March - a month of art and culture on steroids

Art Dubai 2010

It's March, which means a month of art and culture on steroids in Dubai (and in nearby Sharjah). So if you are hungry for some art, this is the month to step out and find out what's make discover what is on offer.

Here's a brief rundown of what's coming up this month and look out for detailed posts over the next few days for some of the events I'm really looking forward to.

07-12 March - Gulf Photo Plus
08-12 March - Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
13-15 March - Sharjah Art Foundation's March Meeting
16-19 March - Art Dubai
16 March till 16 May - Sharjah Biennial
... and lots of exhibition openings in galleries across Dubai.

Art in the City is a great resource that lists all art related events in the UAE, so have a look if you want detailed information to mark your calendars.

For now, I leave you with this collage of photos I took from last year's Art Dubai and hope to see you around at one or several of the events listed above. 

Story Night on 12th March

Photo by Hind MezainaEveryone loves a good story and at the upcoming Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, there will be an event called Story Night - a first of its kind in Dubai taking place on 12th March. 

Organised by Siobhan Leyden from Dubai Eye 103.8, Story Night will feature a variety of story tellers sharing a mix of travel tales from Paris to London, of growing up in a small town in Minnesota with the only brunette parents, of acting on a conscious to change perceptions when the world seemed to react against you and many more.

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A Literary Journey - Happy World Book Day

Samuel Beckett, shot in Notting Hill, London. Photo by Hind Mezaina

Happy World Book Day! I have not been reading books for a long time, despite the many books stacked in my room that I bought or received as gifts from friends. I do feel bad for not reading regularly and I blame the interweb...

The last book I read was Yoga for People Who Can't be Bothered by Geoff Dyer a few months ago. It was passed on to me by a friend when we were travelling. I like the idea of passing on books after you finish reading them, either by giving it to a friend or to a  stranger. It's like an ongoing gift of giving.

So I was glad to hear that the upcoming Emirates Airline Festival of Literature celebrated World Book Day today by announcing a project called the Literary Journey, a mass book sharing initiative across the globe.

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