Alserkal Avenue to welcome the new season during Alserkal Lates on 30 September 2019

Alserkal Avenue will kick off the new season on 30 September during Alserkal Lates with 10 new concepts opening their doors, the contemporary dance performance WRECK – List of Extinct Species in Concrete, and new exhibitions at the district’s contemporary art galleries. The 60+ concepts in Alserkal Avenue will stay open late from 6-10PM, inviting the public to join them in celebrating a new season of art, culture, and entertainment.

The Alserkal Avenue creative community grows

Ten new concepts have opened their doors in Alserkal Avenue since the spring, further growing and diversifying the district’s cultural offering. Âme Studio, Chalk, Cyacle (acquired by Careem), Electric Lime Films, Italian Shoe Factory, KAVE, Shimis Yoga, Society Motors, Tamashee, and Wisdom Warehouse, have joined the 500,000-square-foot cultural district, a vibrant community of visual and performing arts organisations, designers, and artisanal spaces that have become an essential platform for the development of the creative industries in the UAE.

“The original concepts opening in Alserkal Avenue add a new dimension to our vibrant community of creative homegrown entrepreneurs — a place where we continue to take a risk on the risk-takers,” says Vilma Jurkute, Alserkal Director. “The new homegrown businesses continue to challenge and disrupt industries through a new way of thinking that is spearheaded by passionate entrepreneurs who collectively contribute to the growing creative economy of Dubai, and the region.”

Chalk (Warehouse 63), the brainchild of Emirati entrepreneur Anas Bukhash, is a unisex beauty salon, and will offer a range of grooming services for both men and women. Shimis Yoga (Warehouse 42), founded by Simona Stanton, will add to the district’s wellness offering.

The family-run Italian Shoe Factory (Warehouse 9) is the foremost manufacturer of custom-made shoes worldwide, offering services to both brands and individual clients. Society Motors (Warehouse 67) is the UAE’s sole distributor of Piaggio automobiles, Europe’s largest scooter and motorcycle manufacturer, is the world leader in light motor vehicles including Ape, Vespa, Moto Guzzi, and encourages clients to customise vehicles to make them eco-friendly.

KAVE is an upcycling café concept founded by Rania and Zeina Kanaan, the sisters behind Charicyles. The space is also a fair trade boutique and guitar shop, and hosts workshops. Wisdom Warehouse (Warehouse 61) is a creative hub for children, offering hands-on activities and innovative learning methods through original clubs and workshops.

Floral studio Âme (Warehouse 81) is a retail, café, and workshop space. High-end regional footwear brand Tamashee (Warehouse 59) has transformed its warehouse takeover space in Alserkal Avenue into a multi-purpose concept where visitors can shop, indulge in Saudi speciality coffee, or take part in art workshops.

Bikeshare operator Cyacle (Warehouse 30), which was recently acquired by Careem, extend their reach by opening a Dubai office in Alserkal Avenue, as has boutique film house Electric Lime Films (Warehouse 60), which opened its doors in The Yard.

Contemporary dance performance | WRECK-List of Extinct Species

WRECK-List of Extinct Species will take the stage at Concrete on 30 September and
1 October, inviting audiences to experience an evocative interdisciplinary performance that combines movement, sound, and visual art. Directed by Pietro Marullo of the Insiemi Irreali dance company, WRECK features a specially-commissioned large-scale soft sculpture that moves across the stage like a hunter, gently swallowing and spitting human beings out. The sculpture is an allegory for legendary sea monsters, capitalism, and the human condition, among other potential conceptual interpretations.

Early bird tickets, priced at AED135, go on sale from 20-26 August. Regular tickets are priced at AED150, and the performance starts at 8.30PM, with doors opening at 8PM.

New exhibitions at contemporary art galleries

1x1 Art Gallery, Ayyam Gallery, Carbon 12, Custot Gallery Dubai, d.Academy, Elmarsa Gallery, FN Designs, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Green Art Gallery, Grey Noise, Gulf Photo Plus, Ishara Art Foundation, Jean-Paul Najar Foundation, Lawrie Shabibi, Leila Heller Gallery, Showcase Gallery, The Third Line, and Zayed University Urban Satellite Space (ZUUSS), will unveil new shows to the public on 30 September, and will open their doors from 6-10PM for Alserkal Lates.

