E-Issue 03++
Fall/Winter 2021-22

Image: Umber Majeed, Hypersurface of the Present, 2018. Pencil on paper, wood, plaster, and thread. “As We Gaze Upon Her,” Opening at Warehouse421. Image courtesy of Warehouse421.

While displaying personal and collective stories of being a woman, the exhibition achieves a sense of genuine curiosity for everything concerning the identity and body, aesthetics and politics, of the “woman,” applicable in WANASA and beyond.

AUH Woman as a Noun, and a Practice: “As We Gaze Upon Her” at Warehouse421
By Niccolò Acram Cappelletto
Published on November 16th, 2021

Image: Christopher Benton, Deluxe Luxe Plus Ultra, 2021. Photo by Walter Willems. Image courtesy of the artist.

“This wood, you literally see it everywhere, but no one ever thinks about it because, again, it's something that's ephemeral. I think the slogan says something like “Golden Prestige,” which is also kind of funny when you think of the disparity between luxury and the actual object.”

- Christopher Benton

AAN The Labor of Art and the Art of Labor: Christopher Benton on His First Exhibition in Al Ain
By Niccolò Acram Cappelletto
Published on November 7th, 2021

Image: Paul Pfeiffer, Orpheus Descending, 2001. Video installation, 75 VHS Tapes Duration: 75 days. Originally commissioned by the Public Art Fund and installed at the World Trade Center and the World Financial Center, New York, April 15 - June 28, 2001. Installation shot by Zeynep Fırat © Paul Pfeiffer. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. Within Protocinema’s “Once Upon A Time Inconceivable,” 2021.

“When we first started Protocinema without a permanent physical space and working in different cities, it was hard for people to grasp. Now, there are so many organizations working like this.”

- Mari Spirito

IST “Once Upon a Time Inconceivable”: A Review and a Conversation
By Insun Woo
Published on October 15th, 2021

Image: Filwa Nazer, The Other Is Another Body 2, 2019, polyethylene industrial netting and cotton, 292 x 83 x 240 cm, courtesy of the artist and Misk Art Institute. Here, Now / اآلن، هنا, October 3, 2021 – January 31, 2022, miskartinstitute.org

RUH Misk Art Institute Annual Flagship Exhibition Explores the Universality of Identity
By Global Art Daily Editorial Board
Published on October 7th, 2021

Dan Firman, Butterfly, 2007. Neon tubes. 350 x 635 cm. Courtesy the artist and the Farjam Collection. Photo: © Riyadh Art 2021

“The shift into the knowledge-based economy was immediate because Saudis are well-educated. People lived online to create their own creative economy and opportunities for themselves. It’s only natural that after a decade, once the rules were relaxed, the translation from online to physical was immediate.”

- HH Prince Fahad Al Saud

RUH HH Prince Fahad Al Saud Discusses Saudi Arabia’s Artistic Renaissance
By Global Art Daily Editorial Board
Published on October 6th, 2021

Alaa Edris, Reem Dream X, 2015. Digital C-print. Edition 1 of 5. 65cm x 90cm. Courtesy of the collection of Zuhoor AlSayegh and Engage101.

“Massive government-led efforts to develop the arts and culture sectors in the region over the past decade have led to emerging practices entering the field at an unprecedented rate.”

- Gaith Abdullah

DXB Engage101 Presents “Connected, Collected” at Sotheby’s Dubai
By Global Art Daily Editorial Board
Published on October 5th, 2021

E-Issue 03 TYO
Fall 2021

1. GAD E-Issue 03, TYO, Fall 2021. Cover Image: Masahide Matsuda, Ripples, 2021. Courtesy of the artist.

2. What’s On in Tokyo, by Sophie Arni Image: Kenta Cobayashi, Photographic Universe, 2020. © Cobayashi. Courtesy of ANB Roppongi.

