National Pavilion UAE Announces Venice Internship Fellows for 55th Venice Biennale

March 17, 2013 – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – The National Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)- la biennale di Venezia, initiated by the Ministry of Culture, Youth & Community Development and supported by the Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of the fellows that will be trained and based in Venice for a month long tenure managing the National Pavilion art exhibition from 29 May to 24 November, 2013.

The specially selected candidates were drawn from the across the UAE through a nation-wide recruitment campaign. After a rigorous screening and interview process, the selected fellows are now participating in an extensive training program aimed at enabling them to engage fluently with the content of the exhibition in Venice. They will also have the opportunity to work alongside distinguished curator for the National Pavilion in 2013 Reem Fadda, and engage with Featured Artist Mohammed Kazem in conversations about his works. The three-month training program that precedes the Venice Biennale will also include field visits to Sharjah Biennial 11, Art Dubai, Sikka Art Fair, Maraya Art Centre, Manarat Al Saadiyat and twofour54.

This year, the Venice Internship Program will be partnering with the prestigious Ca’Foscari University in Venice, which will facilitate the inclusion of six specially selected Italian interns working side-by-side with the Emirati fellows. This partnership has been developed to foster a true exchange of cultures between the interns and to allow Emiratis to engage further with Italian customs, language and knowledge thus enhancing their local experience in Venice.

Once deployed to Venice, the fellows will then serve in the National Pavilion as exhibition managers, while also engaging in a comprehensive art education program based on partnership with leading cultural institutions in Venice, and Ca’ Foscari University.

The fellows will also participate in the Venice Media Project, initiated by the National Pavilion of the UAE. This project will enable fellows to document their training and time in Venice through using the Venice Internship’s official Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The fellows will have the chance to post their views, perceptions, activities and new knowledge using the Venice Internship’s official social media platforms. This experiment will be enhanced with daily posts on a blog dedicated entirely to the Internship Program.

HH Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, whose Foundation is supporting both the UAE Pavilion and its internship program, noted: “We are delighted to be supporting the internship program. In the arts funding strategy of our foundation we are placing a very strong focus on nurturing and supporting the next generation of Emirati artists and cultural industry leaders. The rich learning experience which the program will provide the interns will no doubt be an invaluable contribution to their professional development

and over time to the growth and strengthening of the arts in the UAE.” She added: “The interns are an exceptional group of young people who will no doubt be excellent representatives of the UAE and an inspiration to the many international Biennale visitors with whom they will interact.”

“We are very happy with our selected fellows this year; they are a diverse group of Art students, practitioners, professionals, and entrepreneurs. The Venice Internship Program promises to be even more successful this in 2013, especially with the collaboration with Ca’ Foscari University which adds a strong academic element to this program. We are also grateful for the generous support of The Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation, which made all of this possible.” Dr. Lamees Hamdan, Commissioner.

The names of the selected fellows are: Adel Al Jabri, Omar Al Busaidy, Talal Al Ansari, Mohammed Al Serkal, Mohammed Al Ameri, Ahmad Al Areef, Hasan Al Sheikh, Khalid Al Ali, Nidal Touma, Munira Al Sayegh, Mouza Al Matrooshi, Alyazia Al Qubaisi, Ghaleya Saeed, Mariam Al Mazroui , Khawla Darwish, Sara Al Haddad, Tala Worrell, Hajera Al Hammadi.

From Italy: Benedetta Lanza, Lorenzo Tel, Fahmi Garbaia, Gabriella Quagliato, Ilaria Balestra, Maria Bagnara

You can follow their developments and their blog posts on the Venice Internship Program Blog: http:// uaepavilion.wordpress.com/.

Follow them also on Twitter: @Ven_Intern_UAE

Media Requests:

Mariam Al Dabbagh [email protected] +971-4-401-9348