Project Space Art Jameel to join the Alserkal Avenue community

Alserkal Avenue has today announced that Art Jameel will join its community with the opening of their Project Space in March 2017. The Project Space will serve as a satellite location for Art Jameel through the end of 2018, complementing its regional and international initiatives. The not-for-profit, collaborative Project Space will offer a year-round programme of exhibitions, workshops and events, reflecting Art Jameel’s mandate across the arts, heritage and education.

Vilma Jurkute, Director, Alserkal Avenue said: “We are looking forward to welcoming Art Jameel to Alserkal Avenue. Their presence in the Avenue is evidence of the growing not-for-profit initiatives within the arts and culture sector, and providing the infrastructure for a holistic art scene has been part of Alserkal Avenue's mandate.”

Project Space Art Jameel will open in Alserkal Avenue for Art Week on 9 March, with an exhibition by Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme titled And yet my mask is powerful I. This compelling five-screen video installation is informed by a series of trips by the artists and collaborators to the sites of destroyed Palestinian villages; the work includes found objects as well as new video and sound material. It offers an immersive experience conceived as a counterpoint to today’s all-pervasive imagery of crisis. The exhibition will continue for one month.

“Art Jameel is embarking on an exciting new phase in its development, and we’re delighted to mark this with the opening of a Project Space in Alserkal Avenue, who I’d like to thank for their support,” said Antonia Carver, director of Art Jameel. “The Space will draw on the foundation’s broad mandate across the arts, heritage and education, with a bespoke programme that embraces debate, experimentation and exchange.”

Future exhibitions will feature works from the Jameel Art Collection, while others will be developed in collaboration with partner institutions. Educational initiatives will nurture dialogue and a discursive approach to art and art-making across all ages.

Educational programming will begin in mid-April with renowned Madrid-based foundry Factum Arte who will present a series of roundtables and workshops at the Project Space, culminating in a public talk on 15 April. Traditional and Digital Artisans Meet will explore the ways in which new technologies are being used in both architectural conservation and contemporary art. Known for their particular expertise in scanning and digital technologies, the work of Factum Arte and its non-profit sister organisation, the Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation, has ranged from the replication of Tutankhamun’s tomb to producing complex works for contemporary artists, such as Rachid Koraichi, Anish Kapoor and Marc Quinn.

ENDS

Editor’s Notes

About Alserkal Avenue

Located in Al Quoz, Dubai, Alserkal Avenue is the region’s foremost arts and culture neighbourhood. Since it was established in 2007, Alserkal Avenue has grown to become an essential platform for the development of homegrown artistic and cultural initiatives, supporting a vibrant community of contemporary art galleries and alternative art spaces, together with design, media and industrial studios. In 2015, in addition to its commitment to the community, Alserkal Avenue affirmed its position as an arts organisation with the launch of Alserkal Avenue Programming. The programming arm produces an annual homegrown programme for local, regional, and international audiences, working primarily with artists living and working in the MENASA region. An Artists’ Residency is scheduled to launch in March 2017, further enhancing the organisation’s breadth and scope. 
www.alserkalavenue.ae

About Art Jameel

Art Jameel is a not-for-profit organisation that supports artists and creative communities. Current initiatives include running heritage arts schools and restoration programmes, plus a broad range of arts and educational initiatives for all ages. The foundation’s programmes foster the role of the arts in building open, connected communities; at a time of flux and dramatic societal shifts, this role is understood as more crucial than ever.

Art Jameel’s model is collaborative: major institutional partners include the V&A Museum and the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts; locally, the foundation works with individuals and organisations to develop innovative programming that embraces both ancient and new technologies, and encourages entrepreneurship and the development of cultural networks. Artjameel.org