3. Pop(Corn): Nimyu, by Sherry Wu Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

4. Ahmad The Japanese: Bady Dalloul in Conversation with Sophie Arni and Insun Woo Image: Bady Dalloul, Ahmad The Japanese, 2021. Still. Courtesy of the artist.

5. Rapport: TYO, by Global Art Daily Editorial Board Image: HB.Nezu, 2021. Photo by Akimi Ota.

6. Alexandre Taalba Presents Virtual Concreteness at The 5th Floor, by Global Art Daily Editorial Board Image: Installation view. “The Virtual Concreteness” at The 5th Floor, Tokyo, Japan Spring 2021. Photo: Masaharu Futoyu. Image courtesy of the curator.

7. Imagining Distant Ecologies in Hypersonic Tokyo: A Review of “Floating Between the Tropical and Glacial Zones”, by Akimi Ota Image: Installation view, Yoichi Kamimura and Seiha Kurosawa, “Floating Between the Tropical and Glacial Zones,” 2021. Tokyo Arts and Space Hongo. Photo: TAKAHASHI Kenji. Image courtesy of Tokyo Arts and Space.

8. Ruba Al-Sweel Curates “Garden of e-artly Delights” at SUMAC Space, by Sophie Arni Image: Persia Beheshti, Earthbound, 2021. Courtesy of the artist.

9. Salwa Mikdadi Reflects on the Opening of NYU Abu Dhabi's Arab Center for the Study of Art, by Nada Ammagui Image: Al Mawrid’s initial library, 2021. Courtesy of Salwa Mikdadi.

E-Issue 02++
Spring/Summer 2021

Poster for After the Beep, July 25-30, 2021, Satellite, Warehouse 16, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai, UAE.

“After The Beep” is the result of a reactive exercise which, placing artists in a sequence, required each creative to respond to the work of the artists before them within 48 hours of receiving it.

DXB “After the Beep”: A Review and Some Reflections
By Farah Fawzi Ali, Sarah Afaneh, and other contributing writers
Published on August 9th, 2021

Installation process of Silent Category, March 2021, Namura Shipyard, Osaka, Japan. Photo: Naoki Takehisa

“When the human mind meets online networks, noise is produced, whereas when the body is placed in front of online networks, a state of silent meditation is achieved.”

- Rintaro Fuse

OSA Rintaro Fuse Curates “Silent Category” at Creative Center Osaka
By Sophie Arni
Published on June 30th, 2021

Layan Attari, Mild Life, 2016. Digital photograph. Image courtesy of Warehouse 421.

Curated by the always astute Murtaza Vali, Total Landscaping at Abu Dhabi’s Warehouse 421 is a show with an enviably clever title boasting an impressively percipient commentary on the co-opting of nature and its associated imagery, verbiage, and hues in the region.

AUH “Total Landscaping” at Warehouse 421
By Sarah Daher
Published on June 20, 2021

Vincent Ruijters and Ray LC, Chikyuchi (Amazonchi), 2021. Detail views. Images courtesy of the artist.

“This exhibition aims to shine light on the invisible hollows of our earth and societies, ones that are becoming increasingly apparent in this day and age.”

- Vincent Ruijters

TYO “Mimicry of Hollows” Opens at The 5th Floor
By Global Art Daily Editorial Board
Published on June 11, 2021

Taihei Shii, Founder and CEO of Startbahn. Images courtesy of Startbahn.

“We are trying to build a universal, standardized platform for NFT marketplaces but also tools for art investors and auction houses. That’s our next step in the NFT movement.”

- Taihei Shii

TYO Startbahn, Japan’s Leading Art Blockchain Company, Builds a New Art Infrastructure for the Digital Age
By Sophie Arni
Published on May 26th, 2021

‘Age of You,’ Courtesy of Jameel Arts Centre. Photo by Daniela Baptista.

Age of You is an exposé of the inner workings of technological advancement for the unaware.

