge of Arabia. They’re based in Saudi Arabia, but the gallery is in London. The gallery is bringing some Saudi artists, one of whom is Ahmad Mater, the most important Saudi artist, as well as Abdul Nasser Gharem.

How is the event going to be different from the previous editions?

Faisal Al Dhaheri: If you compare the first year to this year, you’ll see that we’ve added a lot of elements to it and we will keep adding more elements, such as art zones, talks, panels, design workshops. This year even the same elements are bigger and better with more programmes within. Every year we try to push the limit further and try to have an extensive programme so people can enjoy it.

How are you trying to encourage local talent through Abu Dhabi Art?

Faisal Al Dhaheri: This event is for Abu Dhabi and the Emiratis in Abu Dhabi, for the people who wouldn’t have direct access to these artists and artworks. We also always try to involve emerging artists from the UAE in everything we do. Some of the design workshops are led by Emiratis. We have a panel discussion as part of the Shaikha Salama [Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan] Foundation Initiative Art for All and it represents four Emirati artists. We work on the fair, we work on the museum, so it is also a very good experience for us as Emiratis to be part of the organisation.

Where do you think this event puts Abu Dhabi on the international art scene?

Faisal Al Dhaheri: We’re trying to create an art market here. We’re bringing world-renowned galleries. We’re growing the audience. So, we’re trying to create that atmosphere in Abu Dhabi and it’s very important for us to be a cultural hub.

This year, one of the artists, Mazen Kerbaj, will be glass-cage drawing and painting on site. Can you tell us a bit about this “exhibition within an exhibition” experiment?

Shen Po Chen: He’s an artist presented by Galerie Janine Rubeiz. What they will do is build a glass cage, and the artist will be sketching inside the glass cage during the fair hours. He’s looking out to all the visitors walking around the cage and looking at him, and he will sketch what he sees and put those sketches on the glass walls — the idea being that by the last day of the fair the wall will be covered by all these sketches and we’ll have a look at what is happening in his mind. The title of this programme is called “Don’t Feed The Artist”.

What about Chairs for Abu Dhabi? What is that?

Shen Po Chen: That is commissioned by the artist Tadashi Kawamata and he’s presented by Kamel Mennour from Paris. This artist has actually done similar work in a hospital in Paris. Now he has done something specific for Abu Dhabi and renamed it Chairs for Abu Dhabi. It’s made up of almost a thousand chairs stocked up, like a beehive, and you can actually walk through the whole installation and sit inside and admire the intricacies of how the chairs have been put together. It really feels serene and a bit strange, but it’s interesting to sit inside and see how it’s like and walk around. It’s meant to be an interactive space for people to reflect on.

What are some of the panel discussions this year?

Faisal Al Dhaheri: We have a panel discussing Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, with Frank Gerhy (the architect behind Guggenheim Abu Dhabi) and Jean Nouvel (the architect behind Louvre Abu Dhabi). We are going to have Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher. They’re sort of the power couple in the art world, but both them are renowned artists in their own right. I think this is one of the rare times they’re going to be on stage together talking about their work. We’ll also have a discussion with Anish Kapoor. He’s very famous and has been on every art magazine out there. We have 20 discussions with a large number of participants.

Sidebox:

So who is in town next week for Abu Dhabi Art? Here is the full list:

Adel Abidin, Marina Abramovic, Vishaka Desai, Richard Armstrong, Frank Gehry, Abdul Nasser Gharem, Subodh Gupta, Anna Somers-Cocks, Judith Benhamou-Huet, Tina Kim, Charles Pocock, Zeina Arida, Maitha Demithan, Salwa Mikdadi, Ghada Amer, Reem Fadda, Darragh Hogan, Fabrice Bousteau, Salvatore LaSpada, Mo Laudi, Joanne Cohen, Edward Tyler Nahem, Mohammad Kazem, Khalid Shafar, Fabrice Hyber, Pascale Marthine-Tayou, Bharti Kher, Jean Nouvel, Zaki Nussaibah, Deyan Sudjic, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Stuart Haygarth, Dana Al Mazroui, Kamel Mennour, Hadeyeh Badri, Hala Al Ani, Ayeh Naraghi, Alia Lootah, Thaddeus Ropac, Andree Sfeir-Semler, Philip Hoffman, Hamdan Al Shamsi, Laila Heller, Matthieu Orlean, Camille Henrot, UBIK, Sunny Rahbar, Camille Zakaria, Haitham Zamzam.