ATHR Gallery featured Dana Awartani's solo booth at Abu Dhabi Art at Focus section, curated by Dr. Omar Kholeif
Made specifically for this presentation, Awartani’s latest works on the paper act as moments of pause and reflection within her practice. In contrast to her usual highly intricate paintings, this minimalist and monochromatic body of work reverts to the source of her inspiration, Sufi mysticism. Awartani describes these paintings as acts of mediation and moments of contemplation as part of her daily rigour of being an artist, a method she frequently adapts to quiet the mind.

الفنون الحديثة تتصدر معرض «فن أبوظبي»، ويطالع الزوار في صالة «أثر» أعمال الفنانة الفلسطينية السعودية دانة عورتاني، وقد صممت هذه الأعمال خصيصاً لمعرض «فن أبوظبي» بإشراف المقيم الفني عمر خليف. وجاءت وكأنها طقوس تأمل صوفي خلال ممارسة دانة لإبداعها الفني. وتضم هذه الأعمال ست لوحات تشكل الدائرة مركز رسومها، وتتكرر بأقطار وألوان ومواقع مختلفة، متداخلة في لوحة ومتجاورة في لوحة أخرى، وجميعها مشغولة بخيوط ذهبية، وهي تدل بدقة ومهارة على مدى الجهد الكبير الذي أخذته في إنجازها

Jeddah: A recent art exhibition in Jeddah showcased the work of 22 young Saudi artists from different regions of the country. The exhibition, which is the sixth edition of the Young Saudi Artist exhibition, will run until December 31.
It is being held at Athr Gallery which has been instrumental in supporting artists and providing them with a professional platform to showcase their artwork for more than a decade.
 
Shedding light on the theme of the exhibition “In the midst of it all,” artist and independent curator Zahra Dar Bundakgi, told Gulf News that the theme was chosen, keeping in mind the kingdom’s social changes taking place at a bolting speed.

Islamic art finds new forms through the Al Burda Endowment exhibition, which is currently on view at Manarat Al Saadiyat. The initiative was founded by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development as a way to celebrate Islamic art and culture, but also support contemporary artists who are transforming the traditional form with modern elements.
In November last year, Al Burda launched its Endowment programme, for which they selected 10 artists to produce works specifically for the initiative that will then be shown at exhibitions and the Al Burda Festival in 2020. For the first edition, Al Burda has provided Dh500,000 worth of financial support to the selected candidates.
 

Looking at Saudi Arabia’s film scene today, it’s hard to imagine that it was just a year ago that the kingdom lifted its 30-year-long cinema ban. Cinemas have cropped up on every block, with a total of 45 planned to be constructed by 2020, and Haifaa Al Mansour’s Oscar-nominated film ‘The Perfect Candidate’ was shot entirely in Saudi.
Adding to the burgeoning film scene is the fact that the kingdom is about to open the doors to its first independent cinema.
Following  Art Jameel ’s international design competition, winning Jeddah-based design studio,  Bricklab , has been entrusted with the construction of the arthouse theatre dubbed Hayy: Cinema. The establishment will be a central component of Hayy:Creative Hub, a 17,000-square-metre space for the arts, which is due to open in Jeddah next year.

Jeddah design studio  Bricklab  has won an Art Jameel international design competition for its proposal for Hayy:Cinema, a central component of Hayy:Creative Hub, the 17,000-square-metre space for the arts, which is due to open in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia next year.
The winning design features a 200-seat auditorium, as well as an additional community screening room, an audiovisual library, archive viewing rooms and an educational space. The Art Jameel website  stated that  the design “expanded the role of what a cinema can be”.

Curated by Dr. Omar Kholeif – who was recently appointed senior curator of the Sharjah Art Foundation – the handpicked “Focus: Drawing, Tracing, Mapping” section was dedicated to understanding the medium of drawing in profound depth.
Kholeif said: “Here, drawing is not the simple act of applying graphite to paper, but rather, drawing is performance and social sculpture, as much as it is about the study, diagramming and impression of a portrayal. Here, drawings reveal hidden histories and contour realities. Drawing becomes a means to see the unseen.”
Among the eight participating galleries in the section was the Saudi Athr Gallery, with a solo booth of serene drawings of circles by the Saudi-Palestinian artist Dana Awartani. Created especially for the fair, the gallery said the works symbolized “acts of meditation and moments of contemplation as part of her (Awartani’s) daily rigor of being an artist, a method she frequently adopts to quiet the mind.”