DXB There Is A You In The Cloud You Can’t Delete: A Review of “Age of You” At Jameel Arts Centre
By Anna Bernice
Published on May 20th, 2021

Salman Al Najem, Mihrab 12, 2021. Artwork images courtesy of Hady Elcott and Noor Althehli via Engage 101.

What Al Najem ultimately aims to reveal is the multi-dimensional aspects of devotion we have towards our culture, from fame and wealth to nationalism.

BAH Mihrab: Mysticism, Devotion, and Geo-Identity
By Athoub N. Al Busaily
Published on May 11th, 2021

Image: Florence Jung - Clapton - Jung79. Courtesy of Fulfilment Services Ltd.

“In an ever-expanding and dissatisfying system we ask crucially: is capitalism fulfilling consumers or are consumers fulfilling capitalism?”

_{- Co-curators, “Fulfilment Services Ltd.”}

LDN Fulfilment Services Ltd. Questions Techno-Capitalism on Billboards in London
By Global Art Daily’s Editorial Board
Published on May 9th, 2021

^{Image: courtesy of Ana Escobar.}

“I don’t believe in a hierarchy of materials, I can work either with gold or with hair that I picked up from the floor.”

- Ana Escobar

DXB Ana Escobar: Objects Revisited
By Emília Vieira Branco and Daniel H. Rey
Published on April 28th, 2021

Image: BIEN "DUSKDAWNDUST" at ISLAND, BLOCK HOUSE, 19 March - 18 April 2021. Photo: KABO. Courtesy of ISLAND.

Because of the pandemic, I have only seen BIEN’s works through the iPhone screen. It was a true pleasure to experience the physicality of his wood panels again.

TYO BIEN Opens Two Solo Exhibitions in Island Japan and Parcel
By Sophie Arni
Published on April 27th, 2021

Image: Sabrina Zhao, The Good Woman of Sichuan, 2020. Unofficial poster. Image courtesy of the artist.

“Any resemblance to the imagined or the dreamed is entirely coincidental.”

- Sabrina Zhao

CTU/AUH/YYZ Sabrina Zhao: Between Abu Dhabi, Sichuan, and Toronto
By Sherry Wu
Published on April 26th, 2021

Image: Ayman Zedani, Earthseed, 2021. 3-channel video installation. Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: © Riyadh Art

The choice of Light (Noor in Arabic) as the main curatorial theme for the Festival speaks of the accessibility of Noor Riyadh.

RUH Noor Riyadh Shines Light on Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Art Strategy
By Global Art Daily’s Editorial Board
Published on April 16th, 2021

Image: Ishmael Randall Weeks, Concretos penetrables (Chakana), 2020. Grout 700, bronze, corrugated steel ¼_, 250 x 250 x 250 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Lawrie Shabibi.

When we contemplate those lines off the intersection, we often question the point of their existence: at what point does the boundary of the first space ends and where does the second begins?

DXB A Riot Towards Landscapes
By Athoub Al Busaily
Published on April 5th, 2021

Image: Amina Yahia, In Parallel - Malak, 2021. Courtesy of the artist.

After years of cementing and complimenting each other, today we enjoy exhibitions that raise nuanced, urgent and critical issues.

DXB A ‘Menu Poem’ and All That Follows
By Daniel H. Rey
Published on April 1st, 2021

Image: Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Abu Dhabi Archipelago (Al Habel Al Abyad), 2015-, Digital Print, 60 x 80cm. Courtesy of the artist and The Third Line Gallery.

Alserkal Art Week has just ended and has left Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue with a fresh new sense of artistic-led initiatives, activations, and exhibitions for this new spring season.

DXB Alserkal Art Week Top Picks
By Global Art Daily Editorial Board
Published on March 28th, 2021

Image: Installation view of Growing Like A Tree, curated by Sohrab Hura at Ishara Art Foundation, 2021. Images courtesy of the artists and Ishara Art Foundation. Photography by Ismail Noor/Seeing Things.

“When I’m talking about growing like a tree, it’s me growing and other people who are growing with each other too, people who know each other.”

