Alserkal Programming Launches Annual Initiative Internship Opportunity at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Image © Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice. Photo by David Heald.

The six-year commitment will offer an annual opportunity to spend three months gaining valuable experience at the Italian branch of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice. Young professionals and students, who are based in the United Arab Emirates and want to pursue a career in the arts, are invited to respond to an open call which will be available via the Alserkal Avenue website from September 2017.

The goals of the internship are to provide students with real-world experiences that enhance their education and skills in an area of their interest; give talented young people the opportunity to learn; and provide a platform for new talent whose fresh and creative energy and ideas can contribute to the work of Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice.

Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Founder, Alserkal Avenue, said: “To build a cadre of arts professionals that can support and nurture cultural production in the UAE, a global perspective, and the ability to share the region's rich arts and culture scene is essential. We are honoured to join hands with the Peggy Guggenheim Collection to provide young, UAE-based professionals with the opportunity to pursue their passion for the arts."

The announcement of the internship place on the programme was made today by Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Founder, Alserkal Avenue, and Vilma Jurkute, Director, Alserkal Avenue at a breakfast event at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection during the opening of the 57th Venice Biennale.

Philip Rylands, Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Foundation Director for Italy, noted “An essential quality of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection’s celebrated internship program is its international diversity, and we are grateful to Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal and Alserkal Programming, which will extend our reach by opening a door for the participation of talented young professionals at the start of their careers from distant parts of the world.”

Alserkal Avenue at a breakfast event at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection during the opening of the 57th Venice Biennale / Courtesy of Alserkal Avenue

L-R. Philip Rylands, Director of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Foundation Director for Italy; Vilma Jurkute, Director, Alserkal Avenue; Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal, Founder, Alserkal Avenue / Courtesy of Alserkal Avenue

Alserkal Avenue

Located in Al Quoz, Dubai, Alserkal Avenue is the region’s foremost arts and culture neighbourhood. Since it was established in 2007, Alserkal Avenue has grown to become an essential platform for the development of homegrown artistic and cultural initiatives, supporting a vibrant community of contemporary art galleries and alternative art spaces, together with design, media and industrial studios. In 2015, in addition to its commitment to the community, Alserkal Avenue affirmed its position as an arts organisation with the launch of Alserkal Programming. The programming arm produces an annual homegrown programme for local, regional, and international audiences, working primarily with artists living and working in the MENASA region.

Peggy Guggenheim Collection

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is a museum of modern art created by the American heiress Peggy Guggenheim (1898-1979). Peggy assembled the core of her collection in London, Paris and New York between 1938 and 1947. In 1948 her collection was exhibited at the first post-war Venice Biennale. The following year Peggy acquired Palazzo Venierdei Leoni, an unfinished 18th century palace on the Grand Canal of Venice, where she was to live for thirty years and which still today hosts her museum. The collection was assembled with the advice of distinguished artists and critics, such as Marcel Duchamp, Herbert Read, Nellie van Doesburg and Howard Putzel and today includes masterpieces by Picasso, Ernst, Magritte, Dalí, Ernst, Pollock, Calder, and many other artists of the avantgarde. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is owned and operated by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, which also operates the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and which is a partner of the Basque Regional Government for the programming of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.