DESIGN
Campus Art Dubai session for artist 2013 Art Dubai
Ramin Haerizadh Not Yet Titled 2012
Tosani Patric Khaled 2002
PREVIEW BY FARES BOU NASSIF
20
ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER MARCH OF ART MADNESS SWEEPING THE CITY. SOME OF IT PRETENTIOUS, SOME OF IT NOT EVERYONE’S THING, BUT ALL OF IT ALL OVER THE PLACE. WITH SO MUCH GOING ON, IT’S HARD TO WEED OUT THE BEST OF THE PILE, AND I ALMOST GIVE UP EVERY YEAR. BUT, HERE YOU HAVE IT, THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SIX YEAR RUNNING STAR OF THE SHOW, ART DUBAI 2013:
Next up is a piece of pop-up fun that we cover more comprehensively right after this piece: the Mobile Art Gallery. It’s, essentially, a travelling pop-up gallery in a truck. Fun without the extras. One would hope it resembles something like Michael Alig’s truck parties, but I highly doubt it. Still, at least our fair residents who won’t make it to Art Dubai will still get a taste of the work.
As much as I find commissioned projects to be tedious, the general interactivity and space for collaboration that this year’s Artists in Residence (A.i.R) have with talent from across the global cultural landscape (a Nigerian Londoner, a Kuwaiti New Yorker, among others) is, at the very least (and I’m expecting more than the least), exciting stuff. Also, if you can’t wait till Art Dubai kicks off, drop by the A.i.R studios in Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood for a look at their work, and possibly a chat with the artists and their curator, Bérénice Saliou.
I’m expecting good stuff here, and you should too. Start with A.i.R on your way to SIKKA, do the Sculptures on the Beach twice, and walk into at least one dXb store (maybe one where you know the designer to show a bit of support?). When you’ve done all that, check out The Hatch with some visiting friends, your partner, or just a bunch of wild hipsters. Just don’t go to any of them with a frown and nose two inches higher than your upper lip, and you’ll be fine.
Then there’s the three more entertainment less sombre art that you really don’t want to miss cause it’s more than just the art. The Hatch: film, video, and the Contemporary Image Collective out of Cairo, at The Pavilion Downtown; Sculpture On The Beach: the name says it all, Mina A’Salam beach, and at least you’re at the beach; dXb Store: a chance for each and every one of us to be a critic and maybe buy some locally designed, non-souk-artisan, actually good stuff.