Know About Abu Dhabi’s New Annual Contemporary Art Exhibition

Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, doesn’t just focus on oil exports and city’s development but also conducts the Abu Dhabi art gallery exhibition every year. The city joined the UAE in 1971 and became its capital, which is also the country’s centre for all major industrial and political activities. 

Not just this, but Abu Dhabi is also known for all the commercial and cultural events held in the city throughout the year. The culture and nightlife in Abu Dhabi make it an interesting place for tourists for exploration. Keeping the politics aside for a while, if you want to relish over cultural events then there is no better option than the Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2021. This art gallery always brings something new for every visitor so scroll down this guide to know what’s in it. 

Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Gallery

Louvre Abu Dhabi had the inaugural edition of its latest annual contemporary art exhibition on 17th November 2021. The 2021 art gallery in Abu Dhabi showcased the artwork by seven popular artists who were shortlisted for the first Richard Mille Art Prize. And the most important thing about this art fair is that it will remain on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Forum until 27th March 2022.

The artists Latifa Saeed, Mohammed Kazem, Mays Albaik, Cristiana de March, Tarek Al-Ghoussein, Taus Makhacheva, and Nasser Alzayani were selected by the art prize jury to participate in the Abu Dhabi Art Fair and all the artists and participants were asked to perform to this year’s theme i.e. “Memory, Time, and Territory”. Besides the theme, the forum of this art fair has also asked the participants to address questions of belonging and memory, considering the geography of identity from the artist’s personal relationship with territories. 

And as per the art fair appeal, all the artists responded to the yearly contemporary theme through their unique interpretation. The performance of each artist on the given theme brought their vision to life via different mediums which are briefed below. 

• • Cristiana de Marchi has presented hand-embroidered canvas in her artwork, “Mapping Gaps : Beirut”.
  • Latifa Saeed used glass in her artwork, “The Pathway”.
  • Mays Albaik’s displayed the awaiting weightlessness as an installation of aluminium video sculpture through his artwork.
  • Mohammed Kazem displayed his photographic series, “Photographs with Flags” 
  • Nasser Alzayani collected recordings, utilized sand artefacts, and works on paper in his art installation, “Watering the distant, deserting the near”.
  • Tarek Al-Ghoussein represented the prints through his ongoing Odysseus series 
  • Taus Makhacheva used a mix of body-oriented objects and video for her art work, “Mining Serendipity”.

Manuel Rabaté, the director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, said, “We are proud to provide more visibility to incredibly talented UAE-based artists for this inaugural 13th edition of the Abu Dhabi art exhibition.” Residing in the United Arab Emirates, all the artists were uniquely placed to perform as per the given year’s theme of ‘Memory, Time and Territory’, especially in the event where the country reflects on 50 years of progression and development.

All the artists have really shown a deep message of the theme through their unique interpretation. Also, they have responded with keen and nuanced works. The exhibition and the art prize were a significant add on to the contemporary art ecosystem of the United Arab Emirates also, the major focus of this exhibition was to hunt a new talent in the region for universal storytelling through this exhibition. Now everyone awaits the result and the winner’s name along with next year’s exhibition theme. 

No doubt all the artists performed amazingly at the art exhibition fair yet the winner isn’t announced. It is expected by the Richard Mille Art Prize’s jury to choose a winner from the seven shortlisted artists. Thus, it is believed that the winner will be announced at a ceremony in the month of January in 2022. And for all the efforts and creativity the winner will be awarded with the prize of US$50,000.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2021 exhibition was held within the UAE’s cultural event season. For this reason, the art fair consisted of a few new exhibitions at the NYU, Art Dubai, Dubai Design Week as well as the 2020 Dubai Expo. Along with all this, the art gallery has also added an array of opportunities to explore new talent and to discover the regional art scene, featuring the UAE’s devotion to fostering creativity.

Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2021

The Abu Dhabi art fair 2021 was held on 17th November at Manarat Al Saadiyat. The event went beyond the idea of a traditional art fair, putting a strong impression on a diverse audience engagement, inclusive art exhibitions, installations, and programmes that took place throughout the year in different locations. The peak of this year-long event is the Abu Dhabi Art Gallery in November, which offers a crucial sales platform to take part in the event. Meanwhile, also these galleries provide a chance to display ambitious art installations and site-precise work through the artists to a diverse audience.

Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2021 has also announced the foundation of friends of this event – an initiative made to promote new artists and models of public cultural goodwill to help assist the ever-changing art eco-system in the United Arab Emirates through the Abu Dhabi Art Gallery. The Abu Dhabi Art Gallery 2021 launched with an inaugural group of above 40 committed art enthusiasts. Also, the friends of the Abu Dhabi Art Fair supported the Abu Dhabi Art’s Beyond in its 2021 event. 

In addition to this, Abu Dhabi Art has also represented a passage, an immersive video and audio installation made by artist Nujoom Alghanem, as a segment of its Gateway section. The Abu Dhabi Art Gallery took the honour to represent the Passage for the first time in the UAE. Also, the art gallery allowed new audiences to endure this essential work even outside of Venice.

Abu Dhabi Art Gallery collaborated with the factory people in order to bring the second sun as the next possible zonal alternative. Also, the dance event and the electronic music all the way right from Beirut to the capital for 2 nights. The event marked the return of the post-pandemic dancefloor, offering visitors a new spin on the Art Gallery experience.

Conclusion

UAE is one of the richest countries in the world and besides the money, it is also rich in its culture. Yes, the culture of the emirates hasn’t faded over time and advancement. Well, one of the best examples of the UAE’s cultural heritage is the Annual contemporary art exhibition of Abu Dhabi. In 2021, this art fair was held amidst the cultural season of UAE wherein many other fairs became the part of this exhibition just like the Dubai Expo 2020. In the end, this guide tells us how UAE sticks to its culture besides entertaining cultural diversity. The gist of this exhibition is to carry on the regional culture alongside giving opportunities to the new talents. 

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