Artscape NEO Babylon in Abu Dhabi

Babylonian Gardens. Restructured colouring of a sculptured relief. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi will be hosting Artscape NEO Babylon on Thursday 23rd June, an evening of music, ancient poetry as well as workshops for children and adults.  Featuring performances by poet Omar Al Farra, Maqam virtuoso Farida Mohammad Ali and the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble, the event marks the final week of Splendours of Mesopotamia, the current exhibition at Manarat Al Saadiyat that has been running for the past three months celebrating the cultural riches of Mesopotamia. The exhibition ends on Monday, 27th June 2011.

Artscape NEO Babylon Programme 

7-8 pm  Poetry by Omar Al Farra
Omar Al Farra is a Syrian poet born in Palmyra in 1949. He started writing classical Arabic poetry at the age of 14. At a later stage, Omar Al Farra began to incorporate Bedouin roots in his poetry. Omar worked in education for 20 years, then dedicated himself full time to his poetry writing and performances that have been presented in several Arab countries and internationally.
Omar will recite Bedouin and contemporary poetry and take listeners across generations of Arabic poetry and stories. He will perform six diwans (long poems) in classical Arabic and Bedouin dialect, reflecting his roots in the Beni Sakher tribe.

8-10 pm   Music by Farida Mohammad Ali and the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble
Farida Mohammad Ali, described as ‘the mother of all Maqam’, is one of a handful of artists to have mastered the ancient musical discipline of Maqam which is traditionally performed by men. The study of Maqam music is a lifestyle pursuit as singers must develop not only a command of complex melodies and scales but also the scripture and philosophy behind them. (Read an interview with Farida Mohammad Ali with The Guardian.)

 

6-9 pm   Workshops
Workshops will include activities for youth and adults pertaining to stories and objects of Splendours of Mesopotamia.

About Splendours of Mesopotamia
This exhibition introduces the history of the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia, a crucial region in the development of human civilisation. Through trade and contact over long distances, Mesopotamia became a great junction at the very centre of civilization, where art and literature flourished and it is considered the birthplace of the first truly ‘international cities’. The objects featured in Splendours of Mesopotamia are on loan from the British Museum and Al Ain National Museum. This video will give you a brief introduction to what is on display. 

Event details

Artscape Neo Babylon
Date and timings: 23rd June, 7pm - 10pm (Workshops from 6pm)
Location: Manarat Al Saadiyat on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi (location map)
Free entry. 
Phone: +971 2 6575900
The ArtBus will be attending this event from Dubai. Booking details here.  

Splendours of Mesopotamia
Date and timings: Open till 27th June 2011, 10am - 8pm 
Location: Manarat Al Saadiyat on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi (location map)
Free entry. 

Artscape NEO Babylon 
Splendours of Mesopotamia 
British Museum
Al Ain National Museum 
Manarat Al Saadiyat
Farida Mohammad Ali and the Iraqi Maqam Ensemble

(Omar Al Farra image via Champress.net) 

Artscape RSTW at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi

Photo by Hind Mezaina
The RSTW exhibition that has been running since 22nd September 2010 in Manarat Al Saadiyat is closing on 24th January 2011. RSTW stands for Rauschenberg, Ruscha, Serra, Twombly, Warhol and Wool whose work is on display at this exhibition, which includes painting, sculptures, drawings and photography from the private collection of Larry Gagosian.

If you've not been, you have a few days left to catch this exhibition and to mark the closing of the exhibition, Artscape RSTW on 21st January 2011 will host a day of film screenings, workshops, spoken word and live music. All of this will be spread around Manarat Al Saadiyat, in the  Film Room, Art Studio and the terrace outside the recently opened Fanr Restaurant.

Personally, I'm really looking forward to the musical performance by Takht El Emarat, a UAE band that performed at WOMAD Abu Dhabi and WOMAD Charlton Park, they've also toured in Korea and Canada. You can read about them here and here. Ironically, despite being in the Gulf, I've not seen live "Khaleeji" music for a very long time, so I'm very eager to see this band.

Takht El Emarat at WOMAD Charlton Park (Image from Culturaloutlook.com)
Besides checking out the RSTW exhibition on the day, which is open from 10am, this is the line up for the rest of the day:

3pm - Film Screening
Painters Painting: The New York Art Scene: 1940- 1970
Painters Painting director Emile de Antonio interviews artists in their studios about their art from the period of Abstract Expressionism, through Hard Edge and Colour Field painting to Pop Art.

