Global Art Forum 9: Kuwait (English) by Art Dubai

ART DUBAI GLOBAL ART FORUM MARCH 14-21, 2015 KUWAIT PROGRAMME

Artdubai.ae

ART DUBAI 18-21.3.2015

PRESENTED BY

Global art forum download update? How have technologies transformed the way we work, think, interact, learn and create? March 14-15, 2015 Kuwait March 18-20, 2015 United Arab Emirates Co-directors: Turi Munthe Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi Director-at-Large: Shumon Basar

INTRODUCTION

GLOBAL ART FORUM

DAILY SCHEDULE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

KUWAIT EXHIBITORS

Contents

INTRODUCTION

TAMDEEN GROUP Tamdeen Group is honoured to support the ninth edition of the prestigious Global Art Forum being held in Kuwait for the first time. The forum – part of Art Dubai, the leading international art fair in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia – has become a cornerstone of the region’s booming contemporary art community. Very much in the way Tamdeen Group is reshaping the urban and social landscape of Kuwait through significant projects that add value to the communities we serve. INTRODUCTION

We believe in the expression of innovative artistic designs in all our projects, best seen in our flagship 360 MALL—Kuwait’s iconic shopping mall—which is also a vehicle to raise the forum’s awareness in the run-up to the event. We therefore closely identify with the vision of the Global Art Forum—creativity at its very best! We hope you enjoy the next few days.

THE SULTAN GALLERY I am delighted to welcome attendees of the Global Art Forum to Kuwait, and celebrate this exciting event. A contemporary cultural scene has existed in Kuwait ever since the 1960s, when my brother Ghazi and sister Najat co-founded the Sultan Gallery. The 2015 edition of the Global Art Forum marks the first time it is hosted in Kuwait, and I am proud that we can continue to participate in, as well as shape, the regional conversation in arts and culture. I hope you will join me at the GAF talks, site visits and exhibition tours! â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Farida Sultan INTRODUCTION

DAR AL-ATHAR AL-ISLAMIYYAH The al-Sabah Collection is delighted to welcome Global Art Forum guests, visitors and speakers to Kuwait. The programme highlights a theme of â&#x20AC;&#x153;technologies and their impact on the world of art and cultureâ&#x20AC;? and that promises to be both interesting and informative. However, the Global Art Forum offers much more than that; it provides a platform for expanding relationships within the art community, for sharing ideas and experiences, and for launching possible future alliances. In doing so, the Global Art Forum is a model of collaboration and The al-Sabah Collection is pleased to be part of this effort.

GLOBAL ART FORUM

Featuring live talks guided by a curated theme, the Global Art Forum brings together a diverse line-up of participants, including artists, curators, musicians, strategists, thinkers and writers. The Global Art Forum was launched by Art Dubai at its inaugural fair in 2007. In 2015, it is presented by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and supported by Dubai Design District (d3).

GLOBAL ART FORUM

The Global Art Forum Kuwait is supported by The Tamdeen Group and takes place at Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, in association with Sultan Gallery and Nuqat. The International New York Times is the international media partner of the Global Art Forum. 89PLUS The Global Art Forum also features the launch of a two-year partnership with 89plus, the long-term, international, multi-platform research project co-founded by Simon Castets and Hans Ulrich Obrist, investigating the generation of innovators born in or after 1989. Workshops and a presentation at Art Dubai 2015, where Obrist and Castets are joined by artist and 89plus collaborator Abdullah Al-Mutairi, are geared towards developing a collaborative project â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the first in the region â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to be presented at Art Dubai 2016.

DIGITISING ARCHIVES WORKSHOP Relating to the Global Art Forum’s theme of technologies and their impact on the world of art, culture and society, and coinciding with the first Global Art Forum in Kuwait, Art Dubai hosts a two-day Digitisation Workshop led by The Sultan Gallery (Kuwait) and Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong).

Global Art Forum 9 is a search engine through technology’s progress. ‘Download Update?’ scans the past and present looking for the designed and unintended effects of innovation. Technology is never just a man-made product, but a feedback process of re-making who we are, our relationship to each other and the world between. Technologists, entrepreneurs, CEOs, historians, philosophers, filmmakers, artists, and museum directors will take measure of technology’s dreams and the ensuing changes in artistic, social and political reality.

GLOBAL ART FORUM

DOWNLOAD UPDATE? The ninth edition of the Global Art Forum takes on the theme of technologies and their impact on the world of art and culture. Titled ‘Download Update?’, the Forum is co-directed by Turi Munthe and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, with Shumon Basar as Director-atLarge.

