Dubai International Film Festival: "Focus on Iran" A triple bill and Q & A

DIFF’s exciting film action gets underway much earlier this year with special 3-day screenings from August to December.

DIFF’s film programme kicked off to a full house of film lovers at the Pavilion in August with a line-up of films themed ‘Entertainment Legends’. This month DIFF proudly presents “Focus on Iran” from Monday, 24th September with a triple bill of incredible films followed by Q & A discussion sessions with some of the film’s talent.

Monday September 24: “Mourning” by Morteza Farshbaf
Tuesday September 25: “Felicity Land” by Maziar Miri
Wednesday September 26: “There Are Things You Don’t know” by Fardin Saheb-Zamani

For more information, click here.
 

Louvre: New Islamic Wing Opens in Fall 2012

The Louvre announced Tuesday that its grand new galleries to house its collection of Islamic art would open Sept. 22, eleven months after the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new Islamic galleries were opened, a chance concurrence that will make for a greatly expanded presence for Middle Eastern art in the West.

Jumpstarted in 2005 by the largest single monetary gift ever given to the Louvre – $20 million from Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia – the museum’s new galleries will occupy more than 32,000 square feet in a two-level glass-and-steel pavilion. The galleries, which the museum had initially hoped to open by 2009, represent the first major architectural intervention at the Louvre since the addition of I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid in 1989.

The Islamic galleries will house 2,500 objects from the 7th to the 19th century, many of which have never been on public display before. The museum said that the galleries, designed by the architects Mario Bellini and Rudy Ricciotti, will draw not only from the Louvre’s own collection of some 15,000 pieces representing the breadth of the Islamic world, from Spain to India, but also from the collection of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which will contribute 3,400 works on permanent loan.

Timed to coincide with the opening and to continue until spring 2013, the Louvre will host a festival of contemporary Islamic art, beginning on Sept. 29 with a concert by Youssou Ndour in front of museum’s pyramid.  For more information, click here.
 

The Mosaic Rooms: "Crime of Honour" a dramatized reading of Etel Adnan's play

Join The Mosaic Rooms for a dramatized reading from Crime of Honour, a play written by the great Lebanese writer, poet and artist Etel Adnan.

The readings will be performed by the following actors;
Eve Polycarpou (Mother, Nun), Lisa Caruccio Came (Young Woman) and Darwin Shaw (Young Man)

The reading will be directed by Caitlin McLeod, the current Trainee Director at the Royal Court Theatre. Her directing work includes And I And Silence, Northern Star (Finborough Theatre); Slaughter City (RSC, rehearsed reading); Elephant’s Graveyard, The Lady’s Not For Burning (Warwick Arts Centre Studio); Seven Jewish Children (Capital Centre). Assistant Direction includes Love and Information, Love Love Love, In Basildon, Haunted Child (Royal Court Theatre); Hamlet (Shakespeare’s Globe); The Talented Mr Ripley (Northampton Theatre Royal).

Etel Adnan occupies a special place in the 13th edition of Documenta, the international exhibition of contemporary art that opens every five years and lasts for a hundred days in the central German city of Kassel.

For more information, click here.
 

Alwan for the Arts and 3rdi NY: Screening of "Bab'Aziz - The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul"

Rosenfeld Porcini, UK presents: "Revealing Harmonies" a Solo show by Iranian Artist Mehran Eminia

Rosenfeld Porcini presents Revealing Harmonies by the emerging Iranian artist Mehran Elminia. This will be the first solo UK exhibition of Elminia’s work and will include oil and mixed media works on canvas displayed over both floors of the gallery.

Elminia works on a canvas attached to the wall but his improvisation does not contain any of the violence found in works by artists such as Jackson Pollock. Working no more than 1 metre from the large canvas throughout, he eschews any idea of figuration; figures can appear, but the artist is oblivious until he steps back to look at the finished work. His purely emotional response to his art and the total oneness he achieves between body, brush and canvas has the capacity to create works of great emotional intensity.

To read about the show, click here.  For more information from the gallery, click here.