5pm -  Film Screening
Herb and Dorothy
Herb and Dorothy tells the story of Herbert and Dorothy Vogel who managed to build one of the most important art collections in history with very modest means and in doing so, redefined what it means to be an art collector.

6pm - Art Workshops
Cool Compositions
Inspired by artworks in RSTW create your own cool composition, a unique piece of contemporary art experimenting with process such as image transfer, stencilling, collage and text. 

6:30pm - Spoken Word Performance by Hala Ali
Spoken word artist Hala Ali will deliver an original piece based on RSTW, encompassing the context behind the works and exploring the significance of their current time, space and place.

7pm - Musical Performance
Jam Session
After a musical exchange surrounded by the art of RSTW Takht Al Emarat and the Wayne Escoffery Quartet will perform a joint improvisation set.

7pm - Film Screening
The Cool School: How LA Learned to Love Modern Art
The Cool School focuses on the seminal Ferus Gallery and its proprietors, Walter Hopps and Irving Blum who groomed the LA art scene from a loose band of idealistic beatniks into competitive, brilliant artists.

8pm - Musical Performance
Wayne Escoffery Quartet
Direct from New York´s Jazz at the Lincoln Center the Wayne Escoffery Quartet will perform contemporary compositions inspired by RSTW, as well as their own classic works.

Wayne Escoffery @ All rights reserved by escofferymusic

9pm - Musical Performance
Takht Al Emarat
Takht Al Emarat’s seven member band will be playing their original compositions and pieces of  traditional music from the Arab region.

Takht El Emarat (Image from TimeOutDubai.com)

Event details
Date: Sunday, 21st January, 6pm-10pm. Film screenings from 3pm
Location: Manarat Al Saadiyat (location map)
Free entry.

www.artsabudhabi.ae
www.artsabudhabi.ae/Artscape_RSTW
www.saadiyat.ae/manarat_al_saadiyat

The Cool School - Screening at Manarat Al Saadiyat

The Cool School is the third (and final) film that will be screened at the RSTW exhibition at the Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi. It's on this Wednesday, 8th Dec at 6.30pm.

From 1957 to 1966, the Ferus Gallery was the catalyst of modern art in Los Angeles. Launching the careers of luminaries like Warhol, Ruscha and Lichtenstein, Ferus built an art scene from scratch and transformed the cultural climate of the West Coast.  The Cool School is about how Los Angeles learned to love Modern Art. A lesson in how a few renegade artists built an art scene from scratch and what to avoid in the process. Featuring Dennis Hopper and narrated by Jeff Bridges, the film focuses on the seminal Ferus Gallery. 

How do you build an art scene from scratch—and not lose your soul in the process? THE COOL SCHOOL is the story of the Ferus Gallery, which nurtured Los Angeles’s first significant post-war artists between 1957 and 1966.

In late 1956, medical-school dropout Walter Hopps met artist Ed Kienholz for lunch at a hot dog stand on La Cienega Boulevard. The two drafted a contract on a hot dog wrapper that stated simply, “We will be partners in art for five years.” And with that, the Ferus Gallery was born.

Operating out of a small storefront, the gallery hosted debut exhibitions and served as a general launching point for Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, Craig Kauffman, Wallace Berman, Ed Moses and Robert Irwin, among many other artists. By the time it closed in 1966, the gallery had also played a role in solidifying the careers of many of New York’s brightest talents, including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Donald Judd, Frank Stella, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.

First under the leadership of genius autodidact Walter Hopps, then the smooth-as-silk Irving Blum, Ferus groomed the Los Angeles art world from a loose band of idealistic beatniks into a coterie of competitive, often brilliant artists. What was lost and what was gained was tied up in a complicated web of egos, passions, money, interpersonal relationships and artistic statements.

The gallery’s eventual success came at a cost. The closing of Ferus, just as it was finally becoming financially solvent, is indicative of the volatile and complex relationship money invariably has with art. But while Ferus had a polarizing effect on artists, ideas and art, the gallery managed to do for art in Los Angeles what the museums previously could not. Even though their modalities were as disparate as assemblage art, abstract expressionism and Pop, Ferus artists shared ideas, goals, workspaces and a lasting vision.