GLOBAL ART FORUM CO-DIRECTORS Turi Munthe is a media and journalism entrepreneur with an interest in social enterprise, politics and the Middle East. In 2007, he founded Demotix, the multi-award winning citizen newswire. He advises, works with and invests in new media start-ups. @turi Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is a commentator on political, social and economic issues in the Middle East. His columns appear in the Financial Times, Foreign Policy, The Independent and the Guardian. Al Qassemi is an MIT Media Lab Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fellow and the Founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. @SultanAlQassemi

DIRECTOR-AT-LARGE Shumon Basar was Director of Global Art Forum 6, and Commissioner of Global Art Forum 7 and 8. His new book, co-authored with Douglas Coupland and Hans Ulrich Obrist, is called The Age of Earthquakes: A Guide to the Extreme Present. He is also advising Fondazione Prada on its new Milan cultural complex. @SB_ISR

Hans Ulrich Obrist Dan O’Hara The Otolith Group Gabriel PérezBarreiro Jack Persekian Anders Petterson Noah Raford Ruba Saleh Lana Shamma Troy Conrad Therrien Murtaza Vali

GLOBAL ART FORUM

CONTRIBUTORS 89plus Lawrence Abu Hamdan Georgina Adam Sabih Ahmed Taleb Alrefai Sulaiman Al Askari May Al-Dabbagh Manal Al Dowayan Joumana Al Jabri Dr. Saoud Al Mulla Abdullah Al-Mutairi Mai Al-Nakib Hessa Al Ossaily Al Anoud Al Sharekh Ayssar Arida Asia Art Archive Amar Bakshi Gala Berger Christopher Bevans James Bridle Simon Castets Sebastian Cwilich Roland Daher Cécile B. Evans Kate Fowle Thomas Galbraith Laurent Gaveau GCC Lara Khaldi Ayesha Khanna Parag Khanna Omar Kholeif Kristine Khouri Joanne Lisinski Nuqat

LIVE SESSIONS (KUWAIT) Disseminate: media and message in 20th century kuwait Sulaiman Al Askari in conversation with Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi Dr. Sulaiman Al Askari discusses the role of Al Arabi magazine, an acclaimed intellectual platform for Arabic thinkers and writers first published in 1958 with Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi. The role of Al Arabi magazine is contextualised alongside the impact of new technologies including print and television in the culture scene in Kuwait and the Gulf region. This panel is conducted in Arabic. Sulaiman Al Askari is a scholar, journalist and former Editor-in-Chief of Al Arabi Magazine and former Secretary General of the National Council for Culture and Arts in Kuwait. Al Askari has supervised the publishing of cultural journals, taught at the University of Kuwait, and lectures regularly in national and international symposiums. He holds a Ph.D from the University of Manchester.

DIGITISE OR DISAPPEAR? A Digitising Archives Workshop, led by Asia Art Archive and the Sultan Gallery runs alongside the Global Art Forum in Kuwait. The lead organisations present a snapshot of their practice during the Forum, opening with a look at the Sultan Galleryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s archive by Kristine Khouri.

Sabih Ahmed is a Senior Researcher at Asia Art Archive. Stationed in New Delhi, he has overseen numerous projects and research initiatives in India which include digitisation of personal archives as well as bibliography compilations of multi-lingual histories of art.

Kristine Khouri is an independent researcher and writer based in Beirut, Lebanon. Her work focuses on modern art history in the Arab world, with an emphasis on institutional and exhibition history and networks. Khouri also frequently collaborates with artists as a researcher. @kristinekhouri

GLOBAL ART FORUM

Asia Art Archive is an independent nonprofit organisation initiated in 2000 in response to the urgent need to document and make accessible the multiple recent histories of art in the region. AAA has collated one of the most valuable collections of material on contemporary art in the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;open to the public free of charge and increasingly accessible from its website. @AsiaArtArchive

Joanne Lisinski is Head of Research at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha. Her work at Mathaf has resulted in the development of the Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World. Prior to her position at Mathaf, she held various roles in arts heritage and preservation in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. @MathafModern

Ruba Saleh is the Research and Collections Manager at the Palestinian Museum. She has a PhD in Regional Planning and Public Policy and her research interests include: space and power, spatial barriers and creativity, practices and policies, and informality and conflict. In 2012 she curated the international conference Jerusalem City Portrait at Venice University of Architecture. @palmuseum The Sultan Gallery has played an important role over the last forty years in introducing Arab artists to broader audiences, and helping to establish a vital dialogue among artists and institutions working internationally. The Sultan Gallery was initially founded in Kuwait in 1969 by the late siblings Ghazi and Najat Sultan. @SultanGallery

