Sculpture seems to be having a moment in the UAE, especially if you define it broadly enough to include 3D works like the genuinely impressive installations that make up much of the current Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial.
But then an interest in sculpture is not new for the UAE — there’s always been a lot of public art in the development of the country, from architectural forms like the Dubai Clock Tower in Deira or the (now-demolished) cannon and giant coffee pot in Abu Dhabi. And the magpie team is old enough to recall an exhibition of 15 works by sculptors from 13 Arabic countries under the title Dubai Sculpture 2013, held at the Cultural and Scientific Association’s place in Al Mamzar.
More recently we’ve had DIFC’s Sculpture Park, now in its third year and currently showing 65 works by 40 artists. The exhibition is live and free to visit until next April.
Dubai and Abu Dhabi will have some way to go to compete with Saudi’s Tuwaiq Sculpture, a high-value open call designed to give 30 successful applicants the chance to sculpt live in Riyadh for a month with their works subsequently being sited around the city; that comes with a very full programme of seminars, talks, workshops, and school visits. The symposium element runs from 15 January to 8 February 2025, with the selected sculptors (who were chosen from more than 650 applicants) working live on-site while the other events take place; it all culminates in a two-week exhibition of the finished work (12–24 February) with the sculptures subsequently being relocated to permanent sites around the Saudi capital.
The inaugural Dubai Sculpture Symposium is a more modest exercise, a kind of Tuwaiq-lite with some panel discussions and live sculpting. Running from 4 to 22 December, it’s described by organiser Dubai Culture as “a landmark event aimed at highlighting the significance of sculpture in enhancing Dubai’s visual identity”. Which is a reasonable enough start for something that is planned to become an annual event.
It’s part of the emirate’s Public Art Strategy, which aims to transform Dubai into “an open-air art museum accessible to all while reinforcing its status as a global centre for culture, an incubator for creativity, and a thriving hub for talent”.
Live sculpting is happening right now in a specially designed area just outside Al Shindagha Museum, which is also the venue for the seminar/panel discussions. The 15 sculptors invited are a suitably eclectic collection – no Koons/Gormley type superstars, but a good mix of European and Arabic names. Several have featured in past Tuwaiqs, which is a good recommendation in itself … The geographical mix is broad, with just two from the UAE and two from Tunisia; no other country has more than one name in the list.
The sculptors:
- Aktham Abdulhamid Syria
- Ana Maria Negară Romania
- Azza Al Qubaisi UAE
- Georgi Minchev Bulgaria
- Jhon Gogaberishvili Georgia
- Jose Carlos Cabello Spain
- Liu Yang China
- Lyudmyla Mysko Ukraine
- Mohamed Bouaziz Tunisia
- Mohamed Sahnoun Tunisia
- Mohammed Al Thagafi Saudi Arabia
- Mohammed Yousif UAE
- Said Badr Egypt
- Stefano Sabetta Italy
- Wiktor Kopacz Poland
These were selected by an equally intreesting teams of curators:
Upcoming sessions that are open to the public, held at Al Shindagha Museum, are …
Entry is free and no registration is required.
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