The Jam Jar has lined up a variety of art events and programmes for the coming art season that are designed to engage the local community with art and the process of art creation. These include Art for Change — an event that recognises the work of change-makers from around the world through art; live poetry sessions; a performance and exhibition inspired by famous artist Mark Rothko; an artist-in-residence programme that focuses on sustainable art; art panels and discussions on arts policy and infrastructure, and art workshops and comprehensive art programmes for all ages.
Art for Change is presented by the AJALA Project, named after Moshood Olabisi Ajala, a little-known Nigerian who travelled to 87 countries to spread the message of love and compassion, and to change stereotypical notions of people from less-developed countries. Launched earlier this year, the community initiative is a movement to showcase and empower change-makers and inspiring nomads who are creating a social impact in marginalised communities. It brings together artists to create artworks inspired by the initiatives and the stories of change-makers. It uses its online and offline platform to celebrate unknown heroes who are making a difference around the world, and to empower emerging change-makers by connecting them with prospective patrons.
The event, to be held on September 20 from 5 to 8pm, will showcase artworks created by local and international artists based on the stories of various change-makers and inspiring nomads of the AJALA Project. The event will begin with a panel discussion where several change-makers will talk about their initiatives, the challenges they faced and the resources they need to amplify the impact of their work. This will be followed by an introduction to the AJALA Projects and speeches by key project influencers and the event co-host Travel+Social Good. Nabz&G will cater the event with their creative fusion recipes that combine both traditional and contemporary culinary techniques.
The Jam Jar’s artist-in-residence for September is Jeff Scofield, who is known for using recycled everyday objects and found materials to create sustainable artworks. Everybody is invited to stop by and watch the UAE-based artist at work as he creates an original, sustainable artwork from upcycled waste materials. On September 21, Scofield will deliver a talk about “Sustainability in Art”, offering a broad overview of sustainability issues and how they are interpreted by artists in the Middle East. He will also conduct a workshop on September 24 where participants will experiment with a variety of techniques and sustainable art themes, and create artworks from recycled paper and household objects under his guidance.
The art space has also become the new home of Dubai Poetry Slam, a community initiative founded in 2015 with the aim of giving local talent the opportunity to showcase their spoken word poetry. Their first session will be an open mic night on September 10 from 7 to 9pm, which is free and open to all. This will be followed by monthly open mic nights in addition to poetry and spoken word workshops.
This season, The Jam Jar is also hosting “Red”, a play by American writer John Logan about the life of Mark Rothko. In conjunction with this event, art enthusiasts are invited to use The Jam Jar’s DIY studio-painting packages at a special discount to create paintings inspired by works of Rothko. Participants can then submit a painting for selection in the “Red” exhibition that is a part of this performance art piece.
Art professionals and art enthusiasts are once again invited to participate in the second part of Out|Side, a programme curated by Beth Derderian that aims to foster conversations and thinking about art outside of its traditional boxes through talks, discussions and film screenings addressing subjects and issues that are outside the arts’ historical canon, outside the museum, outside traditional engagement strategies or more. The next event in this programme will be on September 29 at 7.30pm and will discuss the theme Outside Arts Policy and Infrastructure. This will be followed on October 13 by a discussion titled Outside Scholarly Approaches to Art.
The Jam Jar is also hosting a variety of art workshops in September, based on the theme Dynamic Interpretations of Everyday Objects. These include a charcoal and pencil drawing workshop for ages 14 and above by Kriti Dixit on September 3; a workshop on acrylic and abstract painting for children aged eight to 13 by Batool Jafri on September 16, and a watercolour painting workshop for adults by Anna Galea on September 17.
The autumn session of The Jam Jar’s Young Artists Programme (YAP) will be held every Thursday from 4.30 to 6.30pm starting on September 8. This a comprehensive six-week art programme for ages nine to 15, conducted by certified art teachers with experience in teaching the British Curriculum in Art. The theme for this session is Places, and the topic will be approached on a philosophical, practical, pragmatic and aesthetic level, with participants being encouraged to explore the meaning of a place on a personal level, for a specific group of people or for the human race in general.
Art Academy, The Jam Jar’s personalised and specialised programme for ages 15 and above also resumes on September 8, and will be held every Thursday afternoon from 4.30 to 6.30pm running in six-week modules throughout autumn. The programme gives individual attention to each artist and is structured for students who want to enjoy art outside of school as well as those who want support for current projects. It is geared to help students develop new practical skills for their individual portfolios for GCSE, A-level or IB art practices. The programme aims to help students gain confidence, new skills and a love for art, and each module will end with a public exhibition. For more information and to sign up, write to info@thejamjardubai.com
Jyoti Kalsi is an arts-enthusiast based in Dubai.