NEGOTIATIONS AND COLLABORATIONS: REFLECTIONS FROM THE FIELD Manal Al Dowayan and May Al Dabbagh discuss a combined artistic and academic collaborative project that addresses issues surrounding imposed and reclaimed representations of Saudi women who are constantly mystified and made to be hypervisible at the same time. This session intends to also navigate knowledge in our current environment of data and media overload and is moderated by Kuwaiti scholar on youth and gender demographics, Al Anoud Al Sharekh. May Al-Dabbagh is Assistant Professor of Social Research and Public Policy, New York University Abu Dhabi. She combines

social psychology, public policy, and feminist lenses to conduct research on women and work in Saudi Arabia. She holds a BA from Harvard and a PhD from Oxford University in psychology. Manal Al Dowayan is an artist who uses photography, text and installation to examine Saudi identity, and in particular the role of women in contemporary society. Working mainly in black and white photography, she also experiments with other media and techniques. She has exhibited globally and is currently showing in two exhibitions in Dubai. @ManalAlDowayan

HERITAGE ENGINEERINGS: A CONVERSATION WITH GCC The artist collective GCC, in interviews, have stated that one of their primary objectives is to make â&#x20AC;&#x153;contemporary conditions in the Gulfâ&#x20AC;? visible by reflecting them, by appropriating, adopting and re-presenting the branded, technophilic, hypermodernity of power and culture across the region. Critic Murtaza Vali asks, how is this reflective

GLOBAL ART FORUM

Al Anoud Al Sharekh is an award winning researcher and gender politics consultant, who has held teaching posts in Kuwait, Europe and the USA, including a Fulbright Scholarship on Women and Islam. She has published many books and articles on political cultures and GCC kinship policies including The Gulf Family and Popular Culture and Political Identity of the Arabian Gulf States. @AAlsharekh

strategy operationalized? Is it critical? Does it separate and decelerate the present enough to provide a momentary perspective from outside its constant flow? Can the idea of heritage be expanded to accommodate this contemporary? If so, how? And what might the future hold? GCC is a delegation of artists that is critically engaged with politics, business diplomacy, and corporate branding in the Gulf. Their softly subversive and critical artistic practice is best exemplified in their exhibition GCC: Achievements in Retrospective which debuted at MoMA PS1 and also shown at the Sharjah Art Foundation. The delegates are: Nanu Al-Hamad, Khalid Al Gharaballi, Abdullah AlMutairi, Fatima Al Qadiri, Monira Al Qadiri, Aziz Al Qatami, Barrak Alzaid and Amal Khalaf. Murtaza Vali is a critic, curator, editor and Visiting Instructor at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, USA. He most recently curated ‘Geometries of Difference: New Approaches to Ornament and Abstraction’ at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz and ‘Accented’ at the Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah. @murtazavali

ARCHIVING AS AN ACT OF LOVE Nuqat’s concern with documenting and archiving the cultural production of the Middle East is part and parcel of its mission to stimulate the creative economy. Keeping its archives with love and concern for

generations to come, Nuqat is dedicated to putting the talks and lectures of each year’s conference online. The session also investigates the focus on documenting knowledge using technology and their effect on the community and economy.

POKE! Joumana Al Jabri in conversation with Turi Munthe

GLOBAL ART FORUM

Nuqat is a non-profit organisation for the development of art, culture and society based in Kuwait City. Nuqat has run an annual conference on art, design and creativity since its foundation in 2009 and regularly holds events and workshops in both Arabic and English covering topics in the fields of visual, therapeutic and performing arts in addition to business and entrepreneurship. @Nuqatweets

How do you tell a story today, when ‘today’ is a dopamine-addicted, tramlined, memethemed small-screen timehole of all things new? In conversation with Turi Munthe, Joumana Al Jabri talks shifting perspectives, sensory media, Click-Through-Rates, and asks what creatives can learn from bears. Visualizing Impact, co-founded and codirected by Joumana Al Jabri and Ramzi Jaber, specialises in data visualisation on social issues. VI’s visual & tech tools have reached over two million people across four continents and in twelve languages. VI is the recipient of Deutsche

