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“The month of March is a boon for arts and culture-lovers visiting Dubai and the neighbouring emirates,” says Chloe Vaitsou, the recently appointed International Director of Art Dubai. March 2019 sees the thirteenth edition of the art fair and its collateral events and promises to be busier and more diverse than ever. Whether your interest lies in innovative contemporary installations, historical masterpieces or musical performances there are many treats in store. Maya Allison, Chief Curator of NYU Abu Dhabi and Executive Director of its Galleries, is forming a consortium with
leading cultural organisations across the Emirates to align calendars, in an effort to space out events and give some much-needed breathing space between the increasing number of art events. “The scene has blossomed to such an extent, with important organisations such as Louvre Abu Dhabi, Art Jameel, Sharjah Art Foundation and Alserkal Avenue hosting year-round programming, we are part of a larger ecosystem that exists out of moments such as art week,” Allison observes. It is still however, the time of the year when art spaces play their A-game. Louvre Abu Dhabi’s first-class permanent collection gets a boost this spring with a spectacular temporary exhibition running from 14 February - 18 May: ‘Rembrandt, Vermeer & the Dutch Golden Age: Masterpieces from
The Leiden Collection and the Musée du Louvre’. Presenting nearly 100 artworks from this salient moment in history, the exhibition includes 22 paintings from Rembrandt and his workshop and brings together for the first time in 300 years two paintings by Vermeer cut from the same canvas. The exhibition Allison is curating at NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery (‘Zimoun’, 26 February - 1 June) is one she has had in mind for ten years. “As a teaching museum it is important for shows to connect to curricula at the university as well as the wider context of Abu Dhabi”. Swiss artist Zimoun’s sensory experiences have been getting increasingly ambitious, taking over bigger venues internationally: “Essentially they are audio compositions that you can walk
From left: The ‘rain of light’: underneath the dome of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s plaza; Kathleen Ryan’s Diana, participating in Art Dubai Contemporary 2019; Helaine Blumenfeld’s Tempesta is in residence at Jameel Arts Centre