NYU Abu Dhabi Project Space exhibition Intimaa: Belonging can now be experienced online

2nd April 2020, Emirates News Agency

ABU DHABI, 2nd April, 2020 (WAM) -- The New York University Abu Dhabi, NYUAD, Art Gallery is offering an online experience of its last Project Space exhibition, Intimaa: Belonging.

In the new video, the Art Gallery’s inaugural David Webb Museum Fellow, Tala Nassar, gives a tour of the exhibition. The video showcases the commissioned artworks on display and features excerpts of poems being recited by the exhibition’s four Emirati poets.

This marks the sixth in a series of annual exhibitions organised by UAE Unlimited throughout the UAE, this time in collaboration with the NYUAD Art Gallery, and supported by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development. This exhibition unveils several works and four new commissions by UAE-based emerging artists who question their place in an era of globalisation and how, through the rise of technological advancements, society has formed a unified existence that can be referred to as a "universal identity".

Curated by Emirati arts researcher, Nasser Abdullah, the participating artists include Saeed Al Madani, multimedia artist, Sarah Al Mehairi; cultural cartographer, Sofiane Si Merabet, and multimedia artist, Majd Alloush. Every edition includes an established artist as a mentor and guest artist, and this year’s guest is Dana Awartani. In addition to Awartani’s mentorship, these artists received guidance from artists, Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian, throughout the process.

In a unique development, Intimaa: Belonging features newly commissioned bilingual poems by rising Emirati poets, Ahmed Al Mannai, Ali Al Mazmy, Hassan Al Najjar, and Shamma Al Bastaki, all of whom have been mentored by the award-winning poet, writer, and presenter, Khalid Albudoor.

Project Space is operated by the staff of the NYUAD Art Gallery and housed within the Arts Centre of the campus. It is the Art Gallery’s auxiliary venue dedicated to NYUAD’s community projects such as the annual Capstone Festival, semester-end exhibitions of student works, and faculty-curated exhibitions, providing a platform for experimentation and exploration.

UAE Unlimited, a satellite platform supported by H.H. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, supports emerging Emirati and UAE-based artists by producing and promoting their work through strategic collaborations with art and culture organisations across the country. The initiative thrives on creating opportunities for such talent, thereby contributing to the overall cultural production in the country.

WAM/Rola Alghoul/MOHD AAMIR