Abed Al Kadiri selected as guest curator for Abu Dhabi Art programme

The artist will also have an exhibition in Al Ain’s Qasr Al Muwaiji.

Abed Al Kadiri will be the guest curator for its annual Beyond: Emerging Artists programme at Abu Dhabi Art it has been announced.

The Co-Founder and Director of the Lebanon-based publisher Dongola Limited Editions will mentor three UAE-based emerging artists, Majd Alloush, Sarah Al Mehairi and Mohamed Khalid, as they create new commissioned works to be exhibited at the art fair in November.

Each artist will bring their unique perspective to explorations of the notions of borders, home, man-made territories, and geographical mapping, with a special focus on artists’ books.

The Beyond: Emerging Artists programme will run alongside an iteration of Al Kadiri’s acclaimed pandemic undertaking Cities Under Quarantine: The Mailbox Project, which will be travelling to Al Ain and will be on view at Qasr Al Muwaiji starting from 16 November, coinciding with the opening of the fair.

Speaking on the announcement Dyala Nusseibeh, Director of Abu Dhabi Art, said; “Our annual Beyond: Emerging Artists programme seeks to propel UAE-based artists forward on an international level, enabling them to create ambitious new work with guidance from the guest curator and with funds and opportunity provided by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.

“Having Abed Al Kadiri curate this year’s programme is extremely exciting, and we are all looking forward to seeing what emerges from this wonderful collaboration.

“Alongside this exhibition, we will also have Abed’s Cities Under Quarantine, which celebrates the importance of the tangible and the tactile in an era of rapid digital innovations and metaverse compulsions.”

As an artist, Al Kadiri focuses on the notion of translating violence and investigates repressed personal and collective traumatic experiences, while emphasising the destruction of cultural heritage, migration and belonging.

Beyond: Emerging Artists 2022 will be on show at Manarat Al Saadiyat from 16 November until 22 January 2023.

Cities Under Quarantine will be on show at Qasr Al Muwaiji in Al Ain from 16 November until 22 January 2023.

The fair’s upcoming edition will be open to the public at Manarat Al Saadiyat from Wednesday 16 November to Sunday 20 November.

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Image source Brunswick Group

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