Mahalla Unframed virtually takes the visitor within the walls of a typical Tashkent courtyard house. A cloud of millions of points that throughout a VR experience developed by Giga Design Studio lets the user discover it’s life-size abstraction. A yellow tubular structure curated by Christ & Gantenbein that was presented at the Uzbekistan National Participation at the 17th international Architecture Exhibition - La biennale di Venezia.

Comissioned by Gayane Umerova, the Executive Director of the Art and Culture Development Foundation of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Special Support from Saida Mirziyoyeva, Deputy Chairwoman of the Council of the Art and Culture Development Foundation of the Republic of Uzbekistan

ACDF Unframed, a series of talks of panel discussions organised by the Art and Culture Development Foundation within the framework of Alserkal Art Week will accompany this exhibition.

March 11 Friday

6 PM | Revival of traditional crafts in contemporary design

How do we envision the role of traditional craft in the development of contemporary design, architecture and art? What sustainable solutions can craftsmanship give to contemporary designers? How to preserve the our heritage without losing its essence?

Moderator: Cyril Zammit, design advisor and consultant., Founder of Design Days Dubai and Dubai Design Week and columnist (Dubai, UAE)

Speakers:

1. Nada Debs, Designer (Beirut, Lebanon)
2. Ahmad Angawi, Designer (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
3. Nisreen and Nermeen Abudail, Naqsh Collective (Amman, Jordan / Dubai, UAE)
4. Abdalla AlMulla, Architect and Designer (Dubai, UAE)

March 12 Saturday

2 PM | Museum of Tomorrow

How do we envision the role of museums in the future? How can museums stay relevant in our societies, especially for upcoming generations and including new communities? Join a discussion with top management of Museum of the Future (Dubai), FranceMuseums (Louvre Abu Dhabi/Paris), Nikken Sekkei Architects (Dubai/Tokio) and ATELIER BRÜCKNER (Stuttgart/Seoul) on trends and challenges in museum planning from different perspectives - content and curation, positioning and organization, urban planning and architecture, exhibition design and co-creation. This panel is held in partnership with Atelier Bruckner (Stuttgart, Germany).

Moderator: Wassim Melki, Associate Partner at Atelier Brückner and the project lead on the Museum of the Future (Dubai, UAE)

Speakers:

1. Brendan Mc Getrick – Creative Director Museum of the Future Dubai
2. Hervé Barbaret - CEO of FranceMuseums (Paris/AbuDhabi), one of responsible for the planning of Louvre Abu Dhabi.
3. Fadi Jabri – CEO Nikken Sekkei architects (Dubai)
4. Britta Nagel – leading expert of the Creative Department and partner at Atelier Brückner (Stuttgart, Germany)

2:30 PM | Living Heritage: Preservation and Development Practices

In Uzbekistan, a ‘mahalla’ is a traditional neighborhood and form of community life; a Modern institution of power; and a place where state and society meet at local level. These multiple meanings are at stake within an urban fabric developing at high pace. The discussion will address challenges of preservation of a living heritage and of evolution of a fragile ecosystem which has the potential to offer society sustainable ways of living. This panel is held in partnership with ETH Zurich (Switzerland)

Moderator: Gayane Umerova Executive director of the Art and Culture Development Foundation under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Secretary General of the National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO

Speakers:

1. Noura Al-Sayeh Holtrop, Architect and Curator, Head of Architectural Affairs at the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA). (Bahrain)
2. Emanuel Christ, Co-founder of architectural studio Christ & Gantenbein (basel), professor of architecture at ETH Zurich and Harvard GSD, co-curator of the Uzbekistan National Pavilion at 17th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice (Zurich).
3. Abha Narain Lambah, Restoration Architect of UNESCO World Heritage sites in India (India)
4. Sumayya Vally, Architect, Founder and Director of Counterspace studio in Johannesburg (South Africa)