Open Call for UAE-based Artists Artists-in-Residence (A.i.R) Dubai 2015

The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), Art Dubai, the Delfina Foundation and Tashkeel have launched the fourth year of Artists-in-Residence (A.i.R) Dubai, with an Open Call inviting Emirati and locally-based artists to apply for a place on the three-month residency.

In an expansion of the programme for 2014-15, Dubai Culture, the Emirate’s dedicated Authority for culture, arts and heritage, will further underline its commitment to nurture Emirati talent, by supporting a new Assistant Curator position, offering the opportunity for an upcoming Emirati curator to work alongside the established, international curator who will manage this dynamic initiative.

The six selected artists–four from the local community, including both UAE Nationals and residents, and two from the international community–will spend three months in-residence in Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, January-March 2015, working with the Projects Curator and Assistant Curator. Their residencies will culminate in the creation of site-specific works, as part of Art Dubai Projects, a not-for-profit series of new commissions exhibited at the annual fair (March 18-21, 2015). While the Open Call is for UAE Nationals and resident artists, the international artists-in-residence will be by nomination.

The residency partners — Art Dubai, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Delfina Foundation and Tashkeel — are in the process of appointing an experienced Projects Curator, following a nomination process. The Projects Curator will manage the Art Dubai Projects at the fair as well as develop the A.i.R outreach programme with the support of the Assistant Curator. Expanding the programme to include an Assistant Curator follows a recognition of the need to nurture curatorial practice in the UAE.

A.i.R Dubai 2015 features an expanded education and outreach programme, with talks and workshops taking place throughout the three-month residency, engaging local schools, universities and the arts community at large. The residency house will then develop into an Open Studios during Art Week 2015, which includes Art Dubai, Design Days Dubai and SIKKA, the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority’s artist-led contemporary art fair.

Khalil Abdulwahid, Manager of Visual Arts, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, said: “The annual Artist-in-Residence programme has set the benchmark on intercultural artistic exchange. Having extended our support to the initiative since its inception, we have witnessed the evolution of this platform into one that nurtures emerging talent. The 2015 edition will celebrate a new milestone in this collaboration, with the addition of an Emirati curatorial assistant who will work with the international curator, thus promoting greater creative exchange, knowledge transfer, and collaboration.”

Artists selected for A.i.R Dubai 2014 included Nadia Ayari, Sunoj Damodaran, Maitha Demithan, Sara Al Haddad, Maryam Al Qassimi who worked together with Curator-in-Residence, İpek Ulusoy Akgül.

A.i.R Dubai 2013

Reem Falaknaz / Property of Liaqat Hussain Shaboor Khan, 2013 / Courtesy: The artist, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture, Tashkeel, Art Dubai

Ammar Al Attar / Detail from the water cooler series, 2013 / Courtesy: The Artist, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture, Tashkeel, Art Dubai

Berenice Saliou / Trankat Street, Dar Ben Jelloun, Tétouan’s old medina, 2013 / Courtesy: The Artist, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture, Tashkeel, Art Dubai

Dina Danish / LIVE from the Aquarium film still, 2013 / Courtesy: The Artist, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture, Tashkeel, Art Dubai

Ebtisam Abdulaziz / Remapping the Wall, 2013, Installation, sea coral stones & gypsum, 210x40 cm / Courtesy: The Artist, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture, Tashkeel, Art Dubai

Joe Namy / Beneath Our Feet, 2013, Installation / Courtesy: The Artist, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture, Tashkeel, Art Dubai

Title : Sky Night Without Moon Light Yudi Noor / Installation sculpture, 2013 / Courtesy: The Artist, Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture, Tashkeel, Art Dubai

"Since the inaugural edition of the A.i.R Dubai in 2012, we have had the privilege of working with dedicated partners, artists and curators to develop the programme into a stage for experimentation and exchange through contemporary art. In 2015, the scheme has expanded reflecting A.i.R Dubai’s engagement with the local arts community. A.i.R Dubai is a vital element of Art Dubai’s expansive not-for-profit programme which nurtures the local art scene at the fair and all-year-round." Antonia Carver, Fair Director, Art Dubai.

Applications are open until August 21, 2014. For more information about the programme and to download the application form, please visit http://www.tashkeel.org, or send your enquires to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).