The Mosaic Rooms, London: 99 Words Book Launch

Join renowned broadcaster Fergal Keane, Turkey’s most widely read novelist Elif Shafak and performance poet Inua Ellams on the eve of Peace Day to reflect on the question: “If you had breath for no more than 99 words, what would they be?”  Hear their answers and more from among the 99 who responded to film-maker Liz Gray’s request. Now collected in the popular book 99 words (published by Darton, Longman and Todd), 99 pence from the sale of each copy goes to lifesaving, peacebuilding charity Peace Direct.

This evening of celebration is hosted by Scilla Elworthy.
September 20th, 7pm – 9pm. Doors open 6.30pm
Tickets £10 Concessions £8. Ticket price includes glass of wine.
All proceeds to Peace Direct. 

For more information and to RSVP, click here.
 

Abraaj Capital Art Prize Recepients

Five years on and the Abraaj Capital Art Prize (Acap) remains one of the world's most generous annual awards, providing a total of US$1 million (Dh3.67m) to allow five artists to each realise an extravagant idea.  The winners of this year's prize were announced and the line-up is a diverse bunch: Vartan Avakian (Lebanon), Iman Issa (Egypt), Huma Mulji (Pakistan), Hrair Sarkissian (Syria) and Rayyane Tabet (Lebanon).  The artists are already knuckling down to work on their final piece, which will be exhibited from March 20 to 23 next year, in a curated show during Art Dubai, after which the pieces enter the permanent collection of Abraaj Capital.  Details of each work remain top secret until the pieces are unveiled next year, with all artists bound to secrecy by the organisers.

The prize is focused on artists from or connected to the Middle East /North Africa / South Asia (Menasa) region. Abraaj Capital, which funds the prize, is a private equity manager and investment company with roots in the region. Frederic Sicre, a partner at Abraaj Capital, describes the prize as a "recognition to Menasa that we [as a company] are born from here and want to continue playing a strong role in the culture of the region."

How it works
Artists submit proposals at the start of the year, with the prize particularly suited to ideas that require significant resources to be realised. Murtaza Vali, the curator of this year's Acap exhibition, describes a certain "scale" of idea that connects each edition of the prize.  A selection committee of artworld luminaries sifts through the proposals, with the panel including the Art Dubai director Antonia Carver, Tate's Jessica Morgan and Glenn Lowry of New York's Museum of Modern Art. More than 100 proposals were submitted this year.

What's in it for the artist?
In addition to seeing through an idea that has previously been held back due to lack of funding, the prize has often proved helpful as a leg-up for an artist to make progress in their career. Shezad Dawood, an Acap 2011 winner, has taken ideas from his final prize work and developed them further into a feature film that was released last year. Similarly, works from different editions of the prize are being increasingly requested for loan to institutions and exhibitions internationally.

A distinctly Acap time for an artist
Notably, the artists are all at similar stages of their career - recognised, widely-exhibited and ready to get their teeth into the kind of big project that Acap warrants. Hrair Sarkissian is a Syrian artist, known primarily for using his camera to explore how history can be contained or buried in a physical space. Vartan Avakian is a timely inclusion, as this Beirut-based artist warps and works with popular culture to create (sometimes humorous) commentaries on contemporary life and it'll be interesting to see what comes out of working on a long-term project like this. Also, Rayyane Tabet, the youngest artist in the line-up, has quickly gained a lot of attention with shows at The New Museum in New York and by scooping the 2011 Sharjah Biennial Artist Prize for an Emerging Artist.

A distinctly Acap idea
"My work is composed of lots of different, smaller components and the ideas for this Acap proposal have existed as germs for many, many years," says Huma Mulji, a Pakistani artist who is not afraid to wrestle with the frenetic, often contradictory ways that her country has developed in recent years. Mulji's approach pulls no punches, and her work Arabian Delight (a taxidermied camel stuffed into a suitcase) was removed by the co-ordinators from Art Dubai 2008. It will be good to see what she comes up with for the forthcoming event.  This notion of drawing together latent ideas into a proposal is echoed by the Egyptian artist Iman Issa, who largely works in video and installation and has exhibited from Gwangju to New York. "It's about the potential an opportunity like this would offer," says Issa. "It opens up your ideas to new possibilities."