Welle’s 2014 The Bobs award for Best Social Activism. Visualizing Palestine, a project of VI, has been featured in the Washington Post, Policy Mic, Fast Company, Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, and the Guardian. @visualizingpal

THE ARAB TECHNOCRACY Roland Daher in conversation with Turi Munthe Who is doing what, to whom, for how much, whose lives is it changing, and who owns the end product? Is tech the great leveller, or is it business - political and economic - as usual? Roland Daher leads business development and strategic alliances at Wamda and is the founder of ElementM. He is a big believer in the social impact of entrepreneurship and strives to foster it in the Arab world. Daher is also a computer engineer from ESIB and Executive MBA graduate from London Business School. @rolanddaher

FOREVER PAPER: PUBLISHING GULF LITERATURE TODAY Globalised, interconnected, and hyperaware; these are just some of the terms that describe the presence of being online. In this entanglement of conditions, how has the dissemination of literary publications in the Gulf reacted to online platforms? If the Internet is truly the inception of Marshall McLuhan’s “global village,” where can the voices of Gulf authors and publishing houses

be found? Writers Mai Al-Nakib and Lana Shamma in conversation with Taleb Alrefai. Taleb Alrefai is a Kuwaiti writer and journalist. His publications include: novels, short stories collections, a play, and critical works. His articles appear in Al-Jarida Kuwaiti newspaper and Al-Hayat. He won the Kuwait National Award for Arts & Literature in 2002, and was a chairman of Arabic Booker Prize for Fiction in 2009. He is a visiting Professor at the American University of Kuwait for Creative Writing. @talrefai1 GLOBAL ART FORUM

Mai Al-Nakib teaches English and Comparative Literature at Kuwait University. Her research addresses issues linked to cultural politics in the Middle East. Her collection of short stories, The Hidden Light of Objects, won the Edinburgh International Book Festivalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s First Book Award in 2014. She is currently writing her first novel. Lana Shamma is currently based in Doha where she heads the Reading & Writing Development Program at Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing. As a Fulbright Fellow in Amman, she researched the effect of the film partnerships between the US and Jordan. She received her Masters in Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California. @itslanaaa

I THINK I SPAM Cécile B. Evans in conversation with Shumon Basar Cécile B. Evans shares the thinking and influences behind her recent art works. Artificial Intelligence, automation, and the idea that in the future, maybe humans will be augmentation to machines - who are increasingly talking about us behind our backs. Cécile B. Evans is an artist. Evans has exhibited internationally and is the recipient of awards such as Frieze’s Emdash Award and the Palais de Tokyo’s PYA Prize. She is the creator of AGNES, the Serpentine Galleries’ first digital commission and is currently working on a sequel to her recent film Hyperlinks or It Didn’t Happen. @cecilebevans

The two-day workshop is an opportunity to share best practice and debate both practical and conceptual ideas around the digitisation of archives and artworks. Around 24 participants were selected for the workshop, with priority given to those working in this area and based in the GCC and wider Middle East/South Asia region. Through an engagement with some of the existing and on-going archival projects in South Asia and West Asia, this workshop examines the very practice of archiving in a digital world as it is conducted in research institutions as well as its appropriation in artistic practice. The workshop includes presentations and open-floor discussions to explore various questions ranging from what forms can archives take in the current

GLOBAL ART FORUM

DIGITISING ARCHIVES WORKSHOP Relating to the Global Art Forumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theme of technologies, the Global Art Forum in Kuwait includes a two-day Digitising Archives Workshop led by the Asia Art Archive (Hong Kong) and Sultan Gallery (Kuwait), taking place at Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah. The workshop features the participation of the Arab Image Foundation (Beirut); The Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (Kuwait City); The Khalid Shoman Foundation (Amman); Kuwaitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Council for Culture, Art and Letters (Kuwait City); Kuwait University (Kuwait City); Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art (Doha); Palestinian Museum (Ramallah) and Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation (Abu Dhabi).

technological milieu; how do we recover undocumented histories; can the very field of visual art be re-imagined through archiving; and, what questions do we want to ask of the future and what shape will we give to the past? The workshop takes as its point of departure the possibilities that lie in the wake of new archival initiatives in the Arab world and south Asia, reaching out to individuals and entities engaged in or developing a project on digitising material.