The exhibition was supported by curatorial advisors, Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath.


Ten artists who received Al Burda Endowment grants in 2018 are now showcasing their works at Al Burda Endowment exhibition-Abu Dhabi Art 2019, which kicked off on Thursday at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi.
The artists - Ebtisam Abdulaziz, Ammar Al Attar, Dana Awartani, Fatima Uzdenova, Khalid Al Banna, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Aisha Khalid, Aljoud Lootah, Nasser Al Salem and Stanley Siu - comprise the first cohort of the Al Burda Endowment grantees with works ranging from sculpture, textile-based work and photography to installation, virtual reality, experiential projects and more.
 
The exhibition was supported by curatorial advisors, Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath.

يرصد 22 شاباً سعودياً عبر أعمال فنية التغيرات التي يمر بها المجتمع وتداعياتها على المستويين الفردي والجماعي، وذلك في معرض بمدينة جدة يحمل اسم «في خضم كل ما يجري» يجمع مختلف المدارس الفنية كما يقدم «أثر غاليري» الذي ينظم المعرض أعمالاً فنية لـ110 فنانين سعوديين ومقيمين في المملكة، بعضهم اشتهروا عالمياً وتم اقتناء أعمالهم من متاحف ولهم مشاركات فنية في نسخ بینالي وقال محمد حافظ مدير صالة «أثر غاليري» لـ«الشرق الأوسط»: «وجهت أثر هذا العام دعوة واسعة لاستقطاب أفضل المواهب الشابة للمشاركة في نسخة المعرض السابعة، وتلقى على إثرها 203 طلبات من جميع أنحاء السعودية، وتم اختيار 22 منها عبر لجنة مختصة»
وأضاف حافظ أن تسمية المعرض «في خضم كل ما يجري» جاء من كونه سؤالاً شائعاً بين الشباب، وتحديداً فيما تشهده البلاد من نهضة فنية من خلال تجربتها الأولى في إضفاء الطابع المؤسسي على الفن والثقافة والترفيه، لتندرج هذه الفعاليات ضمن الإنجازات الثقافية، وأعاد هذا الأمر تعريف المشهد السعودي وكيفية تفاعل الناس معه، ويمثل هذا تغيراً على المستويات الاجتماعية والثقافية والاقتصادية والتأثيرات الحاصلة على صعيد الأماكن العامة والخاصة، وهنا مساحة للتعبير عن كيفية إدراك الفنان حجم هذه التغيرات

RIYADH: “We wish to open new horizons toward understanding the artistic aspects surrounding us and use them to enrich the local creative content as well as the Saudi art scene,” said Reem Sultan, CEO of Misk, referring to Misk Art, a festival dedicated to the creative arts in Saudi Arabia and abroad.
Misk Art presents a fair-like setup of local and international galleries, art exhibitions, workshops and talks with the aim to empower local artists and raise community awareness about the power of creativity.
Titled “Experiment 0.3,” the third edition of Misk Art focused on how the act of experimenting through critique and research empowers creativity and the local art scene.

JEDDAH: The Jeddah-based design studio Bricklab — founded in 2015 by brothers Abdulrahman and Turki Gazzaz — has won the Art Jameel International Design Award for its proposed design of Hayy:Cinema.
The cinema will be part of Hayy:Creative Hub — which is set to open in Jeddah next year — and is billed as “the first bespoke home of Saudi and international independent film in the Kingdom.”

DUBAI: Jeddah-based Saudi artist Nasser Al-Salem has revealed his latest project, which will be showcased in the UAE’s Al-Burda Endowment exhibition — organized by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development — on Nov. 21.
Al-Salem is one of 10 contemporary artists awarded the Al-Burda Endowment in 2018. The endowment is awarded to “artists who explore Islamic art practices and continue to work towards developing contemporary Islamic Art,” according to a press release.