- Sohrab Hura

DXB Permeability and Regional Nodes: Sohrab Hura on Curating Growing Like a Tree at Ishara Art Foundation
By Global Art Daily Editorial Board
Published on March 21st, 2021

Image: Installation view. Hyphenated Spaces: “The Cup and The Saucer” Reinterpreted, 15 December 2020 - 30 March 2021, hosted by Warehouse421. Virtual exhibition.

Curation is as important as creation.

AUH Re-viewing Contrasts: Hyphenated Spaces at Warehouse421
By Hanan Sultan
Published on March 7th, 2021

Sara Ahli, Balloon Stacks 4, 2021. Courtesy of Engage 101.

One begins to imagine the ways in which Sara Ahli’s art interrupts the untarnished veneer of Downtown Dubai.

DXB There’s a Hurricane at the Foundry
By Sarah Daher
Published on March 3rd, 20

E-Issue 02 NYC
Spring 2021

1. GAD E-Issue 02, NYC, Spring 2021. Cover Image: You Can Take The Girl Out Of The City by Blair Cannon and Christian Barberena. Photography by Allegra Messina. Model: Halimotu Shokunbi.

2. Sala Shaker, “What’s On in NYC” Image: Larry Cook, The Visiting Room #4, 2019. Digital photograph, 40 x 30 inches. Courtesy of the artist and MoMA PS1.

3. Daniel H. Rey and Sophie Arni, “Pop(Corn): Zeid Jaouni” Image: Zeid Jaouni in New York, 2020. Photo: Amal Flower Kay.

4. Blair Cannon and Christian Barberena, “YOU CAN TAKE THE GIRL OUT OF THE CITY” Image: Creative Direction and Styling: Blair Cannon. Photography: Allegra Messina. Model: Halimotu Shokunbi with The Lions La. Makeup: Taylour Chanel. Hair: Jordan Alex.

5. GAD Editorial Board, “Rapport: NYC” Image: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Up Broadway from Bowling Green, New York, N. Y., U. S. A.." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1930. [cropped]

6. GAD Editorial Board, “Kindergarten Records Discuss The Future of Electronic Music” Image: Kindergarten Records at Elsewhere, Brooklyn. Photo: Raul Coto-Batres.

7. Larayb Abrar, “Sole DXB Brings NY Hip-Hop To Abu Dhabi” Photo: Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop. December 15, 2020 - May 31, 2021. Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi. Installation views. Photo: Farel Bisotto.

8. GAD Editorial Board, “Wei Han Finds ‘Home’ In New York” Image: Graphics accompanying The Saints - Home music video, 2020. Graphic design by Wei Han.

9. Zeina Abedarbo, “Vikram Divecha: Encounters and Negotiations” Image: Vikram Divecha, Boulder with hole, Quarry yard, Fujairah. Research image. 2014. Courtesy of the artist.

E-Issue 01++ AUH/DXB
Fall/Winter 2020-21

Photo: Luisa Soipi, Issue 01, 2020. Image courtesy of MIA Anywhere and the artist.

“What is my work about? Migration, memory, war, human rights, memories, dreams, death, women's rights.”

- Asia Umarova

GRV MIA Anywhere Hosts First Virtual Exhibition of Female Chechen Artists
By Global Art Daily’s Editorial Board
Published on February 1st, 2021

Photo: Clementine Paradies, Absence of Commas and Apostrophes, 2020. Mixed media. Image courtesy of Sa Tahanan Collective and the artist.

“20% of Dubai’s population is Filipino. That’s one-fifth of the population. Is that represented in the art and cultural spaces that we frequent? How is the distribution of that exposure?”

- Anna Bernice

DXB Sa Tahanan Collective Redefines Home for Filipino Artists
Interview by Sophie Arni
Published on January 25, 2021

Photo: The Flying Saucer, Sharjah, UAE, 2020. Image courtesy Sharjah Art Foundation

Formerly a French-inspired cafe and newsstand, then a supermarket and pharmacy, and finally a fast-food restaurant, the Flying Saucer now serves the Sharjah Art Foundation’s permanent inner-city art venue.