WORKSHOP LEADERS Sabih Ahmed is a Senior Researcher at Asia Art Archive. Stationed in New Delhi, he has overseen numerous projects and research initiatives in India which include digitisation of personal archives as well as bibliography compilations of multi-lingual histories of art. Asia Art Archive is an independent nonprofit organisation initiated in 2000 in response to the urgent need to document and make accessible the multiple recent histories of art in the region. AAA has collated one of the most valuable collections of material on contemporary art in the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;open to the public free of charge and increasingly accessible from its website. @AsiaArtArchive Kristine Khouri is an independent researcher and writer based in Beirut, Lebanon. Her work focuses on modern art history in the Arab world, with an emphasis on institutional and exhibition history and networks. Khouri

also frequently collaborates with artists as a researcher. @kristinekhouri The Sultan Gallery has played an important role over the last forty years in introducing Arab artists to broader audiences, and helping to establish a vital dialogue among artists and institutions working internationally. The Sultan Gallery was initially founded in Kuwait in 1969 by the late siblings Ghazi and Najat Sultan. @SultanGallery

GLOBAL ART FORUM

DAILY SCHEDULE

SATURDAY MARCH 14 DAY 1 4:00 - 4:15pm Welcome and Introduction: Global Art Forum Directors Turi Munthe (Media Entrepreneur) and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi (UAE Columnist) 4:15-5:30pm Conversation: Disseminate: Media and Message in 20th Century Kuwait Sulaiman Al Askari (Writer and journalist, former Editor-in-Chief of Al Arabi magazine and former Secretary General of the National Council for Culture and Arts in Kuwait) and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi (UAE Columnist) 5:00-5:20pm Presentation: Digitise or Disappear? (Part 1) Kristine Khouri (Researcher and writer) and The Sultan Gallery 5:20-6:05pm Discussion: Negotiations and Collaborations: Reflections from the Field May Al-Dabbagh (Assistant Professor of Social Research and Public Policy, New York University Abu Dhabi), Manal Al Dowayan (Artist) and Al Anoud Al Sharekh (Consultant Researcher on Gender and Citizenship, SCPD)

6:05-6:25pm Presentation: Digitise of Disappear? (Part 2) Sabih Ahmed (Senior Researcher, Asia Art Archive) 6:25-7:30pm Conversation: Heritage Engineering: A Conversation with GCC Murtaza Vali (Critic, curator, editor and Visiting Instructor at Pratt Institute) and GCC (Artist Collective)

DAY 2 2:00 - 2:15pm Welcome and Introduction: Global Art Forum Directors Shumon Basar (Writer), Turi Munthe (Media Entrepreneur) and Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi (UAE Columnist)

DAILY SCHEDULE

SUnday March 15

2:15-2:45pm Presentation: Archiving as an Act of Love Nuqat (non-profit organization for the development of art, culture and society) 2:45-3:15pm Convesration: Poke! Joumana Al Jabri (Co-founder and codirector, Visualizing Impact) and Turi Munthe (Media Entrepreneur)

3:15-3:45pm Presentation: Digitize of Disappear? (Part 3) Joanne Lisinski (Head of Research, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art) and Ruba Saleh (Research and Collections Manager, The Palestinian Museum) 3:45-4:05pm Discussion: Digitise or Disappear? Sabih Ahmed (Senior Researcher, Asia Art Archive), Kristine Khouri (Researcher and writer), Joanne Lisinski (Head of Research, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art) and Ruba Saleh (Research and Collections Manager, The Palestinian Museum) 4:05-4:50pm Conversation: The Arab Technocracy Roland Daher (Head of Business Development, Wamda) and Turi Munthe (Media Entrepreneur) 4:50-5:15pm Break 5:15-6:15pm Discussion: Forever Paper: Publishing Gulf Literature Today Mai Al-Nakib (Associate Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Kuwait University), Taleb Alrefai (Writer and journalist) and Lana Shamma (Events and Outreach Executive, Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing)

6:15-7pm Conversation: I Think I Spam Cécile B. Evans (Artist) and Shumon Basar (Writer) Free and open to all, this year’s Global Art Forum is simultaneously translated into Arabic and English. Please visit artdubai.ae for the schedule and programme timings of the Global Art Forum talks in Dubai on March 18-20 at Art Dubai, next to Art Dubai Modern, at Mina A’Salam, Madinat Jumeirah.

