Alserkal launches month-long art programme across Dubai this April

Dubai: Alserkal Avenue is going bigger than ever this spring. What was once an annual art week has expanded into a full month of programming, with Alserkal Art Month running from 18 April to 18 May across the cultural district in Al Quoz.

The initiative brings together artists, curators, collectives and cultural practitioners from across the UAE and wider region for five weekends of exhibitions, talks, performances, workshops and public art interventions.

The programme opens on 18 April with 16 gallery exhibitions launching simultaneously across Alserkal Avenue's contemporary art spaces. The same weekend also sees the opening of Still A Sky We Hold, a newly commissioned public artwork by Shilpa Gupta, installed in The Yard. The piece is a new iteration of her earlier commission for the Avenue and its title serves as the guiding premise for the entire month.

Running from 25 April to 8 May, Déjà vu is a curated group exhibition at Concrete featuring artists represented by 18 of the UAE's leading galleries. Curated by a three-person committee from within Alserkal, in consultation with the participating galleries, the show takes its cue from the absurdity of repetition, exploring the uncanny feeling of days revisited and the weight of perpetual recurrence. A Majlis Talks programme curated by Nadine Khalil will run alongside the exhibition.

Multidisciplinary collectives selected for the Blank Space initiative, which launched in late March to support emerging creatives across design, craft, music and visual arts, will also be part of the month's programming through a series of space takeovers.

Creative workshops will be led by Dirwaza Curatorial Lab, Chafa Ghaddar, Nora Zeid and Al Reem Al Beshr, while Alserkal Arts Foundation will host reading groups, open studios and performances by locally based artists and practitioners. The Foundation has also set up a grants fund offering up to Dh10,000 to support the completion of research-led projects within its network.

The month wraps up from 12 to 17 May with Moving, a four-day programme of moving image works developed in partnership with Art Dubai. Now in its second year, the jointly curated programme will screen continuously in The Yard at Alserkal Avenue and on site at the fair in Madinat Jumeirah.

On 16 May, Alserkal Advisory will also host a roundtable bringing together key stakeholders and institutions across the UAE to explore how arts organisations can deepen their impact within communities.

Full weekend-by-weekend programme details will be shared every Monday from 13 April on Instagram.