Ikeda's work focuses on the essential characteristics of sound and light through mathematical precision and aesthetics. His datamatics project, which began in 2006 is a series of experiments in the form of audiovisual concerts, installations, publications and CDs that seek to materialise pure data.
datamatics [ver. 2.0] is the second audiovisual concert presented as part of the project. Dynamic, computer-generated imagery, in pared-down black and white with striking colour accents, are graphic renderings of data progress through multiple dimensions.
From 2-D sequences of patterns derived from hard-drive errors and software code, the imagery transforms into dramatic, rotating views of the universe in 3-D; the final scenes add a further level, as 4-D mathematical processing opens up spectacular and seemingly infinite vistas.
A hypnotic soundtrack reflects the imagery through a meticulous layering of sonic components. (via sharjahart.org)
Here's a short clip from Sonar 2010 to show you what to expect.
Here are some audience testimonials from his show at the Barbican in London two years ago.
I am looking forward to this. I know this isn't something for for everyone and I imagine I will either end up with a headache or euphoric after being taken on a journey of data and sound. Hopefully it will be the latter.
Event details Date and time: Friday, 19th April 2013 at 8pm Venue: Sharjah Institute for Theatrical Arts, Sharjah (location map) Phon: +9716 512 3333 Free entry
The sixth edition of the Gulf Film Festival is back this month with line up of 169 short and full feature films from 43 countries, including the Gulf region and around the world.The festival is on from 11th-17th April in it's usual home, Grand Cinemas in Festival City, Dubai.
Here's my list of top 20 picks, and you can see the full line up, along with the schedule here. The tickets are free for this festival, so if you do have time, I strongly suggest you try to watch a few films, there are some real gems in this year's line up.
Away, 17 mins
Director:Anna Sarukhanova
A young man is offered a job abroad and he is forced to make a choice: leave for the opportunity or stay in the place he knows so well and where he has a girlfriend and his family.
Baghdad Messi, 19 mins
Director:Sahim Omar Kalifa
Iraq 2009. Eight-year-old Hamoudi has only one leg, but is addicted to football. He and his friends – like the rest of the world – are looking forward to the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester (Messi versus Ronaldo). But then the television breaks down.
Bekas, 92 mins
Director:Karzan Kader
Dana and Zana are two homeless orphans in Iraqi Kurdistan under the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein. Their only hope for escape is to reach the United States of America and live with their friend "Superman". But how do they get there? They have no money, no passports and their only means of transportation is a donkey.
Berlin Telegram, 82 mins
Director:Leila Albayaty
Leila is a singer-songwriter with nothing but her voice to accompany her as she wanders from one place to another. With her heart still carrying the heavy burden of unrequited love, she resolves to leave her town.
Armed with a camera and her music, Leila takes the audience on a trip that draws attention to her hopes and fears. In this lyrical road movie based on a true story, through the wonders that music presents, there is no path and no destination. Except that of the heart.
Calcutta Taxi, 20 mins
Director:Vikram Dasgupta
Calcutta Taxi is set against the grimy backdrop of a city going through a political crisis and unravels the story of three lives that coincide and affect each other.
Ephemeral, 17 mins
Director:Diego Modino
Alicia lives in a cozy windmill with her grandmother and dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. She waits for the pivotal moment when she can audition, but realises that the world outside her own, is not as idyllic as she thinks.
Father, 16 mins Directors: Asparuh Petrov, Dmitry Yagodin, Ivan Bogdanov, Moritz Mayerhofer, Rositsa Raleva, Veljko Popovic
When did you last talk to your father? Will you ever ask him about the things that hurt you? This film turns reality around by creating a dialogue between a child and a father that never happens.
A Fallible Girl, 104 mins
Director:Conrad Clark
Lifei sets up a mushroom farm in the desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi with her best friend Yaya, using the hard-earned money that the two Chinese girls made to create a better life for themselves.
Life gets tough quickly and Yaya is quick to return to her former life but Lifei perseveres, trying to find her footing. However, personal tragedy strikes and she has to return to China, but not before she has to pay off her ever-increasing debts.
