Happy 20th Anniversary to The Third Line
The Third Line celebrated its 20th anniversary with an exhibition The Only Way Out is Through: The Twentieth Century Line curated by Shumon Basar. It opened on September 18 and ended today.
Featuring works by all the artists currently represented by The Third Line, it included old and recent works and was grouped into four sections based on years:
2005-2009
2010-2015
2016-2020
2021-2025
A timeline across the floors of the gallery highlighted key political, economical and cultural moments from those years to contextualise the exhibited works.
The Third Line was founded when contemporary art from the Middle East was yet to gain recognition internationally the way it has today. Similarly, Dubai was just beginning to assert itself as a centre for culture and commerce. In 2005, the city’s ambitions were often met with international skepticism. Twenty years on, however, Dubai has now become a focus for shaping postwestern cultural discourse. The Only Way Out Is Through: The Twentieth Line invites visitors to time travel—through the many trajectories of contemporary art from the region over the past two decades, but also through the crises that have shadowed it—and reflect on the complexities and contradictions that make up the early 21st century.
— via thethirdline.com
Also on display was a selection of old exhibition flyers, and a series of posters on the wall with information related to the gallery and Word of the Year from the last 20 years.
My visit to the exhibition made me reflect on the early years of The Third Line. It used to host exhibitions in hotels before opening the gallery space in Al Quoz, which was more than just a commercial gallery in its first few years. It also made me remember what Dubai was like at the time and how it has changed drastically in 20 years and continous to do so. Quoting Shumon Basar from an article about the exhibition on dazed.me, “20 years in Dubai is like 80 elsewhere”.
During its first few years, The Third Line’s gallery played a pivotal role as a culture space before in addition to being a commercial art gallery. Its co-founders and the team that worked there at the time organised a series of film programmes and discussions, a book club called Kutubna, hosted university exhibitions, and launched Pecha Kucha Dubai.
The gallery’s website doesn’t list anything before 2015 which is a shame. I went through my old emails and searched online to see what I could find from those years.
The following is a personal trip down memory lane of exhibitions and events by The Third Line I found online - from my inbox, Bidoun magazine, Khatt Foundation, Gulf News, Wayback Machine.
Exhibitions in hotels, before the opening of The Third Line Gallery:
via Wayback Machine:
Heal the World
A local & international art exhibition and party in celebration of bridging the divide...
Thursday, April 07, 2005 - Friday, April 08, 2005
Aviation Club
un/written
An exhibition of paintings by Golnaz Fathi
Thursday, June 30, 2005 - Friday, July 15, 2005
Dubai World Trade and Convention Center
Love/Hate
An exhibition of Contemporary Pakistani Miniatures - Muhammad Zeeshan, Saira Sheikh, Ayesha Durrani, Khadim Ali
Thursday, August 04, 2005 - Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai
New gallery space and its location map(s):
In November 2005, The Third Line opened its new gallery in Al Quoz, next to The Courtyard. It remained there for 10 years before moving across the road to Alserkal Avenue in 2015.
Emails sent in the first few years included a location map which also kept getting amended because of the changes around the gallery - new roads and new venues.
Below is what the first gallery looked like, and personally preferred that space compared to its current location, and three maps from 2005-2008.
The opening of The Third Line featured in Bidoun:
Written by Antonia Carver (currently Director of Art Jameel).
…Dubai rarely makes headlines for cultural eminence. But in late December came the announcement that the emirate had commissioned Zaha Hadid to design an opera house complex on an island in the Creek, followed by the revelation of vague plans for two museums, one dedicated to art.
A few months earlier, the nascent contemporary art scene in Dubai was invigorated by the opening of The Third Line, a slick, warehouse-style space in the industrial Al Quoz area. Local gallery devotees, many of whom are new collectors, buy work by first-time exhibitors such as Raghda Bukhash, Lamya Gargash, and Amna Al Zaabi, and regional hotshots Youssef Nabil and Farhad Moshiri.
