Seven artists showcase their works.
Aesthetes will have another exhibition to cast their eyes over this week at Louvre Abu Dhabi.
Opening on Thursday 18 November, the Louvre Abu Dhabi Art Here 2021 will showcase the works of the seven shortlisted artists for the first edition of the Richard Mille Art Prize.
The shortlisted artists are Cristiana de Marchi, Latifa Saeed, Mays Albaik, Mohammed Kazem, Nasser Alzayani, Tarek Al-Ghoussein, and Taus Makhacheva who were asked to respond to the theme of Memory, Time and Territory’, addressing questions of memory and belonging, and exploring the geography of identity through the artists’ personal relationships with territories.
The winner of The Richard Mille Art Prize will be announced in January 2022 by a panel of four including His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan (Chairman of UAE Unlimited and an art collector and patron of the Centre Pompidou, the British Museum and Sharjah Art Foundation); Christine Macel (chief curator at the Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou and an art critic); Hala Wardé (founding architect of HW Architecture and long-term partner of Jean Nouvel, who was the lead of the Louvre Abu Dhabi project); and Dr. Souraya Noujaim (Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Scientific, Curatorial and Collections Management Director).
The chosen artist will receive $50,000.
Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi, Manuel Rabaté said the prize offers greater exposure to UAE based artists.
“We are proud to offer greater visibility to these incredibly talented UAE-based artists for this inaugural edition of the exhibition and prize.
“Living in the UAE, they were uniquely placed to respond to this year’s theme of ‘Memory, Time and Territory’, especially in a year where the nation reflects on 50 years of progress and development.”
The artists submissions
Each of the artists responded to the theme through different mediums, influenced by their own interpretation.
Cristiana de Marchi will present hand-embroidered canvas with her artwork Mapping Gaps: Beirut; Latifa Saeed uses glass for her artwork The Pathway.
Mays Albaik’s Awaiting Weightlessness is an installation of aluminium video sculptures.
Mohammed Kazem will display his photographic series Photographs with Flags.
Nasser Alzayani uses sand artefacts, collected recordings and works on paper in his installation Watering the distant, deserting the near.
Tarek Al-Ghoussein will present prints from his ongoing Odysseus series.
Taus Makhacheva has employed a mix of video and body-oriented objects for her work Mining Serendipity.
The exhibition falls into UAE’s culture season that includes Abu Dhabi Art Fair and new exhibitions at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery.
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