Grand Marriage, 52 mins
Director:Faisal Al-Otaibi
One of the most unique Arab wedding ceremonies takes place in the tropical islands of the Comoros. The celebrations last for two weeks and they can paint the future for the bride and groom, allowing the couple to demand honour and respect.
Inertial Love, 6 mins
Director:César Esteban Alenda, José Esteban Alenda
The relationship between Javier and Anna runs out of steam. She hits the breaks and Javier is dragged down into a state of inertia until he learns to get over it.
It's About To Rain, 91 mins
Director:Haider Rashid
It's About to Rain is a film about a very particular situation – an Algerian father and two Algerian-Italian sons, struggling to come to terms with an Italy that appears to reject them – that's extraordinarily universal.
Starring the charismatic newcomer Lorenzo Baglioni as Said Mahran, this is a subtle, emotional and gripping story, one that relates to everyone that's ever found themselves between different countries, belonging somewhere that doesn't make them wholly welcome.
Lyrics Revolt, 51 mins Directors: Ashlene Ramadan, Melanie Fridgant, Rana Khaled Al Khatib, Shannon Farhoud
Music and politics often go hand in hand and as pro-democracy revolutions spread throughout the Arab world, one sound in particular is echoing the hopes, dreams and frustrations of the people.
Arab hip-hop has emerged as the soundtrack of the resistance and Lyrics Revolt features the leading musicians around the world, looking at the role music plays in this game-changing moment for the Middle East.
The Man Inside, 51 mins
Director:Karim Goury
The film-maker books a hotel room in a foreign land where his absent father once lived and worked. Equipped with a camera, a cassette player and a stack of unread letters, he sets about re-imagining a man he never knew.
Man in Suit, 10 mins
Director:Anna Van Der Heide
A busy working mother has to take her children to the fun fair alone after her husband forgets about the outing. Trapped in her loneliness, she reaches out for warmth and security, forgetting about her husband – and common sense.
No One's Land, 30 mins
Director:Babak Amini
During the Iran-Iraq war, a German girl loses her way while trying to visit Baghdad to see her fiance, who is a NATO soldier. She is found by a Kurdish family living on the border.
Portraits (Los Retratos), 14 mins
Director:Iván D. Gaona
Sunday is the local market day and Grandma Paulina wants to prepare Creole hen for her husband’s lunch, but she doesn’t have enough money. She wins a Polaroid camera in a raffle but soon runs out of film and finds herself still hungry.
Rhinos, 14 mins
Director:Shimmy Marcus
A young couple is brought together by circumstance. Despite a language barrier, they learn more about each other than they thought was possible.
The Scream, 82 mins
Director:Khadija Al-Salami
Yemen, a country that has little place for a woman’s voice – and the rest of the world – was stunned when Yemeni women took to the streets to draw attention to their suffering. Women played an important role in the Yemeni uprisings against dictatorship.
From the Yemeni film-maker Khadija Al-Salami, whose films focus on women’s issues and corruption, The Scream examines the aftermath of their participation: they hoped for democracy, but what did they ultimately achieve? And more importantly, what are they left with?
Studio Beirut, 15 mins
Director:Mokhtar Beyrouth
Toufik, a young photographer owns Studio Beirut. His business is threatened when the mayor installs the city's first photo booth next door.
Wadjda, 97 mins
Director:Haifaa Al Mansour
Every day Wadjda passes a toy store window with a beautiful green bicycle. Although it is forbidden for girls to ride bicycles, Wadjda concocts a plan to earn enough money to afford the bike by secretly selling 'illicit products' in her schoolyard.
But her plans are soon exposed, leaving her with only one last chance to make the money she needs: a Quran recital competition with a big cash prize. Wadjda tries to find a sly and cunning way to rise above her fellow competitors to make her most cherished dream come true... the green bicycle.
Last night I was out with friends, it was a night filled with great conversations and good laughs. But late into the night, I had a quick look at Twitter and there it was, a flood of tweets saying RIP Roger Ebert.
I was shocked, since it was only a day earlier Roger Ebert said he would slow down due to the return of cancer in his very moving blogpost, "A Leave of Presence". Needless to say, my mood changed and went home shortly after finding out the sad news.