The curator
Murtaza Vali has been selected for the increasingly vital role of curator for Acap this year. Based between Sharjah and New York, Vali is a key critic on regional art and an accomplished curator.  Part of the curator's job is to find some connectivity between the proposals so as to give the final exhibition some shape. Vali is also there to be a sounding board for the artists and to put together a book on this year's winning works: "Because of the scale of the prize, the publication will be about trying to put these works in context with the artist's larger practice, which will benefit all involved."

For more information, please click here.
 

All Roads Film Festival, Washington DC

The National Geographic All Roads Film Project presents the 8th annual All Roads Film Festival, featuring stories and talent from vibrant and diverse cultures. Meet the filmmakers at panel discussions, dance to live music Friday night, and enjoy a free photography exhibition in the National Geographic courtyard.

September 28:
Tomorrow We Will See, Director: Soraya Umewaka
Documentary / Lebanon / 2012 / 76 minutes / English, Arabic, and French with English subtitles
World Premiere

Over the past several decades, conflict has erupted in Lebanon sporadically. Soraya Umewaka’s film portrays the working lives of ten artists whose creativity and passion help contribute to this cultural renaissance that is helping to change Lebanon, specifically the capital city of Beirut.

The artists’ mediums vary from architect to musician, choreographer to writer. Their artistic achievements showcase their rich cultural pride and progressive artworks to the rest of the world. This upbeat film is not only thought-provoking, but also incredibly engaging and inspiring. Many of the artists interviewed are survivors of war, while others emigrated during times of war and have since returned. Their vibrant personalities shine through, and the film admirably captures the spirit of these individuals impacting the changing landscape and flourishing artistic community of Lebanon.

For more information, click here.
 

Al Serkal Avenue, Dubai: Gallery Night

Alserkal Avenue is the Arts District situated in the industrial area of Dubai, currently housing over 20 art galleries and creatives within one block radius.

The opening of Alserkal Avenue season on September 10, 2012 when all creatives within will be opening with new exhibitions on the same night, starting from 7pm.  Currently they are designing a new website for Alserkal Avenue, which will also be launched on the night of the opening!  For more information, please click here.
 

Carbon 12, Dubai: 'Wet Dog' a solo show by Farzan Sadjadi

Qatar Museum Authority (QMA), Katara Cultural Village: Olympics Through Media Exhibition

The Olympics Through Media exhibition explores the way in which the modern Olympics and motion pictures grew up in parallel throughout the 20th century.

From the Berlin Games in 1936 to Ben Johnson in 1988, the exhibit gives the local community a chance to learn about the development of the games (and the surrounding media coverage), via interactive displays, videos and imagery. It also places the Olympics in a broader context and looks at their impact on the development of society.

To learn more, please click here.

Nation Estate by Larissa Sansour in Copenhagen and Paris

Beirut Art Center: Glasstress, a Group Exhibition

The Glasstress project offers a comprehensive analytical and critical view that looks beyond the boundaries of glass, a material that until now has been imprisoned by clichés and confined to limited scopes and uses.  The project was conceived by Adriano Berengo, a Venetian cultural entrepreneur and the founder of Berengo Studio 1989 and Venice Projects, endowing Murano glass with a new and innovative image. Through this ambitious project, glass has been freed from the Venetian tradition of decoration and functionality, and has become a dynamic material used to create contemporary art. To achieve this objective, Berengo Studio regularly invites established and emerging artists to work alongside master glassmakers, encouraging them to interpret their works in glass.

To learn more, click here.

Villa Empain, Brussels: Art is the Answer! An Exhibit of Contemporary Lebanese Artists

Coinciding with the launch of the annual Boghossian Foundation Prize for young Lebanese artists, the Foundation has taken the initiative to present an exhibition in Brussels, offering a significant vision of the Lebanese Contemporary Art scene.  The exhibition Art is the answer! proposes a selection of art works realized by twenty creators, demonstrating the vitality of the art scene which characterizes the current Lebanon.  It is of course a limited selection, which mainly reflects the wish to allow the Brussels public to discover artists rarely exposed in the European Capital and to become aware of their specifics as well as their mutual inspiration with the occidental artists.

To learn more, click here.
 

Aaran Gallery, Tehran: "America the Beautiful" a group show