DAILY SCHEDULE 37

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

GLOBAL ART FORUM PARTNERS The Tamdeen Group, Kuwait’s outstanding property developer and investor, is proud to support the Global Art Forum in Kuwait. One of the Tamdeen Group’s flagship developments, 360 MALL integrates retail, leisure and entertainment in a luxury environment; positioning it as the premier luxury shopping experience in Kuwait offering shoppers and visitors 82,000 sq.m of exciting leisure and shopping experiences. Amongst its stores are a mix of luxury brands, dining and entertainment which have been introduced for the first time in Kuwait. The mall’s elegant interiors include seven different experience zones. 360 MALL marks a milestone in the growth of the retail sector in Kuwait and is clearly setting benchmarks for the industry. The Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (DAI) was created to support the loan of objects from the al-Sabah Collection to the State of Kuwait and currently operates under the auspices of the National Council of Culture, Arts, and Letters. Over time the mission has grown to include promoting the fusion of people, cultures and ideas both in Kuwait and in countries hosting DAI exhibitions, which are drawn from the 30,000-piece al-Sabah Collection. The DAI’s cultural season programme, now in its 20th year, also foments the fusion of ideas, people and cultures. Throughout the cultural season, the DAI hosts activities and events that share aspects of the world around us, opening its doors to welcome all those who choose to enter and participate.

Nuqat, first known as “Nuqat Ala Al Huroof,” started off with one objective in mind - to develop Arab creativity on all levels, encompassing design, advertising, architecture, fashion, production and all other pertinent social and cultural fields. Established out of frustration with the lack of spirited exchange in the Middle East, the Nuqat team is made up of like-minded cultural visionaries from Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Dubai who have a growing optimism about fueling creative dialogue in the region. Nuqat’s mission as

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Sultan Gallery has played an important role over the last forty years in introducing Arab artists to broader audiences, and helping to establish a vital dialogue among artists and institutions working internationally. The Sultan Gallery was initially founded in Kuwait in 1969 by the late siblings Ghazi and Najat Sultan. Up until 1990 it operated thoroughly as a convergence point for not only artists and intellectuals exploring polemic issues on Arab society, but also the general public. The mission of Sultan Gallery has since been about propagating contemporary and secular movements through Arab art. Upon reopening its doors to the public in 2006, director of the space, Farida Sultan, has continued working avidly with a wide range of artists to advance a critical art discourse emerging in the country. The Gallery takes pride in supporting up-and-coming artists, and is highly receptive to experimental practices dealing with sound, video, performance, publications, as well as networks and the media.

growing cultural force is to advance creativity and enrich society. It aims to establish Nuqat institutes in different cities across the Middle East and to develop a specialized educational curriculum, in addition to organizing the ongoing annual Nuqat conferences for tackling a variety of pressing topics in the creative realm. Since 2009, Nuqat has hosted a yearly conference and a wide range of activities including workshops, exhibitions and design competitions. The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority was launched on March 8, 2008 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. Dubai Culture plays a critical part in achieving the vision of the Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 of establishing the city as vibrant, global Arabian metropolis that shapes culture and arts in the region and the world. The organisation has announced several initiatives that strengthen the historic and modern cultural fabric of Dubai. These include: The Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Patrons of the Arts Awards: The first of its kind initiative in the Arab world honouring individuals and organisations who have made financial or in kind contributions through sustained support to visual arts, performing arts, literature and film in the region; Dubai Art Season: The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premier umbrella arts initiatives which encompasses of Art Week (Art Dubai, Design Days Dubai, and SIKKA Art Fair), and Middle East Film & Comic Con, to highlight the Emirateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growing creative landscape within the

international circuit; SIKKA Art Fair: An annual art fair aimed at promoting Emirati and local artists in the UAE; and Dubai Festival for Youth Theatre: An annual festival that celebrates and fosters the art of theatre in the UAE.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dubai Design District, better known as d3, is dedicated to fostering the growth of the Emirate’s design, fashion and luxury industry. It offers businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals a creative community that will be at the very heart of the region’s design scene. d3 is the newest of TECOM Investments’ freezone business parks – with 11 buildings currently under construction. Once complete, d3 will be a purpose built environment with the vision of creating a world class creative community that engages, nurtures and promotes local, regional and global design talent. d3’s facilities will include everything from cutting-edge design institutes to residential, hospitality, retail and office space. The District will be characterised by distinct public areas, unique street furniture and shaded walkways. Located close to Mohammed Bin Rashid City, the District is in sight of the Creek, Dubai’s historic and mercurial trading epicentre, Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and Dubai Mall, the world’s largest shopping complex.