The Third Line also runs a consultancy, tasked is to build a corporate art collection for the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), which aims to be Wall Street’s UAE equivalent.
— Bidoun, Spring 2006 https://www.bidoun.org/articles/art-market
The Zaha Hadid opera house never came to be.
Exhibition Invitations / Flyers:
I miss the days when galleries printed exhibition flyers. The Third Line used to make one for all their exhibitions and some of their events. I can’t remember the exact year when they stopped and moved to attaching the digital version in their emails. I have a selection of the print versions that I need to dig out, so for now, here’s a selection I found in my in-box.
The Third Line’s website homepage between 2005-2008:
via Wayback Machine
Student exhibitions at The Third Line:
via Wayback Machine
Perceptions
An exhibition of photographs by Latifa College
Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - Monday, July 10, 2006Six students majoring in Graphic Design and Visual Arts here present photographic works, each exploring different themes but united in the quest for individual visual identity. Now in their third year of their degree programme, Lateefa bint Maktoum, Latifa Saeed, Shamma Al Ameri, Wafar Hasher Al Maktoum, Mazyoona Abdulla and Alia Bin Drai present visual meditations on their world at large. Latifa College was established in October 2003 under the patronage of HH Shaikha Alia Bint Khalifa Al Maktoum, providing a unique experience in art and design education for graduates of Latifa School for Girls. The students followed an intensive one-year, full-time programme in art and design, intended to provide a sound platform of creative abilities upon which to build through undergraduate studies, as well as developing relevant study skills, designed to facilitate the transition from school to university. In September 2004, Latifa College became a satellite campus of Zayed University, with an experienced faculty from the university delivering courses of the Department of Art and Design to the eleven students in the well-equipped studio facilities of the college in Nad Al Sheba. Working in this dedicated creative environment, the students have been able to gain experience in the fields of Visual Arts, Graphic Design and Interior Design, before selecting specialist areas of study at undergraduate level.
No Vacancy
An exhibition of photographs by American University in Dubai
Thursday, July 13, 2006 - Wednesday, August 02, 2006Men in boxes, poets as muses, subliminal messages – this eclectic presentation by eight young artists put life’s foibles under the spotlight. Maisam Darwish, Abdul Rahman Alhussain, Alex Cordier, Kaveh Kashani, Leila Ghomi, Maryam Jalali, Jumana H, Arwa Manager, Rahab Al-Majed and Raji Al-Alsarif here use a combination of black and white and colour photography. The American University in Dubai (AUD) is a private, non-sectarian institution of higher learning founded in 1995. It’s a branch of the American Intercontinental University, and a leader in collaborative and technology driven education. Enrollment in 2005-2006 averaged 2,400 students and in spring of this year, 80 nationalities were represented in the AUD student body. AUD is one of only two universities in the Middle East (the other being American University of Beirut) that has a concentration in photography, with 10 courses ranging from chemical processing and Analog photography to digital and studio. One of the department’s main goals is to elevate photography to an artistic and conceptual level by giving the students freedom of expression and the means to experiment – factors that can easily be seen in their body of work. AUD’s student works are often exhibited throughout Dubai and the region, highlighting a cross section of capabilities in both black and white and digital photography. Each artist offers their own personal approaches and concepts to the inherently experimental discipline.
Favourite exhibitions before 2015 that I currently remember:
Youssef Nabil Portraits, September 23 - October 14 2005
Hyper-real, December 14, 2005 - January 03, 2006
Fashion, illustration, animation and photo works by Amna Alzaabi, Lamia gargash and Raghda Bukhash.
