Abu Dhabi Art: Beyond announces line-up of Commissioned Artists for 2019

All India,15th November 2019: Abu Dhabi Art has announced participating artists and curators taking part in its Beyond 2019 programme. Held under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, the Abu Dhabi Art fair will take place from 21 – 23 November 2019 at Manarat Al Saadiyat. During the fair, a number of commissioned artworks will officially be unveiled and will remain accessible to the public for an additional three months.

With its two commissioning initiatives Beyond: Artist Commissions and Beyond: Emerging Artists, Abu Dhabi Art’s Beyond 2019 programme is focused on bringing art to the public arena and contributing to the local art ecosystem. Extending beyond the annual fair, the programme supports the emirate’s art scene by facilitating creative opportunities across the year in different locations including Manarat Al Saadiyat, UNESCO World Heritage Site Al Ain Oasis, Al Jahili Fort in Al Ain and Qasr Al Hosn.

For Beyond: Emerging Artists 2019, a mentorship programme with established artists and curators Ramin and Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian has been running all year, enabling the three participating artists to develop a new body of work for the fair. The two internationally renowned artists creating new site-specific works for Beyond: Artist Commissions will be producing pieces primarily for exhibition in Al Ain but also in the recently reopened Qasr Al Hosn in downtown Abu Dhabi.

Beyond: Artist Commissions
This year, Abu Dhabi Art presents the internationally renowned artists Oliver Beer and Leandro Erlich as the commissioned artists for Beyond 2019.

Beyond: Artist Commissions will feature Leandro Erlich’s site-specific work The Heart of Water, a mysterious piece in Al Ain Oasis which juxtaposes the delicate and ephemeral beauty of its centrepiece cloud with the harsh and rugged landscape surrounding the installation. The work will draw on the deep history of the region while inscribing the precision of modernity. “Water is, after all, the secret heart of any oasis, and clouds represent the heart of rain,” the artist commented.

Erlich is an internationally exhibited Argentine conceptual artist whose work has been shown worldwide in countries including Japan, Italy, China, USA and the Netherlands. He also has a permanent exhibition at the Gare du Nord, Paris.

Oliver Beer, a prominent British sculptor and video artist, will bring installations to the historic sites of Qasr Al Hosn and Al Jahili Fort. After studying Fine Art at the University of Oxford, Beer later graduated from the Academy of Contemporary Music, and draws on his vast musical knowledge in his work. Beer has created fascinating performances in which spectators take part and share their emotions and perceptions to create an experience for both artist and audience. The artist’s work has been shown worldwide, most recently – and to great acclaim – at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York this past summer. Beyond: Artist Commissions marks the first time his work will be exhibited in Abu Dhabi.

Qasr Al Hosn will host two video artworks showing reanimations of Aladdin’s Genie, created by Beer in collaboration with over 1000 Abu Dhabi schoolchildren at workshops organised by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi’s Education and Outreach Team. The installation allows visitors to see this much-appropriated and interpreted story through the hands and minds of children. Following a second round of workshops with a further 1000 children, Beer has also created a series of reanimation paintings based on works in the Louvre Abu Dhabi collection, also to be shown in Qasr Al Hosn.

At Al Jahili Fort, Beer will exhibit nine further pieces. Three are two-dimensional sculptures, featuring a dissected oud and adapted ‘ready-mades’ including ancient swords and daggers subjected to musical graffiti; the remaining six are reanimation paintings of historic artworks, combining modernity and tradition.

Beyond: Emerging Artists
This year’s Beyond: Emerging Artists programme will showcase the creative talents of up and coming Emirati artists Ayesha Hadhir, Rawdha Khalifa Al Ketbi and Shaikha Fahad Al Ketbi, who share inspiration in the striking and unique landscapes surrounding Abu Dhabi as well as the daily lives of Emiratis and residents within the region.

Having completed a yearlong curator-led mentorship involving workshops and studio visits, these three artists will present their work during Abu Dhabi Art 2019, and their collaborative exhibition will remain open until 8 February 2020, moving to Hall M in Manarat Al Saadiyat once the fair concludes.

The curators of this year’s programme, Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian, have lived and worked together in Dubai for over ten years, propagating a form of collaboration that doesn’t suppress individualism. They include social and political commentary in their work and curatorship, as well as weaving insights into their artistic practice and daily lives within the exhibitions and installations they create.

The three curators commented: “Ayesha Hadhir, Shaikha Al Ketbi and Rawdha Al Ketbi’s work is a relentless exploration of a reality creating new visual possibilities. What binds these artists’ practice is their absence/presence technique –  an engagement with a specific manner of expression, not only the tools it uses.”

Ayesha Hadhir was born and raised in Abu Dhabi and her work is inspired by elements and objects that revolve around familial histories and activities, such as diving and fishing. Features of Abu Dhabi are clearly woven into her art, both symbolically and physically. He work has been featured at notable institutions across the Emirates such as Maraya Arts Centre, Al Qattara Arts Centre and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi project. Rawdha Khalifa Al Ketbi uses the tassels of carpets, curtains or clothing to capture traces of presence (or absence). Using upcycled materials alongside photography and mixed media, through these mediums she explores her surroundings and memories in order to preserve the history of ‘place’. Shaikha Al Ketbi’s art is inspired by the desert and its emptiness as well as its ‘amplified silence’. Her work has been shown internationally in countries including Britain, Bahrain, Armenia and the USA.

Artist-led tours of Beyond: Artist Commissions will be available in Al Ain. On 21 November, commissioned artists Leandro Erlich and Oliver Beer will give a guided tour of their works installed at Al Ain Oasis and Al Jahili Fort. Tours will start at the main entrance of Al Ain Oasis at 15:30. Please register at: programmes@abudhabiart.ae.

Abu Dhabi Art 2019 will take place from 21-23 November at Manarat Al Saadiyat. Tickets start from AED50. More information can be found at https://www.abudhabiart.ae/

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About The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi:
The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi conserves and promotes the heritage and culture of Abu Dhabi emirate and leverages them in the development of a world-class, sustainable destination of distinction that enriches the lives of visitors and residents alike.  The Department manages the emirate’s tourism sector and markets the destination internationally through a wide range of activities aimed at attracting visitors and investment.  Its policies, plans and programmes relate to the preservation of heritage and culture, including protecting archaeological and historical sites and to developing museums, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Zayed National Museum and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.  The Department of Culture and Tourism supports intellectual and artistic activities and cultural events to nurture a rich cultural environment and honour the emirate’s heritage.  A key role played by the Department is to create synergy in the destination’s development through close co-ordination with its wide-ranging stakeholder base.  dctabudhabi.ae

About Abu Dhabi Art
Abu Dhabi Art expands beyond the notion of a traditional art fair, in placing strong emphasis on a diverse public engagement programme, including art installations and exhibitions, talks and events that take place in different locations throughout the year. The culmination of this year-long programme is the Abu Dhabi Art event in November, which provides an important sales platform for participating galleries whilst also offering these galleries an opportunity to showcase ambitious installations and site specific works by their artists to a wide audience. abudhabiart.ae

For more information please contact:
Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi
Tel.: +91 11 23737348
Email: India@dctabudhabi.ae