Art lovers with their heads in the Cloud

An anthology of essays by cultural leaders and Emirati artists has been put together in response to the call for bilingual literature that intelligently discusses the arts in the UAE today.

Called Thinking Cloud, contributors include H.E. Zaki Nusseibeh, deputy director of ADACH (Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage), curators, professors, gallerists and local artists, who include Mohammad Kazem and the internationally exhibiting Hassan Sharif.

Inspired by the success of their Thinking Cloud public debates, art enthusiasts Sonia Brewin and Laura Trelford came up with the book to continue open discourses around exhibitions, creative talent, audiences and patronage.

Culture vultures

The group itself is a regular feature on Dubai's cultural scene, having started in Dubai's Al Quoz, moving on to the DIFC, then Sharjah's Museum of Islamic Civilisation, Abu Dhabi's Cultural Foundation and even London, where the audience was over 100 strong.

The Thinking Cloud book contains photographs by artists such as Haig Avaizian, the Third Line curator and exhibitor at this year's Biennale in Sharjah, and a beautiful work by Shaikha Latifa Bint Maktoum Al Maktoum, founder of Tashkeel art space.

This is the first text ever purely dedicated to the art scene of the UAE.

“In one publication, we wanted to capture the leading voices of today. The art scene of the UAE needs an academic record for art students and art enthusiasts,'' says Brewin, the director of START, an organisation which uses art as a means to empower, heal and educate the young.

“When we took the Thinking Cloud debate to London, the hosting Photographers Gallery was packed.

“It showed us how much interest there was in the UAE art scene during the busy Frieze week. As no one has written a bilingual series of essays on the vibrant contemporary art scene of this region, we thought: Why not?'' Trelford says.

The book is edited by Brewin and Trelford and is in the true spirit of their educational work in Dubai, as they also invited two students to co-edit and design the text.

As a discursive text, Thinking Cloud, the book, can be read by art professionals and anyone who wants to know what's really happening in the UAE cultural scene.

One of a kind

This year, with the UAE having its first pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Thinking Cloud is timely.

The text will be officially launched for the public on April 20 at The Shelter, an art space established by leading Emirati entrepreneurs Rashid and Ahmad Bin Shabib.

There are only 100 copies of the book available. Therefore, copies of Thinking Cloud are not for sale.

The editors are giving them away in exchange for donations to the START children's programme.

The evening will begin with a Thinking Cloud debate on “Art Publishing''.