Hassan Hajjaj: Noss Noss, November 22 - December 13, 2007
Roads Were Open / Roads Were Closed, September 6 - October 2, 2008
Works by Fouad Elkoury, Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, Tarek Al Ghoussein and Laila Shawa,
Hayv Kahraman: Pins and Needles, October 28 - December 1, 2010
Slavs and Tartar: Language Arts March 17 –April 17, 2014
Fouad Elkoury: The Lost Empire, April 30 - May 29, 2014 (I wrote about it here)
An artist I miss:
Photography by Raghda Bukash aka Pink Sushi were exhibited a handful of times at The Third Line. I can’t recall if they ever represented her, but she was very active from early to mid 2000s and disappeared. I knew her from the days when I was an active member of the Lomography community, and I remember her work every once in a while.
via Wayback Machine:
Raghda Bukash
b. 1980
Dubai, UAE
Working with highly saturated colors and layered multi-exposures, from large scale pristine lightboxes to sketchy mini polaroid transfers, Bukhash subverts both the touristic gaze into her culture and the high gloss facade that Dubai offers to its visitors. Raghda also runs her own fashion line called Pink Sushi (kashkha) simultaneously appropriating, proudly claiming, and poking fun at local visual culture and vestments. Raghda Bukhash was awarded the Sheikh Rashid award for the top Emirati design student at AUD (2002) and has won three international Lomography photography competitions.
The Third Line and Bidoun parties:
Their parties were one of the best in Dubai. The most memorable one is from 2009 held outdoors at the Hyatt Regency.
via Bidoun
Bidoun and The Third Line hosted a celebration of Sharjah Biennial 9 and Art Dubai week 2009 at the Golf Park at the Hyatt Regency Dubai, featuring Un-drum / strategies of surviving noise, a sound performance by Tarek Atoui (produced by Sharjah Biennial 9).
Pecha Kucha Night - Dubai
The first edition was in December 2007, and The Third Line hosted two more, April and June 2008 before moving to different venues in Dubai and sadly it slowly got less and less interesting.
I presented a series of photos I double exposed with another artist at the April 2008 edition along with:
Anna Szonyi
Diligent Thought
Haig Aivazian
Katrin Greiling
James Claar
Maja Creic Maja
Mandi Kingsbury
Nadine Thouin and Go-On Productions
Vinay Kumar and Vivek Premchandran
Film Screenings:
via my inbox and Wayback Machine
Arab Film series
Every Saturday from May 6 to June 3 2006Do not be fooled the next time you hear someone saying that Dubai lacks culture – it’s alive and kicking and it’s at The Third Line every Saturday for five weeks. The gallery proudly presents its first Arab Film Series; a weekly succession of films to both stir debate and celebrate the region’s cultural similarities and differences. All films have been carefully selected to fairly represent not only their respective regions, but also specific issues regarding identity and autonomy by challenging homogenous perspectives. The programme aims to simultaneously entertain and inspire, aided by post-screening forums, guest speakers and large vats of popcorn. Screenings are free and start at 8pm. Seats are strictly one a first come first serve basis.
May 6 The Battle of Algiers (Dir: Gillo Pontecorvo, Algiers, 1966)
May 13 Le Grand Voyage (Dir: Ismaël Ferroukhi, Morocco, 2005)
May 20 Winter in Baghdad (Dir: Javier Corcuera, Iraq, 2005)
May 27 Ahmed Suleiman (Dir: Waleed Al Shehi, UAE, 2006)
June 13 Jenine-Jenine (Dir: Mohamed Bakri, Palestine, 2002)
Documentary Film Series: Philosophy and Practice
August-September 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006 - From Dust
Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - Arna’s Children
Thursday, August 31, 2006 - Our Bodies
Saturday, September 02, 2006 - The Art of Flight
Documentary Film Series: Disinformation: Media, Perception, and the Creation of Truth
May 19 - June 9, 2007
As we struggle with questions of what constitutes the truth, the Media surrounds us with various versions of history and facts. How do media sources – from mainstream television to daily papers to independent films – inform or misinform us? How do they shape our perceptions of the world? How does the very act of Media coverage change events on the ground themselves?
We invite you to join us for our next documentary film series: Disinformation: Media, Perception, and the Creation of Truth.