I always knew the day we lose Roger Ebert would be a very sad day for me. I normally don't dwell too much when it comes to celebrity deaths, but not when it comes to Roger Ebert. I am really saddened by the news of his death. I admired his writing a lot and was always in awe of him, especially over the past few years. He's battled cancer, became disfigured after losing his jaw, he lost his voice and ability to eat and drink - and despite all that, he carried on doing what he loves to do, write. Writing about movies, life and anything else that took his fancy, with passion, elegance and integrity.
One of my all time favourite writings by Roger Ebert isn't even about a movie, it's about his inability to eat and converse with people over a meal, Nil by Mouth.
So that's what's sad about not eating. The loss of dining, not the loss of food. It may be personal, but for, unless I'm alone, it doesn't involve dinner if it doesn't involve talking. The food and drink I can do without easily. The jokes, gossip, laughs, arguments and shared memories I miss. Sentences beginning with the words, "Remember that time?" I ran in crowds where anyone was likely to break out in a poetry recitation at any time. Me too. But not me anymore. So yes, it's sad. Maybe that's why I enjoy this blog. You don't realize it, but we're at dinner right now.
We will no longer look forward to new words by Roger Ebert, but his memory will live on through everything he's written and published. I leave you with the following quote, that I can't stop thinking about.
‘Kindness’ covers all of my political beliefs,” he wrote, at the end of his memoirs. “No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do.
To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out. (via suntimes.com)
Just found out an Akira Kurosawa film will be screened tomorrow night, Thursday, 28th March at 8pm, in an outdoor venue at The Archive in Safa Park in Dubai. This doesn't happen often. Don't miss this.
About Shūbun (Scandal):
Ichiro Aoye, a young painter, encounters a famous singer, Miyako Saijo, while on holiday in the mountains. He gives her a ride and coincidentally stays at the same inn.
A tabloid magazine specializing in scandals blows this encounter up into a huge falsehood designed to humiliate Miyako, who has been uncooperative with the press.
Ichiro sues, but his lawyer, needing money for his sick daughter's treatment, accepts a bribe to throw the case. (via TCM)
Event details Date and time: Thursday, 28th March 8.00-10.00pm Venue: The Archive, Safa Park (Gate 5), Dubai (location map) Park entrance fee: AED 3
FranceAsterix & Obelix : God Save Britannia (France, 2012)
Directed by Laurent Tirard with Gerard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve and Edouard Baer. The year is 50 AD and Julius Caesar is hungry for new conquests. At the helm of his triumphant legions, he decides to invade a small island at the very edge of the known world, a mysterious land named Britain. Victory is swift and total... almost.
A small village manages to resist, but it can’t hold out for long, so the Briton Queen Cordelia sends her most faithful officer Anticlimax to seek aid in Gaul, in a small village known for its stubborn resistance to the Romans. In this Gaul village, Asterix and Obelix already have their hands full, since their chief has entrusted them with the task of making a man of his good-for-nothing nephew Justforkix, freshly arrived from Lutetia - a task that is proving all but easy.
When Anticlimax arrives to ask for help, Asterix and Obelix are tasked with escorting him back to Britain with a barrel of their famous magic potion, with Justforkix in tow as the journey seems an excellent opportunity to educate the boy. However, nothing quite turns out as planned.
Saturday, 23rd March at 9pm
The Wind Horse / Le Cheval De Vent (Morocco, 2002)
Directed by Daoud Aoulad Syad, “The Wind Horse” is a story about the friendship that develops between a man in his sixties and a man in his thirties. It’s a road movie – seen from a sidecar – in which poetry and fantasy spring from a background of dull, everyday routine.
Tahar, once a blacksmith, leaves his son’s house in the little town of Salé, where he feels he becomes nothing but a burden and a nuisance. Driss, the younger man, leaves hospital without knowing whether he is cured or has little time left to live. He concentrates all his energy on a letter he has received, informing him that his mother wishes to see her children one last time after growing up with an older brother, convinced that his mother had died when he was three years old.
