15 posts tagged “art”
dubai's newest and surely biggest gallery opened its doors last night, hosting hundreds of collectors, art lovers and dxb-hipsters.
ayyam is one of damascus' most celebrated and successful galleries and it just opened its first international outpost, a magnificently designed 7,500 sq ft lofted space in al quoz, dubai's fledgling take on ny's chelsea / london's shoreditch.
the opening show 'contemporary syria' displayed a massive and diverse range of work by young syrian artists as well as luminaries of modern syrian art like louay kayyali and safwan dahloul and made excellent use of the space's three disctict areas, with the sexy mezannine gallery displaying the show's big pieces including louay kayyali's 'thouma maza' or 'then what' - a legendary 1965 painting predicting the palestinian's looming despair with devestating effect.
my favorite section was the 'shabbab ayyam' (ayyam youth) in the main gallery area that showcased young emerging syrian talent. some great work, i'll need to go back to the gallery and note names and hopefully post some more photos too.
once again, the city of dubai astounds. the way the art scene has been developing and indeed blowing up recently is in line with the way things happen in dubai, people from all over the world see an opportunity and waste no time seizing it. due kudos to the art-scene and alquoz pioneers: B21 (Jeffar started the Dubai-Chelsea movement) and of course the standard bearers The Third Line.
i hope those redeveloping alquoz take note of the area's industrial-art heritage (dubai timelines here) when redesigining and rezoning the area.
disclosure: hisham samawi, the gallery's dubai-based partner (and cousin of Khaled Samawi, Ayyam's ex-banker founder) is a friend i have known for time and my primary golfing buddy.
Mitra Tabrizian: This is that Place
4 June – 10 August 2008
Tate Britain, Level 2
Millbank, London
Admission free. Open daily 10.00-18.00, until 22.00 on the first Friday of the month
In June 2008, Tate Britain will open the first major exhibition in the UK of the work of the Iranian-British photographer and film director, Mitra Tabrizian. Born in Tehran, Tabrizian’s primary concerns are contemporary issues and debates and her interests range from post-feminism and post-colonial theories and the effects of late capitalism in Britain, to the shifting realities of life in post-revolutionary Iran. Bringing together more than 17 works from the last eight years, this exhibition will focus on themes of the rise of corporate culture, ageism, nomadism, migrancy and notions of homeland.
Tabrizian’s particular conceptual approach to constructed picture-making will also be revealed. Combining documentary techniques with those of film to make elaborate photographic tableaux, her photographs are carefully staged so that the images operate as condensed narratives. Sometimes these narratives span a sequence of stills, as in the series The Perfect Crime 2003-2004 and Lost Time 2004, while in other works such as Silent Majority the storyline is concentrated within one frame. The themes of these works echo earlier pieces such as Beyond the Limits 2000 in offering a challenging critique of corporate culture and contemporary life.
In her most recent works, including Border 2005-6 and Tehran 2006, Tabrizian has been influenced by New Wave Iranian Cinema. This has transformed Iranian film in the last two decades and according to Rose Issa, curator of this exhibition, its cinematic language “champions the poetry in everyday life and the ordinary person by blurring the boundaries between fiction and reality, feature film with documentary”.
Tehran 2006, a large panoramic photograph of a run-down residential area in the outskirts of the capital, is populated by a disparate group of people with all the characters playing themselves: the crowd is a mixture of people who are struggling and have been let down by the promises of revolution; a taxi driver, factory worker, builder, cleaner, dress-maker and servant. Border, a group of photographs from 2005-6, shows real people, immigrants who have left Iran and crossed borders in search of a better life, in everyday settings. They are shown lost in thought having brought their borders with them, remaining divided between their present circumstances and their longing for home, or their desire to feel at home in their new surroundings.
Tabrizian has exhibited in museums and galleries in Europe, Asia and the USA, including most recently a solo exhibition at the Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2006). Her work was included in Veil, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (2003) and Voodoo Macbeth: A tribute to the work of Orson Welles, De la Warr Pavillion. Bexhill (2006). This exhibition has been selected by Rose Issa. It will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue with a text by T.J.Demos and interview by Rose Issa (price £6.99).
