Cultural Round-up: Artist gets creative with coffee

COVID-19 Stories

Art centres, galleries and exhibitions are currently closed, and artists are cut off from their creative communities and even their studios. But Dubai-based artist Jesno Jackson, who cofounded the non-profit community platform Art4you believes that artists can still use the power of art to bridge the social distance and fight the virus.

To motivate other artists and convey a positive message to the community, she is creating a series of paintings, titled Covid-19 Stories using coffee, a material easily available at home.

The paintings in various shades of brown depict our daily lives, our concerns about the pandemic, and the joys of spending time with family during this surreal period of worldwide quarantines and social distancing.

Mr Green’s Happy Potion for children

Dubai-based Palette Art Training and Consultancy has launched a unique series of story boards/colouring pages for children, featuring Mr Green, a character who has magic potions to help people feel happy in times of crisis.

The character has been developed by young US-based designer Srishti Gupta. New colouring pages will be regularly uploaded on Palette’s Facebook and Instagram pages (Palettedubai) gradually building up a personalised storybook for every participant.

An artist’s colouring rendition of the pages with be provided as a reference, and participants are encouraged to share their efforts with Palette. The three best renditions of the entire series will be displayed on Palette’s social media platforms.

Palette is also offering online courses in Drawing and Painting for All, Basic Jewellery Designing, Fashion Designing and Illustration, and Basic Photography. For more information write to info@palettedubai.com or visit palettedubai.com.

Tashkeel Talks

Tashkeel has launched a series of online conversations with artists, designers, psychologists and others about being creative and healthy at this time of social distancing.

New 20-minute moderated online sessions are broadcast every Wednesday on IGTV @TashkeelStudio and Facebook/TashkeelStudio and continue to be accessible on YouTube/Tashkeel and Instagram.

Viewers can share comments and ask questions during these pre-recorded conversations for an interactive experience. The series began with talks on Creating from Home and Mental Health Focus.

This week Tashkeel will launch the Artist Resource Kit and the talk on April 22 will be about the challenges and opportunities facing the creative community in the UAE.

Future talks include Making the Most of the Silence on April 29 and Off-screen Action for Young People on May 6 where Tashkeel faculty will share tips on art activities for families using materials available at home. For details visit tashkeel.org, email tashkeel@tashkeel.org, and follow their social media channels @TashkeelStudio.

Online Improv course

The Courtyard Playhouse is offering a specialised certified online course, Improv Online, led by its artistic director, Marie Vercruyssen, and comedian and instructor Rushdi Rafeek.

The course is designed for beginners as well as those who have taken an improv or acting class and want to focus on solo scene work.

It takes students from the fundamentals of improvisational theatre, through practicing improv exercises with fellow participants to doing individual improvised scenes. Students will get one-on-one feedback from instructors and the opportunity to perform on stage when the Playhouse reopens.

The course is open to all ages, and a discount is available for family groups. For more information write to online@courtyardplayhouse.com. Other online courses will be launched soon.