Dubai: UAE's recent participation in the Venice Biennale 2009 has left an enormous impact on the country, positioning it as a hub of cultural dialogue — one which brings the east and west under the same umbrella of art.
The UAE pavilion was initiated and supported by Abdul Rahman Mohammad Al Owais, UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, the Emirates Foundation and the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.
Dr Lamees Hamdan was elected the commissioner of the event which aims to promote the UAE as a platform for vibrant cultural exchange.
A significant part of the mission was to help people develop a better understanding of art, and to provide infrastructure to support the nation's diverse and thriving art scene.
This was demonstrated in the establishment of the UAE pavilion volunteer programme, which sent over 40 UAE-based volunteers to Venice with the support of the Emirates Foundation, Takatof programme and Emirates airline.
The volunteers donned the role of cultural ambassadors for the UAE and were granted free admission to several historical museums in Venice.
The huge success has attracted over 200 media outlets from across the world to cover the six-month long exhibition.
Home grown
The UAE pavilion showcased a series of artistic activities that have succeeded in capturing the attention of international audience.
Lamya Gargash — a well-known Emirati artist — was selected to head the show at the UAE pavilion. She created a seminal series of 31 photographs titled ‘Familial', documenting one-star hotels in the UAE. There were a number of promising artists such as Tarek Al Ghoussein, Hassan Sharif, Huda Said Saef and Ebtisam Abdullah, among others.
An online portal aims to provide a platform for people who have an interest in the art scene across the UAE. It allows artists to showcase their work with information on artists, art organisations. Additionally, it offers a network through which the contemporary arts community can communicate.
A video featured the ‘Nation Builders' installation by Berlin-based artist, dramaturge and curator Hannah Hurtzig.
The installation featured conversations with key figures in the cultural panorama of the UAE such as Dr Arif Al Shaikh, Dr Anna Klingmann, Armen Vartanian, Sooud Al Qassimi, among many others.
Design
The UAE pavilion was designed by UAE design gallery Traffic and Belgian architectural collective D'Haeseleer & Kimpe & Poelaert.
The unique space allowed for experimental presentation of material.
This ranged from artists' works, architectural models of various cultural structures (both existing and planned for the UAE), to a performance space that housed the Jackson Pollock Bar rendition of the initial press announcement for the UAE pavilion last year.