SHJ Sharjah Art Foundation Jets Ahead on the Flying Saucer
By Nada Ammagui
Published on December 9, 2020

Photo: Sara Ahli, Balloon Baggage, 2020. Latex balloons, plaster. Photo by Sarah Daher.

A number of works in the show appear to interrogate the effect of architecture and space on the body.

AUH SEAF Cohort 7 at Warehouse 421
By Sarah Daher
Published on November 23, 2020

Photo: Talal Al Najjar, Tuwatam (Fairuz), 2020. 30.5 x 8 x 5 cm. Image courtesy of 101.

“101’s second sale gives me the possibility to share my work directly with art collectors, the wider art market, and art communities in the Gulf and beyond.”

- Talal Al Najjar

DXB 101 Strikes Again with Second Sale at Alserkal Avenue
By Global Art Daily Editorial Board
Published on November 21, 2020

Photo: Christopher Benton, How to Be at Rest, 2020. Courtesy of Dubai Design Week and the artist.

While these chairs lack sturdiness, they possess prized qualities in today’s world: adaptability and long life-cycles.

DXB Spotlight on Dubai Design Week 2020
By Sophie Arni
Published on November 19, 2020

Photo: New Waves: Mohamed Melehi and the Casablanca Art School Archives, Alserkal Arts Foundation. Mustafa Aboubacker for Seeing Things. Courtesy of Alserkal Avenue.

An artist whose work I knew nothing about until September suddenly became one of my main sources of artistic, political, and cosmopolitan inquiry.

DXB Melehi’s Waves Complicate Waving Goodbye
By Daniel H. Rey
Published on November 16, 2020

Photo: Augustine Paredes, courtesy of Jameel Arts Centre.

With the Youth Takeover, Jameel Arts Centre continues to affirm its position as an essential pillar for emerging artists in the UAE.

DXB Kanye Says Listen to the Kids: Youth Takeover at the Jameel Arts Centre
By Christopher Benton
Published on November 13, 2020

Photo: Maxime Crammate (Satwa 3000), Satwa 3000 Cafétéria, 2019.

All these works spoke of the nostalgia for the UAE that exists beyond the cosmopolitan us expats know.

DXB Do You See Me How I See You?
By Anna Bernice
Published on October 19, 2020

Photo: Dan Hobson, courtesy of Tawahadna.

“I want to be part of the Arab entrepreneurial community that can recognize each other and realize how we can support each other.”

- Stavros Antypas

UAE Tawahadna Introduces MENA Artists to a Global Community

Interview by Daniel H. Rey
Published on September 14th, 2020

Photo: courtesy of BAIT 15.

AUH BAIT 15 Welcomes New Member Zuhoor Al Sayegh
By Global Art Daily Editorial Board
Published on September 27th, 2020

Image courtesy of Taaboogah.

AUH Taaboogah Infuses Comedy into Khaleeji Menswear
By Global Art Daily’s Editorial Board
Published on September 7th, 2020

Image courtesy of Tamila Kochkarova and No Boys Allowed.

DXB Meet Tamila Kochkarova Behind ‘No Boys Allowed’

Interview by Global Art Daily’s Editorial Board
Published on September 4th, 2020

Hanan Sultan, Kumma Crown (2020). Copyright Hanan Sultan. Photo: Abeer Sultan.

LHR/MCT Hanan Sultan Rhymes Frankincense with Minimalism
Interview by Sophie Arni
Published on August 23rd, 2020

Image courtesy of Augustine Paredes.

“I am proud to say that I am from the Philippines. I am proud that I am brown-skinned. I am proud of my roots. I am proud to speak English with an accent.”