What brings Tahar and Driss together is the nature of their quest, each has set his sights on a fantasy horizon, and prefers to keep yearning for it than actually facing up to reality.
Sunday, 24th March at 9pm
The Giants / Les Géants (Belgium, 2011)
Directed by Bouli Lanners. It’s summer time; Zak and Seth find themselves dead broke and ditched by their absentee mother in the family’s cottage. Just like every holiday, they’ve resigned themselves to another shitty summer. But things change this year, when they meet Danny, a local teenager. Together, with life at their fingertips, they begin the great perilous journey of their lives.
Monday, 25th March at 9pm
Mister Lazhar / Monsieur Lazhar (Canada, 2011)
Directed by Philippe Falardeau with Mohamed Fellag, Sophie Nélisse and Émilien Néron. At a Montréal public grade school, an Algerian immigrant is hired to replace a popular teacher who committed suicide in her classroom. While helping his students deal with their grief, his own recent loss is revealed.
Tuesday, 26th March at 9pm
The Lebanese Rocket Society (Lebanon, 2013)
Directed by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige. When the two filmmakers inadvertently discovered that their native Lebanon launched the first rocket in the Middle East in the 1960s, and that the nation was immensely proud of its involvement in the international race to conquer the last frontier, they were surprised and intrigued. Why had such a significant episode in Lebanon’s history been altogether erased from the collective memory?
Interviewing scientists, professors and army authorities involved in the development of the rocket project, the directors uncover a dream of future glory that was halted and silenced by international pressure following the Arab-Israeli military conflict of 1967.
In bringing this exciting chapter of Lebanese history to light, Hadjithomas and Joreige’s film reflects the reawakening of the hopes and dreams of the peoples of the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Wednesday, 27th March at 9pm
The Little Room/ La Petite Chambre (Switzerland, 2012)
Directed by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond. This is a story of the heart. Edmond’s is no longer strong. But it still beats with an independence which fights against the very idea of entering a retirement home, while at the same time refusing help from Rose, his home carer.
Nonetheless she stands up to him. She knows the tumult that a heart undergoes when it is forced to accept the unacceptable. Hers hasn’t yet healed. One day however, a bad fall forces Edmond to accept Rose’s support.
Thursday, 28th March at 9pm
The Hunger / La Faim (Egypt, 1986)
Film still from The Hunger (via mubi.com)Directed by Aly Barakhan with Souad Hosny, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Yousra. The movie, based upon the novel of the same name by Naguib Mahfouz, examines the social conditions of Cairenes during the first decade of the twentieth century.
In doing so, both the movie and novel deal extensively with the themes of poverty and death. In this adaptation of episodes from Mahfouz’s 1977 novel The Harafish, a weak-willed man accidentally kills one of the gangsters to whom local merchants pay protection money. The resulting adulation goes to his head, as he profits during a famine and takes a second wife from a higher class.
Friday, 29th March at 4pm
The Illusionist/ L’illusionniste (France, 2010)
Directed by Sylvain Chomet. The illusionist is a dying breed of stage performer. Ever since rock and pop stars have taken away slightly more than his bread and butter, his worsening economic situation has forced him to accept questionable engagements in dubious basement venues, at garden parties or in bars and cafés.
In one of these obscure establishments, he meets an innocent young girl named Alice. Alice is just as delighted by his magical tricks. The performance has been arranged in order to celebrate the advent of electricity on their remote island. But, unlike the others, Alice is completely captivated by our hero and is convinced that his tricks are truly the result of magic.
She follows the illusionist to Edinburgh and keeps house for him while he performs at a small local theatre. Unable to imagine anything worse than disappointing Alice, the illusionist can’t admit that he cannot really perform magic instead allowing himself to be bankrupted by the constant present-giving. (Based on a screenplay by Jacques Tati).
I'm hosting my first "Blog Party" this Sunday, 24th March in The Culturist at House 9 at the SIKKA Art Fair. It's the last day of the fair and everyone is invited to House 9 for one last farewell to the fair.
SIKKA has been on since 14th March and if you've not been, you have not been, this is your last chance. Also check out the SIKKA blog, it has some very well written and insightful observations about SIKKA and about the different events happening there.
