@AbuDhabiArt Art Abu Dhabi Art’s 5th edition introduces new platforms for artists, designers and performers

 

 Additional opportunities to present dynamic work, engage with Abu Dhabi Community and celebrate ideas around new trajectories in art

A new artist-led section within Abu Dhabi Art’s fair , an expanded design programme with a focus on architecture and UAE aesthetics, a launch of a performing arts platform that coincides with the four day event (20-23 November) are some of the many highlights of the Abu Dhabi Art 2013 edition.

Reflecting the growth of Abu Dhabi’s artistic scene the new performing arts programme titled Durub Al Tawaya which refers to the Emirati term tawaya (points of respite where desert travellers could find underground water springs and respite). Curated by Tarek Abou El Fetouh, the programme begins in Saadiyat Cultural District and expands into the city of Abu Dhabi, creating a special route connected by enactments and cultural happenings.

Audiences are invited to follow paths on buses – ‘contemporary installations’ commissioned by artists from the UAE and abroad - to several outdoor, communal spaces transformed by performances and artistic interventions. Each of the four stops on the route are of significance within the city (Manarat Al Saadiyat, Mina Zayed the city's historic port, the Corniche Beach and the Marina area) and will host a series of activities and performances with a diversity of artists, poets, performers and institutions. This includes Afra Al Dhahri, Contemporary Image Collective, Cao Fei, Mobius Studio, Ho Tzu Nyen, Selma and Sofiane Ouissi, Salem Al Qassimi, Hamdan Al Shamsi, Wael Shawky, Rayyan Tabet, Hiroaki Umeda, 98 Weeks, and an evening of poetry will run in collaboration with UAE Writers Union.

A new section of Abu Dhabi Art will also be launched in the 5^th edition, titled Artists’ Waves, a concept that places the discovery and re-discovery of artists at the core of the four-day event, through a curated exhibition. Works reflect the dynamism of new artistic movements and shifting perceptions. The section includes a special salon in which visitors can engage with galleries representing the participating artists, in a rotating programme, reminiscent of the age-old tradition of the salon as a place for creativity and the sharing of ideas.

“The 5th edition of Abu Dhabi Art heralds a moment of maturity, creativity and renewal for the city’s art scene. Artists’ Waves gives collectors and visitors an exhibition-setting to discover new artists.  Ultimately it’s a discourse on the function of the conventional art fair platform because rather than artists’ work being chosen by galleries that represent them, inclusion in this section is determined by curators,” says Rita Aoun-Abdo, Executive Director, Culture Sector, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.

“Abu Dhabi Art will also launch in this edition a performing arts programme: Durub Al Tawaya that will function as an ‘intervention’. Inspired by the Alexandria-based Greek poet Constantine Cavafy’s 1911 poem Ithaka, the experience revolves around contemplation of relishing a journey rather than a final destination. Headline daily performances in public thoroughfares will give the public an opportunity to experience the journey and live at the rhythm and the tempo of the city's life. Not only will this programme meld art with the daily life, but it will take the diversity of Abu Dhabi Art’s international visitors, offering them an unforgettable perspective on the city,” she said.

This year’s Art, Talks & Sensations will present new video works, dance and music performances outdoors, located just outside Manarat Al Saadiyat. Titled Dunes and Waves, the programme includes a multidisciplinary arrangement of artistic practice; fleeting live performances, video screenings, music made by plants, poetic installations, ‘human architectures’ created by performers in movement. Participating artists include: Chassol, and Alexdrine Leclere & Julie Fruchon. Alongside this programme will be another new exhibition for Abu Dhabi Art 2013 titled Small is Beautiful, part of this year’s Art, Talks & Sensations, featuring small-scale artworks from galleries participating in the Modern, Contemporary & Design sector. The title is a tribute to the ‘Small is Beautiful’ theory published in 1974 by the British economist E.F. Schumacher offering a premise that pursues the path of the small-scaled and the human-sized.

Architecture is further investigated through the Abu Dhabi Art Design Programme which includes a wide spectrum of forward-thinking design presented in the form of architecture, furniture, product design, jewellery, textiles and handicraft, highlighting the UAE’s unique aesthetics. Individual presentations, new commissions, collaborative ventures and workshops, will emphasise the best of contemporary design, featuring Emirati and international artisans and designers.

The programme will also have a particular focus on architecture as a major discipline that has an important and long-standing connection with the region, from the earliest inhabitants who adapted to climate and terrain using temporary and mobile structures, to present-day innovations and examples of revolutionary architectural thinking that characterise the current landscape of Abu Dhabi and cities across the UAE.  A commission of a mobile-structure by legendary Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, well-known for his innovative work with paper and recycled materials, takes the form of a souq, inspired by the environment, culture and heritage of the UAE.

Abu Dhabi Art organised by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority is an annual platform for modern and contemporary art and design to be held from 20-23 November 2013. The event is sponsored by Julius Baer, the leading Swiss private banking group with a focus on serving and advising sophisticated private clients. Abu Dhabi Art is held at Manarat Al Saadiyat and the iconic UAE Pavilion on Saadiyat Island.