● Jameel Arts Centre re-opens this week, welcoming visitors with new health and safety measures from Wednesday, June 3, 2020; attractions include three floors of exhibitions and installations, Art Jameel Shop, the Artist’s Garden, seven desert gardens, and more 

● Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park is now open again to the public for groups of five people or less

● Renowned Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz’s first major solo exhibition in Asia and the Middle East is extended through November 22, 2020 

● New: Jameel Arts Centre’s Artist’s Rooms series marks its return with three new solo exhibitions by influential artists (June 10 - January 3), including the Middle East premiere of a two-channel film installation by Larissa Sansour that debuted at the Venice Biennale; a set of 60 etchings by Taysir Batniji; and an audio-visual installation by multi-award-winning Lawrence Abu Hamdan 

● Metropolis by Lubna Chowdhary – an 1000-object installation from the Art Jameel Collection -- is on display in the Jameel’s Lobby 

● Jaddaf Aloud Online continues to engage audiences at home with a programme of interactive, artist-led workshops for all ages; music performances; a directory featuring local artisans; and a ‘guided tour’ of diverse Dubai-based eateries that can fulfil home deliveries 

● Artists are reminded to apply to Art Jameel Commissions: Digital (deadline June 10) 

 

 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates | June 2, 2020 - Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai’s contemporary art institution, reopens its doors to visitors. Following its temporary closure on Monday March 16, in support of the UAE’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, this decision comes in line with the announcement of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority of reopening museums in Dubai on June 1 in a phased manner. 

 

While Jameel Arts Centre still offers ticketless, free access, under new guidelines visitors are asked to book a two-hour slot in advance of their visit, so to monitor capacity and ensure a comfortable visit that keeps social distancing and hygiene a top priority. In accordance with UAE regulations, visitors and staff are required to wear a face mask and have their temperatures checked before entering the Centre. 

 

Jameel Arts Centre has set new gallery capacities, delineating the maximum number of visitors per room, monitored by security staff. All Jameel Arts Centre spaces are open to the public with the exception of the Jameel Library and the prayer rooms. 

 

Where possible, Jameel Arts Centre’s current exhibitions have been extended, to allow audiences to experience the works through multiple visits over the coming months. Art Jameel is also delighted to be able to launch precise, new exhibitions at this time, offering visitors fresh perspectives and points of discussion.

 

Coming soon:

Artist’s Rooms

June 10, 2020 - January 3, 2021 

 

The newest iterations of the Artist’s Rooms series (from June 10, 2020 to January 3, 2021), based on works in the Art Jameel Collection, focuses on three practitioners taking a particularly innovative and nuanced approach to urgent political debates. 

 

Larissa Sansour represented Denmark at the 58th Venice Biennale with the highly-acclaimed In Vitro, an Arabic-language sci-fi film set in Bethlehem during the aftermath of an eco-disaster; her show at Jameel Arts Centre includes the regional premiere of the film -- an otherworldly reflection on memory, history, place and identity. 

 

Taysir Batniji explores loss and memory in a series of inkless ‘drawings’ etched onto paper, titled To My Brother. The profoundly moving and sensitive work is based on family photos of the Palestinian artist’s brother’s wedding and commemorates his tragic death during the 1987 intifada. To My Brother was commissioned originally through the Abraaj Group Art Prize, which Batniji co-won in 2012. 

 

One of the four co-winners of the 2019 Turner Prize, Beirut- and Dubai-based artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s Artist’s Room includes an audio-video installation titled This Whole Time There Were No Landmines. Comprised of mobile phone-recorded footage and audio recordings from 2011, the work documents the ‘shouting valley’ in the Golan Heights, Syria. Part of the land that was annexed by Israel from Syria following a ceasefire in 1967, the valley takes its name from the acoustic leak across the border that the area’s topography facilitates; separated families gather on either side of the border and shout across the divide to remain in contact.

 

Each Artist’s Room is accompanied by a booklet, available from the Art Jameel Shop and including details of the works and essays by Skye Arundhati Thomas, Nat Muller and Vicky Moufawad-Paul.

 

Currently on show:

Michael Rakowitz 

March 11 - November 22, 2020

 

One of the best-known and most influential artists of his generation, Michael Rakowitz draws on complex histories, politics and cultures to create highly charged, inspirational large-scale installations. 

 

Organised by Whitechapel Gallery and Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea in collaboration with Art Jameel, this major survey exhibition features Rakowitz’s most significant projects from the past two decades; the eight multifaceted installations – in sculpture, drawing, film, sound and photography -- draw on architecture, cultural artefacts, cuisine and geopolitics. The exhibition is curated by Iwona Blazwick and Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev with Habda Rashid, Marianna Vecellio and Art Jameel’s Nora Razian.  

 

Following its display at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, and Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, this iteration of the exhibition opened to the public on March 11 and is on until November 22, 2020. 

 

The Art Jameel Shop has available a variety of publications and sought-after gift items inspired by the artist's interest in themes of food and hospitality as a means to bridge cultural and political divides. Art Jameel has published the first major Arabic publication on Michael Rakowitz as a free-to-download e-book, available from the Jameel Arts Centre website.

 

Metropolis 

Until October 1, 2020 

 

Referencing architectural ornamentation prevalent in the Middle East and South Asia, Metropolis, a site-specific installation by Lubna Chowdhary, is on display in the Lobby of the Jameel through October 1, 2020. The work, developed over a period of 28 years, comprises more than 1,000 brightly coloured ceramic structures, abstracting towers, monuments and other, less definable, forms. Part of the Art Jameel Collection, the work was most recently shown at Kochi–Muziris Biennale 2018.

 

Jaddaf Aloud Online

 

The virtual iteration of Jameel Arts Centre’s popular annual festival, Jaddaf Aloud!, which brings together the community in a celebration of homegrown creative talent, continues its virtual programme, designed to celebrate homegrown creative talent and provide opportunities for local audiences to engage and support through a series of activations. The programme hosts a series of new, interactive, artist-led workshops for all ages; music performances and original compositions; a directory featuring local artisans; and a ‘guided tour’ of diverse Dubai-based eateries that can fulfil home deliveries.

 

New opening hours 

Jameel Arts Centre will open from tomorrow, Wednesday June 3, from 10am to 6pm, daily except for Tuesdays (when the Jameel is closed for administration and maintenance). Visitors are encouraged to book their two-hour slot visits online via the Jameel Arts Centre’s website. In accordance with the current UAE regulations, children under 12 years of age are not permitted, along with adults over the age of 60. Exhibition spaces and visitor reception areas are cleaned, aired and disinfected throughout the day after each visitation time slot. Hand disinfectant is provided for visitors at the entrance, along with face masks and gloves if required. Markers on the floors in non-exhibition areas denote two-metre social distancing recommendations. 

 

More information on the precautionary measures taken by the Jameel is available online. 

 

Coming soon:

June 10 – January 3, 2021 – Artist’s Rooms: Larissa Sansour

June 10 – January 3, 2021 – Artist’s Rooms: Taysir Batniji

June 10 – January 3, 2021 – Artist’s Rooms: Lawrence Abu Hamdan

August – Formation III: The Dappled Light of the Sun: Conrad Shawcross

 

On now:

Apply to the Art Jameel Research and Practice Platform – Deadline June 7, 2020

Open Call for Art Jameel Commissions: Digital – Deadline June 10, 2020

March 11 – November 22 – Michael Rakowitz

Until October 1, 2020 – Metropolis by Lubna Chowdhary

Ongoing – Jaddaf Aloud Online