On the last day of the fair, House 9 will host a small little shinding in the courtyard, which I must say is lovely little courtyard that I've grown very attached to. It won't be a full on party as the house is close to a mosque, but I've been told I can turn up the volume after the last call to prayer.
In case you are still not familiar with SIKKA, it is an artist-led fair of commissioned work and for this year. I was invited to represent my blog during the fair, hence "The Culturist at House 9" which is an offline experiential transformation of the blog covering major themes from the blog such as films, music, travel, photography and the 1980s in three different rooms: Screen | Travel | Reminisce
The Culturist at House 9 - Room 1 - Screen
The Culturist at House 9 - Room 2 - Travel
The Culturist at House 9 - Room 1 - Reminisce
If you've not been to SIKKA or The Culturist at House 9, this is your last chance. Three days left for the fair, so go over this weekend or visit on Sunday.
Fair timings for the next 3 days: Friday, 22nd March 16:00 – 00:00 Saturday, 23rd March 12:00 – 00:00 Sunday, 24th March 18:00 – 00:00
My party will be from 20:00-22:00 on Sunday 24th March (or till the security kick us out).
Otobong Nkanga, Why don’t you grow where we come from? (2012) Woven textile and Photography, inkjet print / Viscose, cashmere wool, mohair, bio cotton and laser cut forex plate. Image courtesy the artist and Lumen Travo Gallery.
The seventh edition of Art Dubai is back this week from 20th-23rd March at the Madinat Jumeirah. This year's edition will host 75 galleries from 30 countries, over half are from the Middle East and South Asia.
Hassan Sharif, Weave 2, 2012 (Medium: aluminium, copper wire). Image courtesy of the artist and Alexander Gray Associates
Sculpture on the Beach is a new addition to Art Dubai, it's an exhibition of sculptural and large-scale works by 11 artists curated by Chus Martinez, Chief curator of El Museo del Barrio, formerly Documenta 13’s Head of Department. This exhibition will be located on the Mina A’Salam beach (a five-minute walk from the gallery halls and adjacent to the Art Dubai Beach Brasserie).
The Hatch
Ali Cherri, Slippage, Still from DV Video, 2007. Image courtesy of Ali Cherri.
The Hatch returns this year with a programme curated by artist Maha Maamoun, founding board-member of the Contemporary Image Collective (CiC), Cairo.This year's programme will feature work by three artists: Ali Cherri, Hassan Khan, and Anri Sala.
From proposals sent by Art Dubai participating galleries, Maamoun selected the artists based on the strength and singularity of their work. This disparate grouping of films is tangentially linked by how they pick at nerves, words and chords: a musical score recalls a musical score, or drowns out every other sound, echoing a rising tension, and short-circuiting a conversation; a conversation cancels out all other audible sound and fleshes out the minutiae of daily interpersonal power games; and power will try to subvert a city, a body, an image, or a radio-transmission of Fairuz singing.
Namy has spent part of his three-month residency in Dubai researching traditional song and dance, once used for ritual healing, and unique to the UAE.
Namy’s performance, entitled Transfiguration, draws upon the parallels between these ritual dances and their rhythmic connections to contemporary electronic music.
Transfiguration will be presented as a multi-media installation including a live performance at Art Dubai on Wednesday 20 March at 7PM on the Water Terrace.
Ahmet Öğüt
Intern VIP lounge will be an exclusive space for all the unpaid interns working at the art fair. Only these volunteers, after registering at the Intern VIP Lounge's information desk, will be able to access the lounge – an exclusive space that not only provides a relaxed and entertaining ambience, but also operates as a knowledge exchange space, with a special programme of events, including meetings, presentations and film screenings.
Global Art Forum_7
Global Art Forum_6, 2012
Global Art Forum is back this year with a diverse line-up of participants, including artists, curators, musicians, strategists, thinkers and writers. This year's edition is entitled ‘It Means This’, directed by Istanbul based writer/editor HG Masters, and commissioned by writer/curator Shumon Basar.
