Alserkal Art Week

Alserkal Art Week returns 17-25 November. As usual many of the galleries will be opening new shows during the week (we count ten: they’re listed separately in the Agenda), but the Alserkal Avenue people have been developing a programme themselves to provide lots more reasons to visit the Avenue – screenings, performances, open studios, symposia, workshops, and slow art walks. This year there is a theme, ‘Acts of Presence’, to emphasise “the importance of togetherness and connection amidst an increasingly divided world”.

Our pickouts:

Made Present: Biographies of Artworks Defying the Ongoing Nakba Curated by Faris Shomali and Zaina Zarour, this ‘research exhibition’ charts the survival of over ten Palestinian artworks, foregrounding the extensive history of artists who have gone to great lengths to ensure their works remain visible. “While the history of Palestine’s art is often depicted as one of loss, fragmentation, colonial plunder, and destruction, this exhibition offers an alternative historiography – one in which these artworks defy attempts at erasure.” Warehouse 50, details here.

Walk With Me: Public Art Commissions Now in its second iteration, this series of site-specific public art commissions (curated by Zoé Whitley and presented by Alserkal Arts Foundation) sited around the Avenue are intended to reflect on fragility, resilience, and public memory. There are four artists with work on show: Dima Srouji, Asma Belhamar, Abbas Akhavan and Vikram Divecha. Information here, and there’s a tour of the works at 4pm on 17 November led by Whitley, Divecha and Belhamar; free, but register for a place here.

Slow art walks A thoughtful amble through exhibitions, public art, and hidden corners of the Avenue. There are two, both on 23 November; one at 4pm with writer/curator Yalda Bidshahri, the other at 5pm with Priyanka Mehra of Ishara Art Foundation. We’re not sure where these start – A4 space is usually a good bet – and they don’t seem to need preregistration.

Majlis Talks This edition of Majlis Talks is entitled ‘Acts of Presence: Stories of Africa’s Creative Leaders’. Curated by Charlotte Ashamu, it is a series of four discussions and demonstrations with alternative voices from Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa, and Côte d’Ivoire. 17 November, 5.30-7pm; free, but register here.

Domestic Departures: (Im)mobility, loss and resilience in an uncertain world Recipients of Alserkal Arts Foundation Research Grants 2022-2024 present multidisciplinary projects that address permanence and belonging via conversations and research displays with six practitioners – Khalda El Jack, Zainab Gaafar, Lubnah Ansari, Natasha Maru, Rhea Shah, and Maitha AlSuwaidi – using experimental cartography, immersive installations, and independent zines. On 23 November, 2-6pm at Jossa by Alserkal; free, but register here.

Open Studios Alserkal Arts Foundation will also be opening the studios of its current residents – sound artist Jad Saliba, writer and visual artist Sinzo Aanza, academic researcher and mixed-media artist Thlana Bazik, and filmmaker Pallavi Paul. Warehouse 50.

Our Future(s) This “immersive experience” presented by the Dubai Future Foundation and Museum of the Future, invites visitors to contemplate our collective futures via an installation that engages audiences through key statements and delicate sound whispers, representing the uncertainties that shape our shared future. “Through this reflective space, the Foundation aims to better understand public sentiment, helping to shape informed strategies and innovative solutions for a more resilient and sustainable world.” Warehouse A1, information here.

Dissuader: Art and Design This exhibition of work by the Italian designer and artist Franco Perrotti is another collaboration with partners, in this case the Gieffe Group and Italian Cultural Institute of Abu Dhabi. Central to the exhibition is Dissuader, a monumental allegorical pigeon sculpted from stainless steel and birchwood, symbolising the complex dynamics between humans and their environment. Warehouse 46.