Art Dubai launches new Residency programme

Throughout March, and in support of propelling the UAE onto the international stage as a leading hub for the arts, in5, an enabling platform for entrepreneurs and start-ups launched by TECOM Group, which seeks to nurture ideas and businesses to their next phase of growth, has opened its doors to five international artists in collaboration with Art Dubai 2018.

Held under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Ruler of Dubai, Art Dubai today returns for its 12th edition showcasing contemporary and modern art from a record 104 galleries from 48 countries. A fresh highlight of the 12th edition of Art Dubai is its new artist residency programme, in which 11 acclaimed artists from around the world have been invited to immerse themselves in the UAE’s local art scene and create a body of work inspired by their surroundings.

The artworks, which are now on display at Madinat Jumeirah, were created by resident artists, which were based in three different locations across Dubai, including in5 Design, located within the Dubai Design District (d3), where they have engaged in exchanges and dialogues with other artists, the local community and the broader cultural landscape. On March 10^th, in5 Design held an open studio day that offered the public an opportunity to interact and learn from the artists.

Mohammed Saeed Al-Shehhi, Chief Executive Officer of d3, said: “Initiatives like this help to enrich the UAE’s cultural ecosystem and promote Dubai’s already thriving arts scene. Dubai Design District and in5 Design make for natural partners of Art Dubai and are proud to host artists from very diverse backgrounds, providing them with access to our state-of-the-art facilities. Cultural exchanges like this help to shape the creative community and encourage idea-sharing and collaboration. We look forward to the unveiling of the final works of the artists during Art Dubai.”

In in5 Design, the hosted resident artists include Farshad Farzankia, an Iranian artist based in Copenhagen who explores narratives of migration and power relations; Benin-based Victor Ehikhamenor whose signature patterns mix gestural abstraction and stylised forms that reveal faces, objects and writing systems; Indian artist Poonam Jain who investigates spaces and cities through delicate forms to comment on issues that concern a young woman in a city; Georgian-based artist Tato Akhalkatsishvili who engages metaphors to express important issues and concepts with multimedia installations and canvases and Japanese artist Yasuaki Onishi who constructs spatial installations of interior landscapes.

The residency programme lasted between two to four weeks at in5 Design, and artists’ final works is now on display between 21-24^th March in a dedicated section of Art Dubai, represented by the artists’ respective galleries.