Afra Al Dhaheri, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Khalid Albanna, Asma Belhamar
Afra Al Dhaheri, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Shaikha Al Mazrou, Khalid Albanna, Asma Belhamar
Dubai Public Art, a multi-year government-led strategy that will develop and deliver major public art commissions across the city, announced a shortlist of talented artists for its first-ever commission in partnership with Art Dubai. The inaugural landmark commission will bring contemporary public art to Al Hudaiba area, overlooking Etihad Museum and Union House in Dubai. It is aimed to elevate the city’s profile as a global cultural capital, inspiring and captivating viewers from around the globe.
Announced at the 16th edition of Art Dubai, the shortlisted artists were chosen from over 250 applications and include: Afra Al Dhaheri, Asma Belhamar Shaikha Al Mazrou, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, Khalid Albanna.
Each artist will receive USD 5,000 to cover the costs of preparing a detailed technical proposal and maquette – leading up to the winner announcement in Spring and the unveiling of the finished work at the end of 2023.
Photo by Cedric Ribeiro/Getty Images for Art Dubai
Coinciding the announcement of the shortlisted artists is the introduction of Dubai Public Art Talks. To further its mission in promoting public art, a series of discussions were created to offer audiences an in-depth exploration of cultural and creative topics surrounding art in public spaces. Delivered by cultural partners and commissioners, the first of the series was officially launched during the 16th edition of Art Dubai and will be carried forward by other commissioners.
Held on 5 March 2023 at Art Dubai, the Dubai Public Art Talks highlighted important conversations about the impact of public artwork on urban culture. One of the specially curated talks on “Presenting Dubai Public Art” explored ways in which it can contribute to a city’s identity while introducing shortlisted artists for the inaugural commission. Another talk titled “Re-Defining Public Art: Navigating the Commissioning Landscape” looked at cutting-edge advancements related to commissions and how they affect the industry as a whole.
Afra Al Dhaheri’s work is rooted in her experiences growing up in Abu Dhabi and the wider UAE – a place of recent and rapid change. Working across various mediums including mixed media, sculpture, drawing, painting, installation, photography, and printmaking, she draws out notions of time and adaptation, rigor and fragility.
Asma Belhamar is an interdisciplinary artist and assistant professor in visual arts and Zayed University-Dubai. Bachelors in fine arts from Zayed University and she holds MFA in textile design from Rhode Island school of design-USA (2017) . She is currently participating in Sharjah Biennial SB15.
Her practice frequently confronts the visual memory of local landscapes. Through this anchoring theme, she merges architectural and organic elements translating into hybrid materiality. Informed by her interdisciplinary background in art and design, projects range in approach and material to offer a perspective considering the aesthetic and theoretical implications of vernacular architectural practices within the built environment.
Shaikha Al Mazrou is an artist and a professor of Visual Art at the New York University AbuDhabi. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Sharjah (2010) and a master’s from Chelsea College of Fine Art, University of the Arts, London (2014).
Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim Abdalla Almansoori is known as one of the UAE’s earliest experimental artists and an influential member of the UAE’s now-historic avant-garde art community, which formed in the early 1980s. Major institutions that have acquired his work include the British Museum, Centre George Pompidou, Sharjah Art Foundation, Art Jameel, and Barjeel Art Foundation. He represented the UAE at the 2022 Venice Biennale. His work was included in the Kochi-Muziris Biennial 2016 and numerous exhibitions internationally
Khalid Al Banna was born in 1975 in Sharjah, where he currently lives and works. He is a contemporary Emirati artist who has staked his place in the local art scene since the early 90s, renowned now for using collage as a primary technique to explore subject matter pertinent to the history and rapid transformations of his home country.
