ART WALKS, A FARMERS MARKET AND A WEEK-LONG CULTURE FIX
▶ Alserkal Art Week is back in Dubai and runs until Sunday. Maan Jalal rounds up the festival’s highlights
This year, Alserkal Art Week is all about presenting contemporary creations to the public. Running until Sunday, the event is showcasing something for all art enthusiasts with events spread out across galleries, art spaces and outdoor settings. From solo exhibitions to art tours and live performances to installations, food pop-ups and more, here are six must-see events at the festival in Alserkal Avenue.
Posters for Gaza Group exhibition
Zawyeh Gallery presents the work of 26 artists who are showcasing their support for Palestine through a series of specially created posters.
Representing a long tradition within the context of Palestinian history, political posters are a form of protest through art and were produced extensively in the 1970s and ’80s by Palestinian, Arab and international artists.
The exhibition showcases posters of varying styles and materials including acrylics, inks, charcoal, collage and digital techniques all expressing the underlying narratives linked to the Palestinian cause. ▶ Zawyeh Gallery
Slow Art Walks with Mo Reda
Artist and curator Mo Reda invites visitors on a slow art walk to take the time to consider and unpack the varying aspects of the artistic process.
The tour down Alserkal Avenue will highlight a number of works that focus on how artists use materials to translate their vision into reality. From texture to dimension, it aims to show how each component of a material chosen by an artist has meaning.
▶ Today, 8pm; registration for the tour is available online
Nalini Malani
Considered part of India’s first generation of video artists, Nalini Malani will screen her work Can You Hear Me? at Concrete studio.
The piece features textual and visual quotations interplaying with snippets of sound and music where Malani expresses outrage against social
violence and global injustice. Her immersive hand-drawn animations will be projected on a large scale for a more realistic theatrical experience.
Incorporating visual references from Indian poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Irish novelist Samuel Beckett, German philosopher Hannah Arendt and Spanish painter Francisco Goya, the work also combines Malani’s consistent engagement across cultures, art and
literature. There will also be a series of outdoor screenings of an adapted version of Malani’s seminal work Ballad of a Woman. These will be shown in The Yard.
▶ Concrete
The Farmers’ Market
Alserkal Avenue Farmers’ Market takes place each Saturday with local farmers gathering to present their freshly harvested produce from all over the country, along with sourdough bakeries and traditional kitchens offering up natural foods for restricted diets.
There will be an abundance of organic fruit and vegetables on offer from producers such as IGR Organic Farms, Hasabi Organic Farms and Deema Organic Farm.
Pastries and baked goods will also be available from Palestinian bakery Albaraka Healthy Bites; and Emirati kitchen Tamra & Somsom will provide traditional snacks.
▶ Saturday, 9am-2pm; Main Avenue
Guardians of the Land by Noreen Ali
Dastaangoi Gallery from Pakistan, in collaboration with teams at Alserkal Avenue, will showcase the work of multidisciplinary artist Noreen Ali in an exhibition titled Guardians of the Land.
Ali’s works are inspired by ancient trees witnessing the passage of time while co-existing with other creatures within the ecosystem. Her stunning portrayal of animals in various settings, frames them as cohabitants, while her choice of colour and composition depicts their majesty within our spaces.
▶ Jossa by Alserkal
Talisman performance by Mandy El-Sayegh
Malaysian-British artist Mandy El-Sayegh will present a new performance piece titled Talisman as part of her first solo exhibition in Dubai.
The performance will aim to draw on varying sources of inspiration, including diverse forms of prayer rituals.
Through Talisman, El-Sayegh says she will explore new possibilities for presenting sound and performance art.
Her presenation at Lawrie Shabibi tonight will be infused with complex movements and layered with audio and kaleidoscopic projections.
▶ Today, 8.30pm; Lawrie Shabibi
Alserkal Art Week is running until Sunday at Alserkal Avenue, Dubai. It will be open daily from 10am to 10pm. Registration for events and more information is available at alserkal. online/event