Special thanks to Sabih Ahmed Shurooq Alghanim Abed Al Kadiri Marzooq Al Marzooq Mohammad Jassim Al Marzouq Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi Muath Al-Roumi Sheikha Hussah Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah Sheikha Paula al-Sabah Barrak Alzaid Katherine C. Baker Tayseer Barakat Shumon Basar Amer Huneidi Sue Kaoukji Kristine Khouri Turi Munthe Hammad Nasar Nuqat Rana Sadik Farida Sultan All at The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority All at Dubai Design District (d3)

Kuwait exhibitions

EXHIBITION OPENINGS AT DAR ALATHAR AL-ISLAMIYYAH AND THE AMRICANI CULTURAL CENTRE Besides its permanent galleries, featuring the private collection of Sheikh Nasser Sabah al Ahmed al Sabah, founder of The al Sabah Collection, and his wife, DAI director general and co-founder Sheikha Hussah Sabah al Salem al Sabah, the Dar al Athar al Islamiyyah (Amricani Cultural Centre) devotes its temporary spaces to works by contemporary Kuwaiti artists, including a video programme by Monira Al Qadiri, titled JAYKAR: The Cheeky Video Scene of the Gulf; artist-blogger Ghadah Alkandari, whose show ‘Secretary’ includes a series of journal-based drawings and installations; Amira Behbehani’s XOX Series; Farah Behbehani’s exploration of language; and Mohammed Al Kouh’s mixed media and photographic explorations. ‘The Biggest, the Only, the Unexplainable: Splendours of the Ancient East: Antiquities in The al-Sabah Collection’ A rich collection of objects from the 4th millennium BCE to the 7th century CE, most of which are displayed for the first time at the Amricani Cultural Centre in Kuwait. The exhibition is broken into four chronological periods: the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, Hellenism in the Arts and Late Antiquity; its geographic spread focuses on Mesopotamia, Assyria, Elam/Susa, Bactria Margiana, and South Arabia. ‘Found in Kuwait: Splendours Loaned from the Kuwait National Museum’

A small exhibition of objects excavated in Kuwait’s mainland and Failaka Island, giving visitors the opportunity to explore some of the country’s antiquities. While archaeological digs in Kuwait have unearthed objects dating back more than 7 millennia, this exhibition highlights objects starting from the Dilmun civilisation (2nd millennium BCE) and concluding with the important Nestorian presence in the region (7th century CE). ‘Curated by Kids for the Kid in All of Us, Long Ago Zoo: Animals in The al-Sabah Collection’ The first exhibition of its kind in the Middle East, ‘Long Ago Zoo’ includes 114 animal objects from the al-Sabah Collection, and is curated and designed by participants (aged 6 to 12) in the DAI Children’s Art Workshop. The young curators took responsibility for choosing the theme, colour scheme and design, preparing all the related materials and making the final object selection. The exhibition includes more than 100 objects from the 2nd – 13th centuries — tiles from Spain, stamps from Ghazni, beads from the East Iranian world, as well as plates, bowls and zoomorphic figurines from the Islamic world. ‘Let Us Show You Our History, Story of Amricani’ The Amricani Cultural Centre, the current home of the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, was original a hospital facility founded by the Reformed Church of America (RCA).

This multi-media presentation relates the story of the RCA’s Arabian Mission and the establishment of the American Mission Hospitals in Kuwait (known as Moustashfa Amricani) ‘JAYKAR: The Cheeky Video Scene of the Gulf ’ In keeping with the theme of this year’s Global Art Forum “Download Update?” dealing with online culture and its dissemination in the world, Kuwaiti visual artist Monira Al Qadiri will be presenting a video program composed of satirical youtube clips made by comedians, film makers, artists and video enthusiasts from around the Gulf. These youtube series are gaining a huge following across the region, especially in Saudi Arabia, where episodes can fetch more than a million views in the space of a week. The subjects they tackle - gender, false intellectualism, dysfunctional marriages, corruption, decadence, migrant labor and pop culture among others - are all very pertinent and relevant subjects in Gulf societies, but are rarely discussed so openly in public forums. Cyberspace has created a window to express these issues through platforms of alternative entertainment, which can often prove to be more radical and urgent critiques than the topics being brought to the fore in the Gulf contemporary art scene. Many of these videos have until now only been available in Arabic, and are subtitled for the first time in this program. The title “Jaykar” is the Gulf transliteration of the

