Art Dubai, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Delfina Foundation and Tashkeel are collaborating for the fifth year to run the artists-in-residency programme A.i.R Dubai.
UAE-based artists are invited to apply for a place on this exciting programme working collaboratively with six artists and with the residency’s international curator and locally based assistant curator.
The four successful applicants, joined by two international artists, will have the opportunity to work closely with an international curator and to produce a major new work for Art Dubai Projects, the not-for-profit programme of commissions and site-specific works produced for the fair each year. The artists are provided with studio space at Tashkeel January-March 2016, plus access to a programme of mentorship, workshops, readings, talks and outreach events.
A.i.R Dubai also features an opportunity for an upcoming Emirati curator to apply for a curatorial position, working alongside the international curator and helping to curate and produce the artists’ works, the residency, public programmes and associated publications. The Assistant Curator position is supported for the second year by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority Khalil Abdulwahid, Manager of Visual Arts at the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, said: “The annual Artist-in-Residence programme has set new benchmarks in driving intercultural artistic exchange, one of the priorities of Dubai Culture.
Having extended our collaboration and support to the initiative since its inception, we are taking it to the next level through a structured and updated programme that enables the participants to experience Dubai’s artistic diversity fully, interact with the artist community, access materials effortlessly and derive inspiration from the city’s cultural identity.”
Algiers- and London-based curator and writer Yasmina Reggad has been selected to lead the commissions and residency programmes for Art Dubai 2016. Yasmina previously participated in Art Dubai as a curatorial Forum Fellow (2014), and is currently programme curator at aria (artist residency in Algiers). Recent London projects include exhibitions at Delfina Foundation and The Mosaic Rooms, and ‘We Can’t Be There: Emergency Provisions for (un)Anticipated Futures’, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Tate Modern, in partnership with Goldsmiths, University of London.
Art Dubai Projects supports artists’ practices, and encourages audiences to embrace the quizzical and participatory nature of the fair. In her role at Art Dubai, Yasmina will contribute to the selection of artists A.i.R Dubai and Art Dubai projects and commissions programmes, and will work closely with the artists to develop and produce their site-specific works.
Each year the participating curators and partners collaborate to develop an outreach and collateral programme around A.i.R Dubai. The programme includes unique opportunities for the public to interact with artists such as open studios, artists’ talks, practical workshops, city and desert walks, curated exhibitions and special artists’ books.
Antonia Carver, Art Dubai Fair Director, said: “The annual A.i.R Dubai programme is central to the residency partners’ mission of nurturing emerging artistic and curatorial talent in UAE. The residency provides a unique collaborative work environment and a platform that offers reach to the international art scene.”
Applications are open until August 21, 2015. For more information about the programme and to apply please visit artdubai.ae/air-dubai/2016.