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Art Nomads: Made in the Emirates

Dates | 9 – 22 December 2016
Opening | Dec. 9, 2016 (Fri.) 7 – 10pm
Venue | Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2, Berlin

Symposium | Dec. 10, 2016 (Sat.)  3 – 4.30 pm

How Culture Builds Cities: Berlin and Abu Dhabi

Speakers | Janet Bellotto, David Elliott, Jeni Fulton, Vanina Saracino
Venue | Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2, Berlin

Presented by the Etihad Modern Art Gallery in partnership with MOMENTUM and The Sovereign Art Prize

Curators | David Szauder, Zsuzsanna Petró & Rachel Rits-Volloch

Artists | Khalid Al Banna // Ahmed Al Faresi // Reem Al Ghaith // Khalid Al Qasabi // Abdulqader Al Rais // Maisoon Al Saleh // Jamal Al Suwaidi // Maitha Demithan // Lamya Gargash // Dr. Najat Makki // Salama Nasib // Taqwa // & The Sovereign MENA Art Prize Finalists: Hazem Harb / Nadia Kaabi-Linke / Walid Al Wawi

Art Nomads - Poster

Art Nomads – Made in the Emirates:

Abu Dhabi and Berlin: two capitol cities redefining themselves through art. Abu Dhabi, the capitol city of the United Arab Emirates: an oasis in the desert reinventing itself as the art capitol of the Middle East. A culture of pearl divers whose palaces until only fifty years ago were tents, today builds skyscrapers and museums. Adoptive home to the Louvre and the Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi is a city of nomads who build monuments to permanence designed by the world’s greatest architects. Living in a culture of incredibly rapid modernization, Emeraties are balanced on the precarious edge of maintaining their heritage while actively redefining itself through influences from abroad. A city of nomads no longer, Abu Dhabi instead opens itself to the phenomenon of art nomads, nurturing major international art fairs, as well as its own growing contemporary art scene.

Berlin: home to countless galleries and museums. Adoptive home to countless artists. Berlin has rebuilt itself as the Art Capitol of Europe, attracting artists from around the world. To Berlin we bring the exhibition Art Nomads – Made in The Emirates. Focusing on artists from the United Arab Emirates,  Art Nomads shows 15 contemporary artists from a variety of disciplines, reflecting on a culture that is undergoing rapid development.  Together they represent a cross-section of contemporary art from the Emirates by emerging artists, influenced by cultural heritage and visual traditions translated into the 21st century, as well as by prominent artists of the older generation. Presented by Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Modern Art Gallery, this exhibition is made in partnership with MOMENTUM and the Sovereign Art Foundation, presenting three of the UAE-based finalists of the Sovereign Middle East & North Africa Art Prize, launched this year in the UAE.

Nadia Kaabi-Linke - Black is the new white

The Sovereign Art Foundation MENA Art Prize

The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) is a charity founded in 2003 in Hong Kong, which is now also registered in the UK, Singapore, Guernsey and South Africa. SAF runs the annual Sovereign Asian Art Prize with the purpose of raising money to help disadvantaged children. Since its inception, SAF has raised over US$5 million for charities and artists worldwide, funding projects using art as education, rehabilitation and therapy for disadvantaged children. The Sovereign Asian Art Prize is now in its 13th year and is the biggest, best known and most prestigious arts prize in the Asia region. In October 2016, the Sovereign Art Foundation arrived in the UAE, launching the inaugural MENA Art Prize for the Middle East & North Africa region.

Howard Bilton, Chairman and Founder of The Sovereign Art Foundation, said of the inaugural Sovereign MENA Art Prize:

“This was our first prize in the Middle East region. Creating the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Prize was something that was very much in our minds for several years now so we are pleased that we managed to get this away so well. Our judges Tim Marlow, David Elliott, Simon Njami, Fati Maleki and Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal were all extremely impressed and pleased with the quality of the finalists, as indeed were we. Interestingly 14 of the 30 finalists were women. The prize builds on the 12 successful prizes we run in the Asia region. And, of course, we hope and expect this will be an annual event from now on, which will grow in strength and importance. We believe that it is an exciting time for art in the MENA region. As in Asia, we hope that we can contribute to the growing success of the talented artists in the region whilst raising money which we will plough back into the art community assisting disadvantaged children in the MENA region.”

