3 April 2013
Photos by: Sara Al Haddad / Click to Enlarge
The selected Fellows chosen for the Venice Internship Program; to live and work in Venice during La Biennale di Venezia, visited Maraya Art Centre and Sharjah Art Foundation as part of the two-month training program preceding their deployment to Venice.
The specially selected candidates were drawn from the across the UAE through a nation-wide recruitment campaign. They are currently in the process of undertaking intensive training in collaboration with top art and culture organisations in the UAE. The first training session covered all aspects of travel, and Italian culture with a special talk and presentation by Professor Alessandra Priante, Italian Cultural Attaché for the Gulf Area
The second training session was held in collaboration with Sharjah Art Foundation and Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah. It aimed at educating the fellows about artistic production schemes in Sharjah, and the emirates fundamental role in propagating and promoting art and culture in the region, and internationally.
The day started with a visit to Maraya Art Centre, a non-profit art space and cultural platform located in Al Qasba which included a tour of Maraya Art Gallery, and Barjeel Art Foundation, which showcases the private collection of Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi. Giuseppe Moscatello, Curator and Creative Director of Maraya Art Centre gave the fellows a tour through the different exhibitions currently running in the centre. It was then followed by a presentation on managing exhibitions from a non-profit organisations and exhibition-centres.
This was followed by a visit to the Sculpture Park at Al Maraya Art Park, and a team lunch in Al Majaz Water front.
The Fellows then were invited to take a tour of Sharjah Biennial 11. Nawar Al Qassimi and Wafa Jadallah from Sharjah Art Foundation , welcomed the fellows and spent ample time with them explaining the process of setting up a biennial, and the exhibited works in the 11th edition of the Sharjah Biennial. The biennial this year features more than 100 participants from 41 countries showcasing their new commissions at different locations in the heritage area of Sharjah. With the theme ‘Re:emerge- Towards a New Cultural Cartography”, is curated by Yuko Hasegawa, who proposes a new cultural cartography that reconsiders the relationship between the Arab world, Asia, the Far East, through North Africa to Latin America.
The fellows are now working on short art reviews on the exhibitions and artworks they visited and experienced during their Sharjah tour. For most of them, this is the first time they attempt to write a review, which is a good excercise preparing them for their experience during the Venice biennale. We will publish their reviews accordingly as we receive them, they are checked for grammar and spelling mistakes, without a style change to monitor their evolution and progress in writing.
for more information on Maraya Art Centre, visit: http://www.maraya.ae
Sharjah Art Foundation, visit: http://www.sharjahart.org
