Full line-up announced for Art Week at Alserkal Avenue,9 - 18 March 2017

Alserkal Avenue will have a rich programme during this year’s Art Week from 9 - 18 March 2017, including new gallery exhibitions, four Alserkal Programming artist commissions, pop-up projects, a series of public talks and workshops, and the eagerly anticipated inauguration of Concrete with Syria: Into the Light, works from the Atassi Foundation collection.

Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Patron and Founder of Alserkal Avenue comments: “Over the last decade, we’ve seen grassroots cultural exchange flourish into an arts community in Dubai; Alserkal Avenue has always been a home for risk takers and creative leaders who are shaping the narrative of the region.”

Art Week at Alserkal Avenue will kick off on 9 March with the opening of Syria: Into the Light, a show featuring more than 60 works by Syrian masters and emerging artists, from the collection of the Atassi Foundation, a non-profit initiative that focuses on Syrian art and culture. The show will mark the inauguration of Concrete, the first project in the UAE to be designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), founded by Rem Koolhaas. The exhibition will continue until 3 April 2017.

Galleries Night

Galleries Night at Alserkal Avenue on 13 March marks the opening of exhibitions, artist commissions and pop-up projects taking place across the Avenue through Art Week. Collectors and enthusiasts are invited to explore new exhibitions across the ten contemporary art galleries participating in Art Dubai, as well as the creative concepts within the Avenue, between 6pm – 10pm.

Alserkal Programming

Alserkal Programming commissions during Art Week will focus on local talent and the theme of ‘work’. The four commissions are by UAE-based artists Farah Al Qasimi, Ammar Al Attar, Karim Sultan, and Raja’a Khalid. Each of the artists will produce work that is inspired by the physical, social and cultural framework of Alserkal Avenue and its surrounding industrial neighbourhood of Al Quoz in Dubai.

Majlis Talks

Art Week at Alserkal Avenue continues through 18 March with a line-up that includes Majlis Talks, taking place most days in The Yard between 4pm – 6pm. Art Week will also feature a diverse programme of workshops, film screenings and book launches that are open to the public. Screenings include Barakah Meets Barakah (2016) and Play it Again Sam (1972), which is part of the screening programme for Plaza Cinema, Ammar Al Attar’s Alserkal Programming commission that reflects on the cultural impact of one of Dubai’s first movie-houses.

Pop-up Projects

Alserkal Avenue will also host a number of pop-up projects, including an exhibition of the six winners of the 2016 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Other pop-up projects include an art book fair, Fully Booked; the launch of Ahmed Mater’s book Desert of Pharan: Unofficial Histories of The Mass Expansion of Mecca; Shoonya Ghar, a multimedia presentation by Sudarshan Shetty; Woven Heritage, an exhibition of fine art printmaking; and an exhibition of works by female Emirati artists by Zayed University: College of Arts & Creative Enterprises’ Future Perfect Future.

Folio

Alongside the activities for Art Week, Alserkal Avenue will also be launching Folio, a platform on the Alserkal Avenue website that will be a collection of essays, features, podcasts and videos that document the ever-growing and evolving creative scene of the MENASA region. Notes from our journeys across the region and beyond combine with stories that explore our incredible contemporary art galleries, creative concepts and entrepreneurs within the Avenue.

Vilma Jurkute, Director of Alserkal Avenue remarks, “While contemporary art has always been at the heart of Alserkal Avenue, our commitment is to all forms of creative expression. This can be seen in the diversity of talent on show during Art Week this year, but also in the launch of Concrete - a space designed to house international-level, museum-grade exhibitions and inspired creative concepts.”