‘It Means This’ will explore the concept of ‘definitionism’: investigating the words, terms, clichés and misunderstandings that proliferate in the art world and beyond. The Forum attempts to (re)define words, phrases and ideas we think we know, and those we need to know, to navigate the 21st century.
Each session or element of the Forum will take on a keyword; some are terms we use every day – such as Heritage, Biography, Freezone, Score and Place (looking particularly at how the cities Lagos and Ramallah having been shaped by writers and artists).
Other terms may be less familiar – including Academese, Advert Adverts, Drone Fiction, MENA (Middle East Nervous Anxiety), or Neologism. The eclectic line-up of Forum contributors are set to pick apart these terms through talks, debates, performances, TV clips, new publications, films, music, and so much more.
This year's forum will feature over 40 contributors, including:
New participants:
Dubai-based political scientist Dr. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla; poet and authorMourid Barghouti (I Saw Ramallah, among other books); artist and former REM lead singer Michael Stipe; writer-editors Charles Arsene-Henry, Brian Kuan Wood (Editor, eflux journal) and Guy Mannes-Abbott (author, In Ramallah, Running); artists Tarek Atoui, Tristan Bera, Manal Al Dowayan, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Shuruq Harb, Hassan Khan, Emeka Ogboh, Slavs and Tatars, Ala Younis; writers Elif Batuman (contributor, New Yorker), Maryam Monalisa Gharavi (Editor-at-Large, The New Inquiry), Oscar Guardiola-Rivera (author ofWhat if Latin America Ruled the World?); Lagos-based writer-editor Tolu Ogunlesi; writer/urbanist Keller Easterling (Professor, Yale University); curator-translator, and Dar Al-Ma’mun co-director, Omar Berrada; curators Reem Fadda (Associate Curator, Middle Eastern Art, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project, and curator, National Pavilion for the UAE at the Venice Biennial), Koyo Kouoh (director, Raw Material Company, Dakar), Bisi Silva (director, CCA Lagos) and Tirdad Zolghadr (writer, based at Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College NY); New York-based anthropologist Uzma Z. Rizvi; composer and musician Andre Vida; and Doha-based analyst and commentator Tarik Yousef.
Returning participants:
Writer and artist Douglas Coupland; curator Lara Khaldi (Director, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre, Ramallah); geostrategist and Director of Hybrid Reality Institute Parag Khanna; Turi Munthe, the founder of ‘citizen journalist’ newswire Demotix; Co-Director of Exhibitions and Programmes and Director of International Projects of the Serpentine Gallery, London, Hans-Ulrich Obrist; and the founder of Barjeel Art Foundation Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi.
Here are highlights from Art Dubai 2012. Don't miss this year's edition. I plan to be there everyday, so if you are around, come and say hello.
Dubai will have a double edition of Art Night happening on Monday, 18th January, where two different venues, DIFC Gate Village and Alserkal Avenue, will host gallery openings on the night.
It's a great opportunity to go gallery hopping to enjoy some good art (or make fun of some bad art like I do with my friends). I won't be able to go to both venues, so I'm planning to spend time at Alserkal Avenue and looking forward to a fun art night there.
Lawrie Shabibi: Adel Abidin - Symphony (18th March-18th April 2013)
Green Art Gallery: Shadi Habib Allah - Evacutaed Containers (14th March-5th May 2013)
Shadi Habib Allah, Imprint, 2009-Ongoing, Digital print
Shelter: Richard Allenby-Pratt - Abandoned (18th March-1st May 2013)
Richard Allenby-Pratt, Abandoned series, Giraffe
STORiES Pop Up: Ethical.Design.Collective (18th-23rd March 2013)
STORiEs Pop Up: STORiEs by Ethical.Design.Collective (18th-23th March 2013) Grey Noise: Hossein Valamanesh - Selected Works 1992-2013 (18th March-30th April 2013)
Hossein Valamanesh, Face to Face 2002, prayer caps, straw mat, mirrors, clay, 90x198x18 cm
DIFC Gate Village Art Nights from 7pm-10pm:
Ayyam Gallery: Afshin Pirhashemi - The Wrong Women (18th March-25th April 2013)
Afshin Pirhashemi, The First-timer, 2012 - Oil on Canvas 100 X 150 cm.
