Dubai: A first-of-its-kind art, design and technology festival in the Middle East — ECHO in Dubai — has called on all creatives to submit their media and performance art entries to be showcased during the festival in December.
ECHO’s Open Call is open to anyone based in the UAE, the organisers said in a press release.
There is no fee for entries, and the top 10 entries will be given a unique space in the ECHO in Dubai exhibition to showcase their media or performance artworks.
The exhibition will take place during the three-day festival under the theme ‘Interacting with the Future’ from December 14 to 16 at Dubai Design District (d3).
New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) will judge the entries in partnership with the ECHO team.
Professor Felix Hardmood Beck, assistant professor of Practice of Design, Engineering at NYUAD, said ECHO is an exciting new platform, one that is directly aligned with the university’s vision to push forward the frontiers of knowledge, and aid in the development of a sustainable, knowledge-based economy in the UAE. “We have seen first hand the great potential in the country across the art, design and technology disciplines, and this Open Call will give many creatives the opportunity to have their ideas and designs showcased on an international platform. We are very much looking forward to seeing and experiencing the entries.”
The ECHO Open Call will accept entries across various disciplines including but not limited to:
Media Art: Media objects, media installations, artworks, digital art, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual art, internet art, interactive art, video games, computer robotics, 3D printing, cyborg art and art as biotechnology.
Performance Art: Any performance that is suitable for an outdoor environment.
The groundbreaking festival comprises an exhibition for local and international artists and participants to exhibit their works, a conference to exchange knowledge and generate new ideas within the community, workshops across a range of artistic and creative disciplines, and a sound festival that combines the best musical talent with digital technology and an immersive visual experience.
Entry to the wider ECHO in Dubai Festival will be free to the public.
More details about the conference programme and registration can be found on the website, http://echodubai.com
A first for the region, the festival aims to foster a culture where art, design, science and technology interact to pave the way for a new realm of integrated technologies.
Harnessing Dubai’s reputation as a city of the future and a leading platform for multiculturalism, creativity and business, this year’s event will focus on the real-virtual boundaries between users and the digital dimension.
Noura Hawilo, ECHO’s conceptualiser at MICE International, said ECHO hosted more than 35 UAE-based universities at d3, to launch the ECHO Open Call.
“Our vision is to create an ECHO community that will sustainably support all those interested in, and involved with, the forward-looking concepts that ECHO is exploring,” she said.
“Education and knowledge transfer is a core principle at ECHO and so it is important for us to partner with — and learn from — leading universities across the UAE,” she said noting that NYUAD is one of the world’s great research universities, with an exceptional liberal arts and sciences college.