For Art Nomads – Made in The Emirates, MOMENTUM is proud to present, in partnership with the Sovereign MENA Art Prize, three of the finalists from the UAE: Hazem Harb, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, and Walid Al Wawi.

Hazem Harb - The Everlasting Presence of an Excluded Memory_1

Janet Bellotto, Zayed University, Associate Professor & Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises
David Elliott, Art Historian, Curator, Writer, Museum Director
Jeni Fulton, Editor-in-Chief of Sleek Magazine
Vanina Saracino, Curator

Berlin and Abu Dhabi: two capitol cities redefining themselves through art; cultural capital at work in two radically different cultures; two places which voraciously ingest influences from abroad, yet produce cultural outputs inextricably linked to the identity of each city.  Abu Dhabi builds the Louvre and the Guggenheim with the world’s top architects, while Berlin rebuilds its Stadtschloss, re-homes its museums, and brings famous museum directors from London to run its theaters. Is Abu Dhabi going for the “Berlin Effect” of cultural capital?  Is this a parallel trajectory, or is there something else at play here?  On Saturday December 10th at 3-4:30pm, we invite art professionals working in and with the UAE to discuss this and other questions linking the two cities.

About The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF)

The Sovereign Art Foundation is a charity founded in 2003 in Hong Kong, which is now also registered in the UK, Singapore, Guernsey and South Africa. SAF runs the annual Sovereign Asian Art Prize with the purpose of raising money to help disadvantaged children. Since its inception, SAF has raised over US$5 million for charities and artists worldwide, funding projects using art as education, rehabilitation and therapy for disadvantaged children. The Sovereign Asian Art Prize is now in its 13th year and is the biggest, best known and most prestigious arts prize in the Asia region. In 2016, SAF launched the inaugural MENA Art Prize, for the Middle East & North Africa region. www.sovereignartfoundation.com

About MOMENTUM

MOMENTUM is a non-profit platform for time-based art, active worldwide since 2010, with headquarters in Berlin at the Kunstquartier Bethanien Art Center. MOMENTUM’s program is composed of local and international Exhibitions, Artist and Curator Residencies, Video Art in Public Space Initiatives, a Performance Program and Archive, an Education Initiative and Archive, and a growing Collection. Positioned as both a local and global platform, MOMENTUM serves as a bridge joining professional art communities, irrespective of institutional and national borders. Working on a model of international partnerships and co-operations, MOMENTUM supports artists and artistic innovation, bringing to Berlin work by international artists that would not otherwise have been seen here, and ensuring an international audience for exceptional local artists. By enabling Exhibition, Discussion, Research, Creation, Collection, and Exchange, MOMENTUM is a platform which challenges the notion of time-based art in the context of both historical and technological development, continuously seeking innovative answers to the question ‘What is time-based art?’. http://momentumworldwide.org/about-us/mission/

MORE INFORMATION:

  • Art Nomads - Poster

    Art Nomads - Poster

  • Art Nomads_Made in the Emirates_Exhibition_Berlin

    Art Nomads_Made in the Emirates_Exhibition_Berlin

  • Hazem Harb - The Everlasting Presence of an Excluded Memory_1

    Hazem Harb - The Everlasting Presence of an Excluded Memory_1

  • Hazem Harb - The Everlasting Presence of an Excluded Memory_2

    Hazem Harb - The Everlasting Presence of an Excluded Memory_2

  • Nadia Kaabi-Linke - Black is the new white

    Nadia Kaabi-Linke - Black is the new white

  • Walid Al Wawi_Portrait Patriot

    Walid Al Wawi_Portrait Patriot

  • Walid Al Wawi_Portrait Patriot (2)

    Walid Al Wawi_Portrait Patriot (2)