Cuadro Gallery - Various Artists
Nadine Kanso, From The Khaled Series, 2013
The Empty Quarter: Open Wounds (18th March-25th April 2013)
The second edition of Design Days is back this week from 18th-21st March and will be held in the same venue as last year, next to Burj Khalifa in The Venue - Downtown Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard (formerly known as Emaar Boulevard).
Design Days Dubai is dedicated to collectible and limited edition furniture and design objects. Our goal is to present, both regional and internationally, the best of design to collectors and a wide audience of design enthusiasts.
Through strong cooperation with local partners and a diverse educational programme, we aim to strengthen greater appreciation and understanding for design as a form of applied arts.
The second edition of the fair will feature design galleries from Mexico to Melbourne, representing all six continents, plus a series of talks, workshops, performances and film screenings. The complete line up and schedule can be found here.
I quite enjoyed last year's fair and looking forwrad to seeing some beautiful objects, even if I can't really afford to buy them.
Here are some of the objects you will see at this year's Design Days Dubai.
A million times (Time Dubai) by Humans Since 1982
Designed by Humans Since 1982 made of 288 clocks, dimension: 344cm x 180cm x 5cm
Weighing Up The Competition by Rolf Sachs, represented by Gallery Libby Sellers, 2012
Dream Lantern by Chen Lu, 2011
Watson table (Limited edition of 8) by Paul Loebach
Sansa Armchair by Cheick Diallo 2012
Event details Dates and timings: 18th-21st March, 4pm - 10pm (Preview - 17th March, by invitation only) Venue: The Venue - Downtown Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, next to Burj Khalifa Tickets: AED 50 can be purchased at the fair (by purchasing a ticket, you donate AED 25 to the World Food Programme). Children & students (<18 years) and university or college groups can enter for free.
Following up on my post about SIKKA, here's a separate post with more information about my involvement in this year's fair. I am happy and proud to say that The Culturist is taking part in SIKKA this year.
Yours truly was commissioned to put together a project related to this blog and during the fair, from 14th-24th March, I will have a house (House no. 9) that will be an extension of the blog, a physical presence of the blog.
House 9 will cover major themes from the blog such as films, music, travel, photography and the 1980s in three different rooms: Screen | Travel | Reminisce
Here's the write up by SIKKA:
The Culturist.com is an independent blog run by Hind Mezaina that offers a unique voice in the cultural sphere of Dubai and the region. It contains visually stimulating images, videos and sounds. It also aims to showcase creative talent and inspire its readers.
The Culturist is creating an offline experiential transformation of the blog in House 9 that will allow visitors to interact with the space and each other. House 9 will cover major themes from the blog such as films, music, travel, photography and the 1980s.
During the 10 days of the fair, you can expect the following:
Room 1 - Screen A selection of short films and featurettes, (that have been shared on this blog or clips I recently found online or through friends) will be screened in a dark room, where you can sit comfortably and switch off from everything else around you. I hope the clips you will see will bring you joy and inspiration as they did to me.
Room 2 - Travel This room will feature ephemera that I've collected from my travels over the past few years.
Room 3 - Reminisce This room will feature more ephemera, but this time, from Dubai. See a selection of posters, flyers, ticket stubs from events dating back to 2004. It's to showcase the cultural scene has been active for a while - even if it has been a slow moving scene at some times. Digging these items that have been stored all over the place in my room was a joy, because it brought back lots of good memories. I really do hope you will like what you see.
The room will also have some old music clips (Khaleeji, Egyptian, Lebanese, European and Bollywood), screening on a wall. It's some of the music I remember listening to and watched on TV in the late 1970s/early 1980s. It was great fun finding these clips online. Here's one example. You've got to come to the house to see more.
Dalida - Salma Ya Salama
I've been busy trying to set up the house for the past few days, and testing equipment like projectors and DVD players. Here's what the house looks like from the open courtyard. I will share more photos when everything is set up.
I am quite excited (and nervous) about this project. If you are in the neighbourhood, please drop by and say hello.
Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 8:30PM 
photo: Ryuichi Maruo, courtesy of YCAM