word “Joker”, and is used to highlight this elusive figure that can use humor and subtlety to smuggle his sharp observations of society into the minds of a receptive audience. EXHIBITION OPENINGS AT CONTEMPORARY ART PLATFORM KUWAIT Sami Mohammed: ‘A Retrospective’ Curated by Abed AlKadiri, this retrospective of 120 works is the first major survey of Sami Mohammed’s work in Kuwait. Born in 1943 in Sharq, one of the oldest quarters of Kuwait City, Mohammed studied at the College of Fine Arts in Cairo (1966-1970) and then trained as a sculptor in New Jersey, USA, before becoming a founding member of the Free Atelier in 1960 and the Kuwait Society for Formative Arts, 1967. This chronological exhibition illuminates Mohammed’s entire thematic arch, and features countless never-before-seen works by the foremost sculptor in the Gulf. ‘Al Seef - Works from Barjeel Art Foundation Collection’ The colloquial Arabic word Al-Seef translates into English as ‘water’s edge’ and denotes geography or stretches of land located along a coast. Historically, the development of settlements, and subsequently of civilizations, relied heavily on their proximity to a water source. Curated by Suheyla Takesh, this exhibition offers a window into several distinct episodes of history, where proximity to water has either shaped or played a significant role in the development of a place. Artists in the exhibition include: Adam Henein , Ragheb Ayad Effat Nagy, Raafat Ishak, Nazar Yahya, Yto Barrada, Ziad Antar and Camille Zakharia.

EXHIBITION OPENINGS AT THE SULTAN GALLERY ‘The Sultan Gallery presents, A Wonderful World, Under Construction’ Inspired by nation-state branding campaigns, the GCC Collective’s second solo show at Sultan Gallery titled A Wonderful World, Under Construction imagines a reality in which a regional government provides branding as an essential public service for its citizens. Directed by Farida Sultan, The Sultan Gallery has played an important role in introducing Arab artists to broader audiences, and helping to establish a vital dialogue among artists and institutions working internationally. The Sultan Gallery was initially founded in Kuwait in 1969 by the late siblings Ghazi and Najat Sultan. Up until 1990 it operated thoroughly as a convergence point for not only artists and intellectuals exploring polemic issues on Arab society, but also the general public. The mission of Sultan Gallery has since been about propagating contemporary and secular movements through Arab art.

EXHIBITION OPENINGS AT DAR AL FUNOON ‘Shadi Ghadirian, A Retrospective’ Exhibition by Shadi Ghadirian, a retrospective of her photography from the beginning of her career until her latest photographic works. The exhibition will include the Qajar series, ‘Like Everyday, Be Colourful, Nil, Nil, White Square, Miss Butterfly’. All the collections of Shadi Ghadirian have a strong message and

all of them to do with women. These series have had a tremendous reception in Iran and outside. The visualisation of old with the new, the modernity with the tradition. This exhibition is a narrative of socio/polical issues of the Middle Eastern woman specially the women in Iran. Since its inception in 1994, Dar Al Funoon has established itself as supporter of Middle Eastern art, aiming to promote the work of contemporary artists from the region and inspire art enthusiasts and audiences.

VISITS The Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development was set up as a development agency to support and aid its member states by financing major projects across the region. As part of its board mandate, it has built a collection of Arab and Islamic art and artefacts which reflects the history, heritage and artistic talent of the Arab World. The collection spans paintings, furniture, sculpture, textiles and artefacts. Although not a museum, the fundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collection is one of the most important museum quality collections in the Arab world. Boushahri Gallery Established in 1982 by Kuwaiti sculptor Jawad Boushahri, the Boushahri Gallery aims to draw attention to the local fine art scene as well as encourage young artists to follow their creative passions. The mediums displayed are primarily ceramics, sculptures

and paintings with around ten artists featured in the rolling exhibition schedule each year. Although originally set up to highlight Kuwaiti arts and artists, in recent years established international painters and sculptors have displayed their works at the gallery too. Boushahri wants the gallery to be an educational space as well as a viewing gallery and so there is an extensive art library alongside the exhibition space.

TOURS Walking Tour: ‘City on Display: Fahad AlSalem’ led by Madeenah Fahad Al-Salem, or Jahra Street, is one of the first modern streets in Kuwait. It marked the trading route from Jahra, through Jahra gate to Safat Square where merchants set their market. The new street and its modern buildings were designed to display commodities, and also served to display and market the ‘modern city’. Postcards and international magazines featured images of buildings along Fahad Al-Salem Street to promote modern life in Kuwait. A walk along this street will reveal these different scales of display: the urban, the architectural and the human. This walk will also showcase the new commodities that emerged after this urban shift and how these commodities reflect an age of the image.