Every Saturday from May 19th to June 9th, these films will challenge us to consider how various agendas slant, and in some cases completely transform, the public’s experience of personal and political issues. Each screening will be followed by an interview between moderator Shezan Amiji, Managing Director of perhaps the most independent UAE newspaper 7Days, and a specialist related to the film, from journalists to environmentalists to former military personnel.
19th May - An Inconvenient Truth
26th May - Gunner Palace
2nd June - Route 181: Fragments of a Journey in Palestine-Israel
9th June - Shame
Note:
7Days, “the most independent UAE newspaper” ended on December 22, 2016, “Today, it is with great sadness that we publish our 3,140th issue – the final edition of 7DAYS newspaper. The end of an era… a huge blow to media in the UAE… a Dubai institution gone… Not our words, but yours.”
via Gulf News
Roads Were Open/Roads Were Closed: On How We Perceive Conflict
September 6–October 2, 2008A film series has been established to run concurrently with “Roads Were Open/Roads Were Closed'', bringing together the themes and issues inherent in the exhibition.
Film series coordinator Mishaal Al Gergawi will introduce each film and the directors/panelists, while curator Haig Aivazian will moderate discussions.
September 20 – Ashbaah Beirut (Beyrouth Fantôme), directed by Gassan Salhab, 1999 at CineStar – Mall of the Emirates.
September 27 – A selection of three short films selected by Beirut DC
“Min Beirut la'illi bihubboona'' (From Beirut to Those Who Love Us) directed by Beirut DC, 2006; “Kaánana'Ashroun Mustahil'' (Like Twenty Impossibles), directed by Anne Marie Jacir, 2000
“Inthihar'' (Suicide), directed by Eliane Raheb, 2003via gulfnews.com
Lastly, this gem that I don’t remember happening let alone if I attended. I found it in my inbox and I even forwarded it to a friend telling him we should go. Needless to say, Culture Village was never built.
December 6, 2006
Dear Friends,
As many of you have seen from the billboards, Dubai Properties is proudly launching Culture Village aimed at elevating art and cultural in Dubai.Please join us this Saturday evening from 7:30 pm at the Business Bay Sales Centre for the private launch of what promises to be a visually stimulating evening.
Coinciding with the launch event is the preview of a three month long exhibition FLASHBACK/FORWARD, A Visual Timeline of Cultural Practices in the Middle East. The exhibition features 6 site specific works commissioned specifically for the project, some of which are measure 200 meters in length, and dozens of important work by artists with a regional and historical perspective.
The invitation is below. By receipt of this invitation, you plus one are included on the guest list. (Please arrive no later than 8:30 pm).
Additional text about this from Bidoun, Winter 2007:
Dubai
Culture Village
Dubai Properties Sales Center
December 9, 2006–March 15, 2007Culture Village, Dubai’s latest luxury real estate development, launches on December 9 with a set of exhibitions of Islamic coins, miniatures, Qur’ans, and calligraphic paintings by Mouneer Al Shaarani, plus new work by contemporary artists. Significantly, several collectors based in the emirate are loaning works for the first time. Objects on show include a rare ink drawing miniature by Muhammad Siyar Qalam (“Muhammad of the Black Pen”), dating from the late 14th century.
Billed as “a unique development offering an elite lifestyle in an intellectually stimulating environment,” the Dhs50 billion Culture Village had appeared to be yet another tourist and ex-pat-oriented real estate project, with an emphasis on faux-traditional architecture and a rustic souk. All the same, developer Dubai Properties, with consultant gallery The Third Line, has gone as far as to commission new work for the grounds around the Center from sculptor Mona Marzouk, United Arab Emirates-based installation artists Haig Aivazian and Loreta Burke, and graphic designer Amna Al Zaabi. Arwa Aboun’s 150-meter-long photographic installation features self-portraits showing the artist praying for rain. The Third Line is also including work by Laleh Khorramian and Huda Lutfi. Culture Village’s first phase is due for completion in 2009. Here’s hoping contemporary art has a permanent home in the 40-million-square-foot “village.”