Event details:

Date: Wednesday, 8th December, 6.30pm - 9pm
Location: Manarat Al Saadiyat (location map)
Free entry.

www.artsabudhabi.ae 
www.saadiyat.ae/manarat_al_saadiyat

Herb and Dorothy - Screening at Manarat Al Saadiyat

Herb and Dorothy is the second film that will be screened as part of the RSTW exhibition at the Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi. It's on this Monday, 22nd October at 6.30pm. Sadly, I will miss it because I'm out of town, but if you are in the neighbourhood, please don't miss this documentary about a wonderful couple that redefined what it means to be an art collector.

HERB & DOROTHY tells the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means. In the early 1960s, when very little attention was paid to Minimalist and Conceptual Art, Herb and Dorothy Vogel quietly began purchasing the works of unknown artists. Devoting all of Herb's salary to purchase art they liked, and living on Dorothy's paycheck alone, they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had to be affordable, and it had to be small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment. Within these limitations, they proved themselves curatorial visionaries; most of those they supported and befriended went on to become world-renowned artists including Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Tuttle, Chuck Close, Robert Mangold, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Lynda Benglis, Pat Steir, Robert Barry, Lucio Pozzi, and Lawrence Weiner.

After 30 years of meticulous collecting and buying, the Vogels managed to accumulate over 2,000 pieces, filling every corner of their tiny one bedroom apartment. "Not even a toothpick could be squeezed into the apartment," recalls Dorothy. In 1992, the Vogels decided to move their entire collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The vast majority of their collection was given as a gift to the institution. Many of the works they acquired appreciated so significantly over the years that their collection today is worth millions of dollars. Still, the Vogels never sold a single piece. Today Herb and Dorothy still live in the same apartment in New York with 19 turtles, lots of fish, and one cat. They've refilled it with piles of new art they've acquired.

HERB & DOROTHY is directed by first time filmmaker Megumi Sasaki. The film received the Golden Starfish Award for the Best Documentary Film and Audience Award from the 2008 Hamptons International Film Festival. It has also received Audience Awards from the 2008 SILVERDOCS Film Festival and the 2009 Philadelphia Cinefest. Palm Springs International Film Festival named HERB & DOROTHY one of their "Best of Fest" films in 2009.

Event details:
Date: Monday, 22nd November, 6.30pm - 9pm
Location: Manarat Al Saadiyat (location map)
Free entry.

www.artsabudhabi.ae
www.saadiyat.ae/manarat_al_saadiyat

RSTW at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi

A new exhibition called RSTW opens on 22nd September at Manarat Al  Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi and will go on till 24th January 2011.

RSTW stands for Rauschenberg, Ruscha, Serra, Twombly, Warhol and Wool, some of the leading names in Post-War American art (or as I’d like to call it RRSTWW in a French accent – don’t ask me why).

It’s a showcase of masterpieces - paintings, sculptures, drawings, photography - that have never been exhibited together, all from the private collection of one of the art world’s renowned figures, Larry Gagosian.

Curated by Anne Baldassari, President of Musée National Picasso in Paris, she proposed to present a deliberately partial interpretation through the most emblematic artists’ work. The seemingly arbitrary nature of the alphabetical ordering, offers a new perspective on the notion of a collection. The works selected offer a slice of art history through an arrangement of forms and techniques – a multiplicity of realities that will occupy the Manarat Al Saadiyat space.

It’s great to have an exhibition of this calibre happening in the country and it will be interesting to see it’s impact, what impressions it leaves and what it leads to.

I’ve put together a collection of videos I found for each artist, each one that shows the artist talking about his work or a showcase of some of their important their work.

Robert Rauschenberg

Ed Ruscha

Richard Serra

 Cy Twombly

Andy Warhol

Christopher Wool

www.artsabudhabi.ae/RSTW
www.saadiyat.ae/manarat_al_saadiyat

www.gagosian.com/artists/robert-rauschenberg
www.gagosian.com/artists/ed-ruscha and www.edruscha.com
www.gagosian.com/artists/richard-serra
www.gagosian.com/artists/cy-twombly  and www.cytwombly.info
www.gagosian.com/artists/andy-warhol
www.gagosian.com/artists/christopher-wool and www.wool735.com