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i dug up an old book (and an old jacket that i'm guessing inspired helmut lang's thumbloop phase) i bought in new york back in 1998 at maybe the hippest store i've ever shopped: 'hotel of the rising star' at 13 prince st (probably the original five green inspiration), run by a bunch of architects who sold their ORFI label (organization for returning fashion interest) and a wonderfully carefully curated collection of things including event horizon, edited by michael tarantino and inspired by a michelangelo antonioni essay (event horizon was a series of exhibitions organized by the irish museum of modern art exploring the european identity). the fifth artist page is an essay on 'calendar' by atom egoyan:
"The idea of a nation is something which fascinates me. If we are to presume that a nation is the result of a collective projection, then it is clear that the idea of national territory is more of a pyschological concept than it is a definition set by physical borders."
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"In conceiving 'Calendar', I wanted to find a story that would deal with these three levels of Armenian consciousness: Nationalist, Diasporan and Assimilationist."
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"The metaphor of seperation in the film ... is intended to emphasize the precarious nature of national identity."
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"Taken outside of its source, national identity can become contrived and absurd. Yet what is the 'source' of something so complex and profound? Is it limited to a physical dimension? Can it be defined by other means? These are questions which I am still asking, and I'm excited that 'Calendar' has helped me to begin to answer."
A. Egoyan
DUBAI NEXT: Face of 21st Century Culture
Firestation, Vitra Campus, June 5 – September 14, 2008
An exhibition by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority in cooperation with the Vitra Design Museum.
Curators: Rem Koolhaas & Jack Persekian
Everyone knows the architectural landmarks of Dubai, but this new global city’s true achievement and future promise soars well beyond it’s dynamic growth and spectacular buildings. Dubai is first and foremost about its people – a vibrant, multicultural and cosmopolitan community made up of over 200 different nationalities. These people are the driving forces behind the widely published new forms of design, culture, communication and lifestyle that shape Dubai today. Nowhere else in the world is the radical transformation of what people think of nationalities, heritage and culture more evident than in Dubai.
This exhibition tells the story of Dubai from a cultural angle. It shows the making of 21st century culture, built upon the vision and heritage of the Emirati people and their fellow global citizens everywhere, as well as how these ideas take shape on architectural, urbanistic and cultural projects for the next decades. Being shown parallel to the exhibition “Living under the Crescent Moon” the exhibition “Dubai Next” will complement the museum’s focus on Arab domestic and contemporary culture in 2008.
my dot-joining-musical-journey through middle eastern music (and that definition has out of necessity been kept as broad as possible - dj/rupture is from boston, leila's music has no real connection with middle eastern beats etc) has been touched and enriched by many including: leila, mutamassik, dj/rupture, rahim alhajj, gnawa, abstrakt collision, kamal musallam, fathy salama, sam shalabi, clotaire k, soap kills, reham, wust albalad, ilhan ersahin.
here's a little imeem playlist (missing lots of great stuff as most of my music is in dubai) of good me music:
you know you're in kiarostami's world from the very start. the familiar opening front seat shot is like hearing a favorite song's opening note. the film is in turn meditative, thoughtful, sad, angry, funny, meandering, and (of course) non-judgmental.
stand-out chapters / moments for me: the prostitute chapter - funny and cute; the brilliant opening chapter slaps you into the movie's universe; the independent thinking divorcee's free-wheeling rants.
not sure how these film got past the iranian censors with an unveiled (although shaven) women, prostitution and plenty of bitching about women's place in iranian society ("do women have to die to live?").
minimally and beautifully digitally shot, especially the night scenes. unbeleivably efficient film-making.
an insight into the life of an iranian women. an insight into the mind of a woman, mother, wife, lover.
kiarostami like all my favored artists asks questions rather than offering answers and as with a few of his iranian new wave contemporaries straddles the documentary / fiction division.
genius. highly recommended.
Private viewing of emerging Dubai-based Lebanese artist (and goddess) Nadine Kanso tonight 7.30pm at B21 in Al Quoz for the DXB art crowd.
