They meet regularly at No 11, a traditional wind tower house in the historic Bastakiya quarter of Dubai, to discuss their work and share new ideas. From the laughter and the easy camaraderie they share, they seem like old friends. But the fact is that Emirati artists Hadeyeh Badri, Zeinab Al Hashemi and Nasser Nasrallah, Egyptian Magdi Mustafa, Algerian Faycal Baghriche, from Paris, Glasgow-based Turkish artist Deniz Uster and British curator Alexandra MacGilp have met just a few weeks ago. They have come together thanks to the residency programme initiated by Art Dubai in the run-up to the sixth edition of the art fair, to be held from March 21 to 24 at Madinat Jumeirah.
"Art Dubai has an extensive non-commercial programme of talks, workshops and commissioned projects designed to educate the community, support local artists and create international awareness about the local art scene. And we are happy to add to these the Artists-in-Residence [AiR] Dubai 2012 in partnership with London-based Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and Tashkeel and the curator-in-residence programme in collaboration with ArtAsiaPacific. We have selected three artists from the UAE and three from Asia and the Middle East, and they have been working with MacGilp since January to create new site-specific works. This annual programme gives opportunities to artists to create new work and facilitates exchange between artists based in the UAE and abroad. It also gives international curators interested in this region a chance to research and develop ideas for future projects that engage with this region," says Antonia Carver, Art Dubai fair director.
All six artists will display their works in an Open Studios event during the Sikka Art Fair which runs from March 15 to 25, and has been organised in Bastakiya by the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. Mustafa, Baghriche and Uster have also been commissioned by Art Dubai to create site-specific works for Art Dubai Projects, a programme of artworks and performances designed to explore the fabric, economy and theatrical nature of an art fair.
The artists work with different media and their projects reflect their individual experiences and perspectives of Dubai and the fair. London-based MacGilp seems to be the perfect choice of curator for such a diverse group of artists, as she has curated shows in places such as London, Hamburg and Kabul, featuring film, video, performance, installation art and archive materials.
"I see my role as being a sounding board, and I try to encourage them to think in new directions and push the boundaries by experimenting with new ideas, media and techniques. It is wonderful to interact with all of them, and we have all learnt a lot from each other. We are working hard to create an interesting exhibition at our Open Studios event, with each artist planning to have a performative element in their work," she says.
Like the three international artists, it is also MacGilp's first trip to this region and she is excited about exploring the art scene here. "The art scene in the UAE is vibrant, and I am trying to visit as many museums, galleries and artists' studios as I can. I have met so many exciting artists of all nationalities that I cannot wait to work with them in the future. I am particularly excited to see that there are so many female artists here. This residency is a great chance to broaden my knowledge and my network," she says.
Baghriche also appreciates the opportunity to get to know a new city and its art scene. He wants to spend time observing everything around him before planning his project. "I believe that during a residency the important thing is for an artist to really get to know the place and understand the ethos of the community. I grew up in Algeria and now live in France, so it is interesting for me to see a city that has modern Western-style architecture and facilities along with beautiful mosques, an area such as the Bastakiya and a local population that is educated, well travelled and yet in touch with the traditional way of life. My work is about visual rhetoric and my experiences and observations in the city will influence the work I produce here," he says.
For Mustafa, this residency was an opportunity to get back to his art after the tumultuous events in Egypt. "I have not been able to work for a year, and it is nice to be in a place with such a vibrant art scene and where I can easily find the materials I need. Dubai is better than I expected, and we are really fortunate to be living and working in this historic area," he says.
The young Egyptian works with different media, but his special signature is the use of sound elements in his installations. The project he is creating for Art Dubai is a continuation of an earlier series titled Sound Cells. "The idea is to explore the acoustic culture of a society through sounds produced by various objects. I plan to use some machines from the 1980s that I found in a warehouse in Sharjah, along with other field recordings to create a kind of industrial composition that is my interpretation of the sound of the economy that I hear in this region," he says. The artist will also present a performance related to the project at his studio in Bastakiya.
Mustafa is happy to be part of this group. "I like working with Alexandra because she supports us without pushing her ideas on us. The shared Arab culture between all the artists has helped us connect easily. We are all benefiting from each other's feedback on our work and the Emirati artists have really helped me find the electronic accessories I need for my project," he says.
Uster has also been scouring the shops in Bur Dubai, Satwa and Dragon Mart with her new Emirati friends, Badri and Al Hashemi, to look for tools and materials for her project, which comprises three towers with kinetic and sensory elements. She has been writing on her blog about her experiences, such as dining at Ravi Restaurant, visiting the Sharjah museums and being fined for chewing gum on the Dubai Metro.
"My towers are dedicated to Istanbul, Glasgow and Dubai, the three cities that have welcomed me and shaped my practice. They are hybrid structures inspired by the suburbs of Istanbul, the castles of Scotland and the wind towers of Dubai. I am using wood, metal, concrete, car tyres, fabrics, toy cars, coffee, sand and recycled construction materials to create the towers. And the kinetic mechanisms inside are designed to recreate the persistent rain in Scotland, the smell of freshly ground Turkish coffee and the din of construction in Dubai," she says.
The artist spends most of her days in a boiler suit, working with welding and cutting machines in her outdoor workshop at Tashkeel, and she is happy that Badri, Al Hashemi and Nasrallah are also working there. "We have become good friends and I love the discussions we have. In fact, I am more excited about their projects than my own. I try to encourage them to work with machinery and more sculpturally, because I see few artists doing that here," she says. "I also look forward to our group meetings in Bastakiya. It is like being back at art school and having friends to give you feedback."
"Alexandra is a great catalyst for our creativity. Dubai itself is such a great inspiration, because it has achieved in a few decades what other cities have done in a century," she adds.
Watching Uster has encouraged Nasrallah to work with machines and experiment with sculpture. "I usually do paintings and collage, but I am glad this residency has given me the chance to interact with someone such as Deniz and motivated me to try something new," he says. The Sharjah-based artist, who is vice-chairman of the Emirates Fine Arts Society, plans to build a "useless machine" to comment on the many unnecessary gadgets people feel compelled to buy and the growing consumerism in society. He is also planning an interactive, performative project based on an Arabian Nights theme for the Open Studios event in Bastakiya.
Al Hashemi has tapped into her childhood memories of the Bastakiya area for her project. She has collected cardboard tubes from fabric rolls and from the textiles shops in the area to create "modular furniture", which she plans to display on a trolley that will move around the Bastakiya area. "Besides my own memories of people transporting fabrics to the textile shops and also resting on these trolleys, my work speaks about the thousands of people who make a living out of recycling cardboard," she says. The artist, who created Dibs & Dips, the first Emirati pop art modern bakery concept, says that this residency has been an eye opener for her.
Badri shares this sentiment. "I feel lucky to be part of this project where I have met people who are like-minded, yet so different in their approaches to art," she says. The co-founder of Mobius Design Studio, she is working on a photography-based project that looks at cultural and religious icons in relation to the people and the spaces around them.
"This project does not generate any income, but we believe it is very important for developing the art scene here and creating awareness of it internationally. As the oldest art fair in the region, we believe it is part of our responsibility to do more such programmes," Carver says.
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts enthusiast based in Dubai.
The sixth edition of Art Dubai will be held from March 21 to 24 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.
