Part of Art Dubai, Art Dubai Commissions is a not-for-profit programme which invites artists to create site-specific works, thus supporting local and international creatives. This year, Art Dubai Commissions complements the Bawwaba gallery section curated by Emiliano Valdes under the theme Sanación/Healing. It will present a series of performances and other works that focus on the ideas of introspection, spirituality, community, and the power of art to help us deal with difficult times.
In their commissioned works, the artists taking part in the programme — Mirna Bamieh, Cecilia Bengolea, Hashel Al Lamki, Sajan Mani, Debashish Paul, and Mithu Sen — explore different aspects of the healing process, creating spaces for contemplation and introspection.
One of the particularly interesting commissions on display at Art Dubai 2024 is Heart Space, an immersive digital installation by artist Krista Kim. Commissioned by the Swiss Wealth Management Group as part of NEXT (Julius Baer’s initiative exploring megatrends across arts, science and technology), the art piece visualises a viewer’s heart rhythm and displays it across a dynamic LED canvas, this way promoting the concept of “oneness”. The installation aims to spark conversations around longevity, wellness, and the power of the blockchain.
About the artists
Mirna Bamieh (b. 1983) is a performance and culinary artist living and working in Beirut (Lebanon). In her practice, she examines the politics of disappearance, memory, and Palestinian communities’ social issues and limitations. In 2018, Bamieh established the Palestine Hosting Society, a project aiming to restore traditional Palestinian food cultures that are in danger of disappearing.
Cecilia Bengolea (b. 1979, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an artist, choreographer, and dancer whose work incorporates performance, video, and sculpture. Her artworks are based on ideas of the body. Interested in anthropological research on contemporary and archaic dance forms, she learns techniques, movements, and choreographies from around the globe. Her dance style is influenced by the traditional dance culture in Peru and Bolivia. She also draws inspiration from the Dancehall from Jamaica.
Hashel Al Lamki (b. 1986, the UAE) is a multidisciplinary artist who delves into the relationship between humankind and nature, the wild and the constructed. His art pieces (paintings and sculptures) are concerned with the legacies of the landscapes that surrounded him in his birthplace (Al Ain) and beyond. In his art, he explores such themes as human migration, climate change, colonisation, and evolution.
Sajan Mani (b. 1981, Keralam, South India) is an artist and curator based in Berlin (Germany). In his art practice, which deploys drawing, performance, and video installations, he focuses on the issues of marginalised and oppressed peoples of India. In some of his performances, the artist uses the element of water to address ecological issues and explore the theme of migration.
The art practice of Debashish Paul (b. 1994, India), who resides in Varanasi (India), encompasses performance, drawing, sculpture, and photography. He earned his BFA from The Indian College of Art and Draftsmanship in Sculpture (Kolkata, India); in 2021, he graduated from Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi) with a master’s degree in sculpture. Paul has performed live at multiple events: The Prince Claus Fund Biennial Symposium 2023 (Sri Lanka); Open Day Performance at Cite Internationale des Arts (Paris, France, 2023); and India Art Fair 2023, to name a few.
Mithu Sen is (b. 1971, India) a conceptual artist and poet. In her work, which features painting, collage, installation, and performance, she examines and questions the social constructs defining social behaviour and taboos. In her artworks, Sen often deals with the complexities of the body and blurs the line between distance and intimacy.
Courtesy of the artist.
Krista Kim is a Canadian-Korean artist and Vogue Singapore’s metaverse editor. Her works (NFTs (some of which she created collaborating with prominent corporations), installations, and displays) incorporate light, digital technology, and sound. Interested in technology and its effects on human perception, media, social structures, and communication, she founded the Techism movement in 2014, a philosophy that recognises technological innovation as an art discipline, encouraging artists to promote digital humanism in culture.
To learn more about Art Dubai Commissions 2024, please visit Art Dubai’s official website.
You may also be interested in visiting Arte Museum Dubai by d’strict.