- Augustine Paredes

DXB Augustine Paredes Taking Up Space
Interview by Daniel H Rey
Published on August 24th, 2020

Mohamed Khalid. Receipts - DHL, 2020. Mixed media on paper. Image courtesy of 101, Noor Al Thehli and Mohamed Khalid.

“We are trying to debunk the exclusivity of what contemporary art and art-buying insinuate.”

- Munira Al Sayegh

AUH 101 Pioneers Ethical and Curious Art Collecting
By Global Art Daily’s Editorial Board, in conversation with Munira Al Sayegh and Gaith Abdulla
Published on August 28th, 2020

BEY GAD Map: Arts & Culture Relief for Beirut
By Sarah Daher, Map by Global Art Daily’s Editorial Board
Published on August 16th, 2020

E-Issue 01 AUH/DXB
Summer 2020

1. GAD E-Issue 01, AUH/DXB, Summer 2020. Cover Image: Hashel Al Lamki, ADNOC Gas Station (2019). Acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of Warehouse421 and the artist.

2. Sala Shaker, “What’s On in the UAE” Image: Larissa Sansour, In Vitro (2019). Install shot at Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai. Photo by Brent Galotera

3. Daniel H Rey, “Pop(Corn): Hashel Al Lamki” Photo: Courtesy of the artist.

4. Sophie Arni, “Tailoring in Abu Dhabi” Image: Al Omara Textiles inside Madinat Zayed Shopping Center. Photo: Sophie Arni

5. GAD Editorial Board, “Rapport: Dubai” Image: Christopher Benton, Say No to Bachelors Thronging Residential Neighborhoods, 2019. Copyright Christopher Benton, courtesy of Christopher Benton and of Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation.

5. GAD Editorial Board, “Rapport: Dubai” Image: Christopher Benton, Ghetto Majlis, 2017. Copyright Christopher Benton, courtesy of Christopher Benton and SIKKA Art Fair.

5. GAD Editorial Board, “Rapport: Dubai” Image: Dubai Airport, circa 1960s. Copyright: Abdulghafoor Al Qasim, courtesy of Akkasah: Center for Photography. AD-MC-031_ref75

5. GAD Editorial Board, “Rapport: Dubai” Image: Ashley Al Busmait in Alserkal Avenue, 2020. Photography: Saskia @the_profashional and @lensqueendubai, Stylist: Kim Barik @kimbarik. Courtesy of Ashley Al Busmait.

6. Daniel H Rey, “Michael Rakowitz From the Diaspora” Image: The invisible enemy should not exist, close-up. Photo: Dani H Rey

Be the first to know.

Get an update every time a new article is published, and be the first one to know about our upcoming events, talks, and more.

E-Issue 03++ Fall/Winter 2021-22

While displaying personal and collective stories of being a woman, the exhibition achieves a sense of genuine curiosity for everything concerning the identity and body, aesthetics and politics, of the “woman,” applicable in WANASA and beyond.

“This wood, you literally see it everywhere, but no one ever thinks about it because, again, it's something that's ephemeral. I think the slogan says something like “Golden Prestige,” which is also kind of funny when you think of the disparity between luxury and the actual object.”

“When we first started Protocinema without a permanent physical space and working in different cities, it was hard for people to grasp. Now, there are so many organizations working like this.”

“Massive government-led efforts to develop the arts and culture sectors in the region over the past decade have led to emerging practices entering the field at an unprecedented rate.”

E-Issue 03 TYO Fall 2021

1. GAD E-Issue 03, TYO, Fall 2021. Cover Image: Masahide Matsuda, Ripples, 2021. Courtesy of the artist.

E-Issue 02++ Spring/Summer 2021

“After The Beep” is the result of a reactive exercise which, placing artists in a sequence, required each creative to respond to the work of the artists before them within 48 hours of receiving it.

“When the human mind meets online networks, noise is produced, whereas when the body is placed in front of online networks, a state of silent meditation is achieved.”

