If you’re looking for ways to keep busy, why not try your hand at something creative. One new UAE-based centre is offering online masterclasses and a fun new way to share your handiwork with the community!
As the majority of the UAE employs responsible social distancing and the community explores new ways to stay upbeat and productive at home, Dubai’s soon-to-open Theatre of Digital Art (ToDA) is rolling out a series of online masterclasses to engage the community and art challenges for the public to tap into their creative side.
Opening later in 2020, ToDA Dubai is an art, education and entertainment destination that will combine all three formats of digital art: multimedia exhibitions, contemporary immersive installations and virtual reality experiences.
Through a series of masterclasses, ToDA Dubai aims to educate, empower and inspire a new generation of creatives, targeting all age groups in the UAE.
Strokes of Genius
ToDA Dubai is collaborating with two prominent UAE-based artists, Laila Ali Masri and Amrita Sethi, who will each take to Instagram to demonstrate impressionist art techniques perfected by legendary artists that include Claude Monet, Georges Seurat, Wassily Kandinsky, Vincent Van Gogh and more.
On Tuesday 31st March at 4pm, Laila Al Masri, who specialises in abstract and figurative art, and exhibited a compelling body of work at New York’s School of Visual Arts where she completed a post graduate art residency, will demonstrate how art fans can recreate Matisse cut-outs and impressionist paintings using materials found at home. Tune into her Instagram page @lailamasristudioo for information on what to prepare before the masterclass.
On Wednesday 1st April at 6pm, Amrita Sethi, who specialises in creating art based on voice notes and has also been selected by EXPO 2020 recently as a core artist for its ‘My Urban Freej’ art project, will demonstrate how art fans can recreate their own Kandinsky masterpiece at home, using simple materials. Tune in on her Instagram @art.by.amrita for information on what materials to keep ready before the masterclass.
Stay-at-Home Challenge
Starting 3rd April, ToDA Dubai will also invite residents to participate in a novel ‘stay-at-home’ challenge inspired by the viral Dutch Instagram account Tussen Kunst & Quarantaine – meaning ‘Between Art & Quarantine’ (@tussenkunstenquarantaine). The concept asks art fans to replicate history’s most iconic artworks by following four simple steps to recreate the works at home:
- Head to @todadubai on Instagram and choose a painting to recreate
- Find three things (or people) around the house
- Recreate the painting with the selected props
- Tag in @todadubai when uploading the final image to Instagram
Ahead of its opening, ToDA Dubai will host a digital launch in coming weeks with virtual ‘first-look’ tours showcasing exhibits and interactive features. Stay tuned via the centre’s social pages @todadubai
