The pace of our life is growing, we are in a hurry to act, to rise, build, work, work, work ... And in the bustle of the world, sometimes we forget about beauty and art, about the beautiful and the eternal, about the aesthetic and spiritual perception of what surrounds us. It seems that not only your humble servant was concerned about this issue, but also the leadership of the country in which we live.Abu Dhabi and Dubai will delight us with an endless kaleidoscope of events from the world of art, painting, classical music, dance and circus craftsmanship throughout the season.
Dubai hosts artists
The well-known art gallery of the Madinat Jumeirah complex presents from March 19 to 21 the third exhibition, “Art Dubai”. The walls of the "City of Jumeirah" will bring together more than 60 art galleries that showcase the work of famous contemporary artists from the Middle East, Southeast and Central Asia, and far from the wild West. The International Art Committee considered 300 applications for participation in this action and, after conducting a very serious casting of the submitted works, selected the most worthy collections.
The art of contemporary painting will be exhibited by the galleries already known from past exhibitions - Krinzinger (Vienna), Bodhi Art (Mumbai), White Cube (London) and The Third Line (Dubai), as well as new participants: BREENSPACE (Sydney), Almine Rech Gallery (Brussels ), Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin (Paris), Max Protetch (New York), Fredric Snitzer Gallery (Miami), Goff + Rosenthal (New York) and Elementa (Dubai). The exhibition fair will acquaint visitors with the leading galleries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Near and Far East and America: Albion, BISCHOFF / WEISS, Rossi & Rossi, Green Cardamom, Aicon Gallery, Bitforms Gallery, Goff + Rosenthal, Frey Norris Gallery and Salon 94 Viewers will meet gallery owners from Agial Art Gallery, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Sfeir-Semler (Beirut), Anant Art Gallery (New Delhi), Atassi Gallery (Damascus), B21, The Third Line, Elementa (Dubai), Bodhi, Chemould Prescott Road, Project 88, Sakshi Gallery (Mumbai), Dirimart, Galeri Artist (Istanbul), Galerie El Marsa (Tunisia) and Silk Road Gallery (Tehran).
For those who do not want to wait until the end of March, I highly recommend going to the Dubai International Financial Center. A permanent art exhibition has opened in the labyrinths of the many halls of the Dubai DIFC. Two art galleries ORERA and CUADRO showcase the work of masters from the fields of art of art photography, furniture design, sculpture, social art, photorealism, abstract expressionism, Stackism and wax figures. Even external transitions from one exhibition to another accompany visitors with unexpected sculptural images.
A rope will be stretched through the balcony ceilings at an altitude of approximately the fifth floor, where, crouching, a girl in flowing clothes balances, from afar resembling the mysterious bird Sirin. In another aperture, swaying under gusts of wind, an acrobat is trying to climb a cable up a rope. At the entrance to the halls of Cuadro, guests are first greeted by the figure of a completely believable policeman, then by a waiter offering a glass of champagne as they enter, and still resting in the chair of the museum ranger. Modern spacious halls with panoramic windows and well-projected lighting allow you to get a true aesthetic pleasure from the contemplation of the beautiful. Dubai remains the absolute leader in the UAE in terms of the number of open art galleries: there are about 45 of them, not counting mobile street fairs, which are organized for a short time in the areas of Jumeirah Beach Residence, Safa Park or in the old streets of Bastakia.
Art Comes to Abu Dhabi
The cultural life of the capital is mainly concentrated in the exhibition halls of the Emirates Palace. From January 20 to April 16, Gallery One, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, hosts the Emirati Expressions exhibition, which presents the works of the emirate masters of painting, photography, graphic design, sculpture and calligraphy. In the halls of the hotel there is always an exposition of the BARAKAT antique goods exhibition and sale, representing rare items dating from the 10th-9th centuries; they introduce us to the traditional folk art of people from Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean.
Six Abu Dhabi city galleries - Contempo Corporate Art, Eclectic, Ghaf Art Gallery, Hemisphere Gallery and Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage - host both permanent exhibitions and thematic traveling ones.
Abu Dhabi, until recently, who was so active in hosting the world famous celebrities in the pop music industry at the Emirates Palace Hotel, began to pay increased attention to the classical music genre. From March 21 to April 6, the 6th Festival of Music and Art starts in the capital. The festival involves a large program of performances by artists of opera, ballet, classical and folk music (including Arabic), visual arts and educational events. The 2009 festival will be held under the motto Bilad Al Khair - "Blessed Land" - in order to force people to be more tolerant and compassionate with the power of art, to develop feelings of respect and gratitude, reconciliation and creation.
The festival will open with an evening of opera - Opera Gala, which begins with a performance by one of the most prominent opera sopranos of our time - a singer from Romania, Angela Georgiu and the world famous German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, accompanied by the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, conducted by Austrian conductor Jon Marina. After a stunning success last year, the famous Bolshoi ballet returned to the capital, which this time will present the audience with a diamond Ballet Gala and two scenes from the play "Giselle" in the interpretation of Yuri Grigorovich. Just one performance by a tenor of all time - Andrea Bocelli - awaits the guests of this festive program. Accompanied by the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, conducted by conductor Marcello Rota, Andrea Bocelli will perform on the outdoor terrace of Emirates Palace. The concert will be attended by female soprano Paola Sanguinetti and baritone Janfranco Montresor, presenting his new album "Incanto".
Andalusian musical themes based on verses by Arab poets will be revealed by virtuoso musicians of the oud from the group Nassir Shamm, who will accompany the Tunisian actress and singer Latif. Within the framework of the festival program, French pianist Jean-Yves Thibault, flutist sir James Gelvey, Russian cellist Nina Kotova will perform. The closing ceremony of the Festival will give viewers the pleasure of listening to the young and talented pianist Karim Said.
Such events on a global scale are a vivid illustration of a fundamentally new attitude to the problems of culture and art in a young, international and caring country - the United Arab Emirates. Follow the announcements and get enlightened!
