Artists-in-Residence (A.i.R) Dubai announces selected artists for 4th edition

• Programme to commission five artists-in-residence and one curator-in-residence for three-month residencies, exhibitions and site-specific projects
• A.i.R Dubai to host additional short-term, multidisciplinary residencies from January to March; residencies to range from two weeks to one month

Dubai, UAE; November 26, 2013: The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate's dedicated Authority for culture, arts, and heritage, in collaboration with Art Dubai, Tashkeel, and the Delfina Foundation, has announced the selected Emirati and international artists for the fourth edition of the Artists-in-Residence (A.i.R) Dubai programme.

The annual residency, to be held from January 7 to March 31, at Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood, the cultural nerve-centre of the city, will coincide with Art Week, Dubai's premier umbrella arts initiative, which includes Art Dubai, SIKKA - the Authority's artist-led contemporary art fair, and Design Days Dubai.

The selected Emirati artists include Maitha Demithan, Maryam Al Qassimi, and Sara Al Haddad, who are currently participating in Campus Art Dubai, the alternative art school by Art Dubai, held in collaboration with Dubai Culture. Their international contemporaries include Nadia Ayari and Sunoj Damodaran with Curator-in-Residence, Ipek Ulsoy.

The outcomes of the three-month residency will be showcased in an Open Studios Exhibition held in parallel to SIKKA Art Fair in March 2014. In addition, all artists will create new site-specific works for Art Dubai Projects, the fair's not-for-profit programme of new commissions.

The progamme will further build on its position as a platform to offer practitioners with the opportunity to engage with the resident artists and local arts scene through short-term, multidisciplinary residencies, ranging from two weeks to one month. Artists, writers, and curators participating in these residencies will be announced in due course.

Khalil Abdulwahid, Manager of Visual Arts, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, said: “The selected artists, symbolising the new wave of artistic talent from across the world, along with Dubai's position as a multicultural destination, will once again come to the forefront through the 2014 edition of the Artists-in-Residence Dubai programme. We are confident that the artists will lend momentum to the region's burgeoning arts scene, while establishing Dubai as an incubator that nurtures aspiring artists.”

Maitha Demithan chooses her subjects from the family and friends close to her, using scanographies to document intense moments of encounter, capturing the three-dimensional in a series of two-dimensional planes and projections, installation, video, and transfers onto cloth; while Maryam Al Qassimi‘s work uses found imagery and material from the local community to explore the vernacular of the UAE and how its interchange of language has shaped local pop-culture. Sara Al Haddad activates interior architectures, visualising affect through the knitting of life-size sculptural forms and the weaving of text.

Nadia Ayari amasses thick layers and strokes of paint that envelope each surface she works on. Her explorations with fresco have added a third, sculptural dimension to her richly dense pieces. Sunoj Damodaran explores our multi-faceted relationship with nature, using as a starting point his move from a rural environment to urban dwellings, and subtlety revealing the fissures between these two living conditions.

Hailing from Istanbul, Curator-in-Residence, Ipek Ulusoy Akgul previously served as the curatorial associate at Borusan Contemporary in Istanbul (2012-2013), where she coordinated new media exhibitions and commissions. Ipek has worked at various museums and arts organizations such as The Whitney Museum of American Art (2009-2010) and Independent Curators International (ICI) (2010) in New York, as well as the 9th and 10th Istanbul Biennials, Sakip Sabanci Museum (2005-2007), and Galeri Mana (2011-2012) in Istanbul.

A.i.R Dubai aims to support artists by providing a platform to develop their practice and create new work, while facilitating exchange between the artists, the local communities, and the broader cultural landscape.

For more information, please contact Dubai Culture on 04 8004003 or e-mail artsServices@dubaiculture.ae). More information is also available via the Dubai Culture website (www.dubaiculture.ae), Art Dubai website (www.artdubai.ae), Tashkeel (www.tashkeel.org), and Delfina Foundation (www.delfinafoundation.com).