Calling all art lovers: Alserkal Art Week kicks off this weekend
The art enthusiasts have been waiting for this one…
Everyone’s favourite celebration of art, culture and thoughtful discourse is returning this weekend for an exciting edition. Kicking off on February 25, Alserkal Art Week will run till March 3, and will offer a compelling, captivating collage of installations, exhibitions, slow art walks, workshops, pop-ups and a welcoming community space where everyone belongs.
The week-long event will open with Nalini Malani’s Can You Hear Me?, setting the tone at Concrete. The leading artist and video art practitioner’s immersive installation will be on display the whole week, and features a large-scale, nine-channel video installation of over 50 iPad-drawn animations made from 2017-2020.
Filled with textual and visual quotations, annotations and snippets of sound and music, the installation is an expression of outrage against the violence and injustice in the society. The artist will also be in conversation with curator Nada Raza on the opening night at 6pm.
More like this
While this piece will highlight the opening, the coming days are jam-packed with more like this. Walk With Me, the 2024-2025 series of Alserkal Art Foundation’s public art commissions, has been curated by Zoé Whitley, and features works by artists like Dima Srouji, Abbas Akhavan,Vikram Divecha and Asma Belhamar.
The inspiration behind this specific curation is Rumi’s poem Keep Walking and Brenda Hillman’s reflections in Walking the Dunes, combined with the exploratory nature of Alserkal Avenue, how you can access the whole of the space on foot and ditch the car. Visitors are invited to explore the winding lanes and roads of Alserkal through the art of walking.
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On the dialogue front, the Majlis Talks will follow the theme of Let the beauty we love be what we do, and will bring together a dynamic intersection of artists, architects, playwrights, musicians and filmmakers. There will also be talks by participating artists and curators on their pieces.
For the night owls
Alserkal Lates, as always, will be keeping the after hours buzzing on Tuesday, February 27, from 10am to 10pm, with Slow Art Walks being hosted throughout the evening. There will also be 12 new compelling exhibition openings at the Avenue’s contemporary art galleries, Majlis Talks and responsive public art commissions.
The participating galleries are Carbon 12, Green Art Gallery, Ayyam Gallery, Firetti Contemporary, Gallery Isabelle and Ishaara Art Foundation. For more information on the happenings of the week and the full schedule, visit the Alserkal Avenue website.
Alserkal Art Week, Alserkal Avenue, Feb 25 to Mar 3, @alserkalavenue
Images: Supplied