Curated by the always astute Murtaza Vali, Total Landscaping at Abu Dhabi’s Warehouse 421 is a show with an enviably clever title boasting an impressively percipient commentary on the co-opting of nature and its associated imagery, verbiage, and hues in the region.

“This exhibition aims to shine light on the invisible hollows of our earth and societies, ones that are becoming increasingly apparent in this day and age.”

“We are trying to build a universal, standardized platform for NFT marketplaces but also tools for art investors and auction houses. That’s our next step in the NFT movement.”

“We are trying to build a universal, standardized platform for NFT marketplaces but also tools for art investors and auction houses. That’s our next step in the NFT movement.”

Age of You is an exposé of the inner workings of technological advancement for the unaware.

What Al Najem ultimately aims to reveal is the multi-dimensional aspects of devotion we have towards our culture, from fame and wealth to nationalism.

“In an ever-expanding and dissatisfying system we ask crucially: is capitalism fulfilling consumers or are consumers fulfilling capitalism?”

“I don’t believe in a hierarchy of materials, I can work either with gold or with hair that I picked up from the floor.”

Because of the pandemic, I have only seen BIEN’s works through the iPhone screen. It was a true pleasure to experience the physicality of his wood panels again.

“Any resemblance to the imagined or the dreamed is entirely coincidental.”

The choice of Light (Noor in Arabic) as the main curatorial theme for the Festival speaks of the accessibility of Noor Riyadh.

When we contemplate those lines off the intersection, we often question the point of their existence: at what point does the boundary of the first space ends and where does the second begins?

After years of cementing and complimenting each other, today we enjoy exhibitions that raise nuanced, urgent and critical issues.

Alserkal Art Week has just ended and has left Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue with a fresh new sense of artistic-led initiatives, activations, and exhibitions for this new spring season.

“When I’m talking about growing like a tree, it’s me growing and other people who are growing with each other too, people who know each other.”

Curation is as important as creation.

One begins to imagine the ways in which Sara Ahli’s art interrupts the untarnished veneer of Downtown Dubai.

E-Issue 02 NYC Spring 2021

E-Issue 01++ AUH/DXB Fall/Winter 2020-21

“What is my work about? Migration, memory, war, human rights, memories, dreams, death, women's rights.”

“20% of Dubai’s population is Filipino. That’s one-fifth of the population. Is that represented in the art and cultural spaces that we frequent? How is the distribution of that exposure?”

Formerly a French-inspired cafe and newsstand, then a supermarket and pharmacy, and finally a fast-food restaurant, the Flying Saucer now serves the Sharjah Art Foundation’s permanent inner-city art venue.

A number of works in the show appear to interrogate the effect of architecture and space on the body.

“101’s second sale gives me the possibility to share my work directly with art collectors, the wider art market, and art communities in the Gulf and beyond.”

While these chairs lack sturdiness, they possess prized qualities in today’s world: adaptability and long life-cycles.

An artist whose work I knew nothing about until September suddenly became one of my main sources of artistic, political, and cosmopolitan inquiry.

With the Youth Takeover, Jameel Arts Centre continues to affirm its position as an essential pillar for emerging artists in the UAE.

All these works spoke of the nostalgia for the UAE that exists beyond the cosmopolitan us expats know.

“I want to be part of the Arab entrepreneurial community that can recognize each other and realize how we can support each other.”

“I am proud to say that I am from the Philippines. I am proud that I am brown-skinned. I am proud of my roots. I am proud to speak English with an accent.”

“We are trying to debunk the exclusivity of what contemporary art and art-buying insinuate.”

E-Issue 01 AUH/DXB Summer 2020

E-Issue 03++
Fall/Winter 2021-22

E-Issue 03 TYO
Fall 2021

E-Issue 02++
Spring/Summer 2021

E-Issue 02 NYC
Spring 2021

E-Issue 01++ AUH/DXB
Fall/Winter 2020-21

E-Issue 01 AUH/DXB
Summer 2020