Louvre Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with the renowned Swiss watchmaking brand Richard Mille, has just opened the fourth edition of Art Here 2024. This annual exhibition is a platform for showcasing talent from the Gulf and, for the first time this year, North Africa, empowering artists to explore their creative vision under the theme: Awakenings.
With a jury of leading cultural experts including Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, a prominent art collector and patron involved with the Centre Pompidou and the British Museum. Joining him was Guilhem André, the Scientific Curatorial and Collection Management Director at Louvre Abu Dhabi and Maya Allison, founding director of the Art Gallery and Chief Curator at New York University Abu Dhabi.
New to the panel this year was Simon Njami, an independent curator, art critic, and writer. Njami has gained international recognition for his expertise in spotlighting African and non-Western contemporary art. Another addition for 2024 was Nujoom Alghanem, a celebrated Emirati poet, artist, and award-winning filmmaker.
The exhibition will be open to the public from September 20th and runs until December.
The theme for Art Here 2024 is Awakenings, a concept inviting artists to explore the idea of openness and beginnings. Each of the artists who entered was tasked with translating these abstract notions into tangible forms, whether through sculpture, audiovisual installations, or other mediums.
The curator Simon devised the concept to illicit “talkative and provocative art.” He explains to Villa 88, “Nothing about art has to do with niceness. I like things that make sense. I like things that are pertinent… pieces that question the issues of today.”
Sarah Almehairi is an artist and poet from Abu Dhabi, who uses a poetic approach to her abstract art. “I took the theme of awakenings in the sense of openness,” she explained of her piece Shared Motion.
Using the word ‘wind’ in three languages to create a piece of audio and visual art, Sarah took a deeper look at the way language in the region travels through the air, transcending landscapes. Inspired by the sea, the patterns and shapes echo that of waves and symbolise “cultural fluidity”.
Currently based in Abu Dhabi, Sarah received her Bachelor’s degree in Art and Art History from New York University Abu Dhabi. She is also the co-founder of the JARA Collective “an experimental publishing project.”
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Born in Paris in 1992 and now based in Tunis, Franco-Tunisian artist Ferielle Doulain-Zouari explores the space between the natural and artificial world through her artwork. Using manual techniques her artistic practice spans installations, sculptures and weaving.
Drawing inspiration from her surroundings, her work reflects the way society operates in its everyday existence. In her brickwork piece titled Tiling the Soil, “everything (in the work) can move and can be destroyed by heat or water. So it’s an end but it’s also a beginning.”
The line, made of glass from sand, “is everywhere in life” explains Ferielle who worked with the raw material herself to create the piece. Mirroring the process people use to plant seeds, the blue streak across the bricks showcases the artist’s commitment to visualising the everyday.
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Emirati artist Lamya Gargash has established herself as a leading artist in the region’s contemporary field. After earning her degree from the American University of Sharjah in 2004, she pursued postgraduate studies in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins in London. Lamya’s work is deeply influenced by spaces —both inhabited and abandoned— and the culture that is shaped by the region’s rapid transformation.
Her piece Debutante Ball is a giant two-metre beach ball made of sand. A celebration of Arab identity, deeply rooted in the symbolism of sand for the country. A tactile object, Louvre Abu Dhabi visitors can feel the grains of sand in the large colourful sphere.
While it captures the nostalgia of universal childhood memories, it also offers a satirical take on the idea of the “gilded Arab,” confronting stereotypes with humour. “She symbolises my journey as well,” explains Lamya (who refers to the sculpture as a ‘she’). “My spiritual journey as a mother, as an artist, as a wife. I wanted to create something bold that says ‘I’m bold and I have arrived,'” she explains.
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Multidisciplinary artist Nicène Kossentini invites people into spaces that feel both familiar and uncertain with her work. Through photography, video, sculpture, works on paper, and painting, she addresses themes of disappearance, loss, and the impact of contemporary global events.
Landscapes is a series of photographs of Tunisia, showcased across five screens, that gradually disappear under a layer of wax. Illustrating the way that environments subtly change as the natural world and life move on. “This work reflects our reality,” explains the artist. Adding, “Nowadays we are passive spectators in front of the world and we are conscious that the world is on the verge of collapse.”
The installation of border areas prompts viewers to consider the impact of human actions on the natural world and the silent consequences that unfold.
Moataz Nasr is a self-taught artist, who bravely abandoned his career in economics to follow his true passion for art. Starting with a studio in Old Cairo after leaving his hometown of Alexandria, Nasr quickly gained local recognition, winning multiple awards before breaking onto the international art scene back in 2001.
For Art Here 2024, Moataz created a large architectural feature titled The Brides of the Sky. Referring to the cresting on top of mosques and ancient fortresses. “The original iteration was from the Rome times when they used to build them on top of castles to protect the soldiers,” Moataz explained. “There are more artistic, there are stories behind them. “During the Mongolian invasion, women stood to protect the citadel, afterwards, they changed the shapes of the stones (named The Brides of the Sky) to represent women, and one of them inspired me for this exhibition.”
The large installation is also a tribute to the artist’s three daughters. He explains his role as an artist is to highlight the every day that is often overlooked. “I shine a spotlight on things that we see all the time but don’t always fully see.”
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