Art Week at Alserkal Avenue | 19-24 March 2018

Art Week at Alserkal Avenue returns from March 19–24, 2018 with a line-up of exhibitions and programming, with the region’s leading contemporary art galleries presenting 23 new exhibitions, and 10 galleries participating in Art Dubai.

Under, a major commission and public intervention by Hale Tenger—her first in almost a decade—guest curated by Mari Spirito, will open in The Yard. Alserkal Avenue will host a number of pop-up projects with highlights including a curatorial performance by Fereydoun Ave, a reimagining of Serendipity Arts Foundation's barge show, The Ground Beneath My Feet, and a solo show by Abdulrahman Gazzaz. The commission and pop-ups will be complemented by a rich series of talks, workshops and book launches, including the launch of MoMA’s book Modern Art in the Arab World: Primary Documents. Visitors can join daily tours of the Avenue at 12pm. Curator-led tours of Ishara: Signs, Symbols & Shared Languages will take place at 4pm daily.

ALSERKAL PROGRAMMING COMMISSION
Under
19 March – 31 May
The form of Hale Tenger’s work follows the material vernacular of Alserkal Avenue’s existing buildings as a free-standing structure that visitors are invited to enter. Under originates from the artist’s memory of a fictional narrative that describes an ancient hunting ploy used by aristocrats. Nets were set in the woods much earlier than the hunting date, stretching low throughout the forest so that the birds became accustomed to living under the net, adapting by only flying low. Once the nets were removed the birds would no longer fly high, as if they had forgotten that the sky has no limits, thus becoming easy prey for the noble hunting parties. Hale Tenger asks, “How have we adapted to the conditions of our time?” and “If birds can forget to fly high in the sky, what have we humans forgotten?”

A press preview will be held at 9:30am on 19 March.
Hale Tenger will be in conversation with Mari Spirito on21 March at 11am in The Yard Majlis.

GALLERIES NIGHT
19March, 6–10pm
Collectors and enthusiasts are invited to explore the commission, open studios, pop-up projects and the new exhibitions opening across the Avenue.

ALSERKAL RESIDENCY OPEN STUDIOS
19 March, 11am–8pm
Spring 2018 residents Suzy Halajian, Kosmas Nikolaou and Michael John Whelan, will open the doors to their studios and present their work to the public. Visitors are welcome to speak with the residents about their public programmes for Alserkal Residency, their ongoing practices and their research in Dubai.

MAJLIS TALKS
A series of public talks will be held at Alserkal Avenue during Art Week:

–Serendipity Arts Foundation talk: Simulations and the Sea: Vishal K. Dar and Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty in conversation with Sabih Ahmed from Asia Art Archive, 21 March, 2:30pm
–Artist talk: Jean Boghossian, Artist and Alchemist, 21 March, 4:30pm
–Zak Ové in conversation with William Lawrie, 22 March, 11:30am
–Saba Qizilbash, Flounder Lee, and Dina Khorchid in conversation with Ishara curator Karim Sultan, 22 March, 5pm
–One or two things, about residencies… Basmah Felemban and Poonam Jain in conversation, 23 March, 11am
–Aga Khan Award for Architecture winner Marina Tabassum on designing the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque, 23 March, 10:30am
–Hale Tenger in conversation with Mari Spirito on March 21 at 11am
–Sonia Brewin in conversation with Caoimhe Jane Reynold on the production of Showstoppers, 22 March, 10.30am

POP-UP PROJECTS
Alserkal Avenue will host a number of pop-up projects during Art Week, including:

1,102: A Social Experiment by Abdulrahman Gazzaz—Warehouse 61
1,102 is a participatory social experiment based around contemporary value systems in the art world.

(Al Doobah) الدوبة - Warehouse 67
An installation by Ayesha Hadhir from Zayed University College of Creative Arts and Enterprises

Authentic Marks—Nadi Al Quoz
Shaghaf Group’s second international miniature printmaking exhibition features works from around the world.

Cultural Narratives—Warehouse 47
Organised by Selections Arts, this extensive collection of artworks by established and emerging talents from the region provides a breathtaking visual map of the Arab and Persian art worlds.

Fully Booked—Warehouse 82
The only art book fair in the UAE returns, featuring an exhibition of Typography in Middle Eastern Graphic Design

Mouaqat – Temporary – Warehouse 18
Hazem Harb’s studio acts as a time capsule for Palestinian memory. Watch the performance on 19 March at 12.30pm and 6pm.

Serendipity Arts Foundation: Reclamation Ground—Warehouse 59
Reclamation Ground is a carryover of The Ground Beneath My Feet (December 2017) and brings together new iterations of four works of art that went into the making of the exhibition in Goa. Performances by Bangladeshi artist Kabir Ahmed Masum Chisty take place on 19 March, 3-8pm and 20 March, 11am - 4pm.

Visual Discourse—Warehouse 46
An exhibition of Iranian and African Contemporary artworks from the Bakhtiar Collection curated by Fereydoun Ave. It will be installed as a performance on 19 March, 10am – 2pm.

EXHIBITIONS
The contemporary art galleries and art spaces within Alserkal Avenue will open their latest exhibitions

1x1 Gallery*
Vivek Vilasini: Between One Shore and Several Others
Group exhibition: The Progressives

Ayyam Gallery*
Jean Boghossian: Unpredictable Horizons

Brownbook
Al Falaj: Water systems of the Gulf’s oases

Carbon 12*
Gil Heitor Cortesão: Umbra

Concrete
Group exhibition: Ishara: Signs, Symbols & Shared Languages

Custot Gallery Dubai*
Group exhibition: Art & Jewelry

d.Academy
Marina Tabassum: Bait Ur Rouf Mosque

Elmarsa Gallery*
Ali Tnani, Unknown program

Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde*
Haleh Redjaian, Rhythm and Trace

Green Art Gallery*
Nazgol Ansarinia: Demolishing Buildings, Buying Waste

Grey Noise
Group exhibition: Losers Club

Gulf Photo Plus
Laura El-Tantawy: Beyond Here is Nothing

Jean-Paul Najar Foundation
Jene Highstein: Space and Place

La Galerie Nationale
Tahar Ben Jelloun: Cultural Crossroads

Lawrie Shabibi*
Zak Ové: Star Liner

Leila Heller Gallery*
Kenny Scharf: Inner and Outer Space
Philip Taaffe: Solo exhibition

Project Space Art Jameel
Ala Younis: Plan for Feminist Greater Baghdad

Salsali Private Museum
Group exhibition: ++VIDEO++

Showcase Gallery
Mike Arnold: Chasing The Light

SVENM
NEXUS

The Third Line*
Farhad Moshiri: Close-up
Abbas Akhavan: Recently

*Galleries participating in Art Dubai

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