1x1 Art Gallery

Alaa Edris

Unreal. Unseen. Untouched

Carbon 12

Sarah Almehairi

Between

Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde

Rokni Haerizadeh, Ramin Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian

Green Art Gallery

Afra Aldhaheri, Ali Kazma, Hale Tenger, Heidi Bucher, Shadi Habib Allah

Avoid Bad Dreams

Grey Noise

Fazal Rizvi

How do we remember?

Gulf Photo Plus

The Arab Street, Vol. II

Ishara Art Foundation

Body Building

Jean-Paul Najar Foundation

Exhibition marking 100 years of Bauhaus

Lawrie Shabibi

Larissa Sansour and Søren Lind

Showcase Gallery

Dominic Benhura

The Third Line

Farah Al Qasimi

The Arrival

Alserkal Lates on 30 September is free and open to all, and we encourage the public to join us for our season opener to meet the inspirational creatives behind the new concepts opening in Alserkal Avenue, reconnect with our community following the summer break, engage with the compelling new art exhibitions at the contemporary art galleries, and to catch a performance of WRECK-List of Extinct Species at Concrete.

-ENDS-

For press enquiries:
press@alserkal.online

Editor’s Notes

About Alserkal Arts Foundation
The Alserkal Arts Foundation is a non-profit that extends Alserkal’s mission to support cultural production. The Foundation offers opportunities for research and artistic production to cultural practitioners and researchers with strong regional or contemporary relevance who challenge conventional disciplinary boundaries. Through its initiatives, which include support for artistic projects, research grants, alternative learning, and artist residencies at purpose-built studios located in the heart of Alserkal Avenue, the Foundation seeks to incubate creative thinking that contributes to the region’s cultural sphere, leading to new forms of knowledge. Alserkal Arts Foundation is supported by Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Ahmad Bin Eisa Alserkal and the Alserkal family.

About Alserkal
Alserkal is a socially responsible and forward-thinking cultural enterprise dedicated to developing sustainable models for homegrown initiatives and to supporting narratives and research emerging from the Global South. Founded in 2007 by Emirati businessman and patron Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Alserkal is renowned for its ground-breaking artistic productions, experimental approach and for the creation of culturally meaningful spaces that inspire and shape communities. Alserkal has three primary areas of activity: cultivating a creative economy in Dubai and building a collaborative network of civic cultural institutions through its renowned cultural district, Alserkal Avenue; providing advisory services to public and private sector entities; and, supporting public artist commissions, residencies, research grants and educational programmes through its non-profit, Alserkal Arts Foundation.

Alserkal has transformed the cultural landscape of Dubai and the UAE through the creation of a thriving, region-specific community of over 70 contemporary art galleries, visual and performing arts organisations, designers and entrepreneur-led businesses at Alserkal Avenue, providing an essential platform for the development of creative industries in the region.

Alserkal utilizes its collective expertise in arts initiatives and cultural production, heritage creation, community building and engagement, as well as urbanism and planning for creative industries, to guide public and private sector entities in developing sustainable and responsive business models.

About Alserkal Avenue
Alserkal Avenue is a vibrant cultural district in the Al Quoz industrial area of Dubai, and is home to a community of over 70 contemporary art galleries, visual and performing arts organisations, designers, home-grown and entrepreneur-led businesses, and community spaces across 500,000sqft and 90 warehouses. Alserkal Avenue provides an essential platform for the development of the creative industries in the United Arab Emirates. As one of the region’s foremost destinations for contemporary art, and home to Dubai’s risk-takers, makers and wide-ranging creative communities, Alserkal Avenue provides cultural experiences for local, regional and international audiences through its extensive year-round programming. Alserkal Avenue is home to Concrete, a multi-disciplinary exhibitions space conceptualised and programmed by Alserkal, as well as the artist residency program of Alserkal’s non-profit, Alserkal Arts Foundation. Alserkal Avenue was established in 2007 by Alserkal following the visionary thinking of its founder, Emirati businessman and cultural patron Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, who sought to cultivate a vibrant creative community and support cultural production in Dubai.