Continuing its engagement with the local community, Abu Dhabi’s Cultural Foundation is offering a dynamic public programme for the month of April, including weekend workshops, artist-guided tours, live painting, masterclasses in diverse disciplines, live music and more.
Creative Weekends
The Foundation is collaborating with several arts and crafts studios to host a series of art workshops every weekend throughout April. Crafty Cottage is presenting a workshop introducing the techniques of decoupage on glass and fabric (5 – 26 April) and the creative art of scrapbooking (19 Apr), while Art Beat introduces quilling and the art of painting on glass surfaces . L’Atelier Des Arts is holding workshops in decoupage and mixed media art (27 April) and the creation of mosaics using bits and pieces of ceramics, glass, mirrors and beads (25 April).
Workshops and Masterclasses
The weekly artist-led workshops at the Foundation serve as a meeting point for the public and emerging Emirati artists. The roster includes a calligraphy masterclass with leading Emirati calligrapher Mohamed Mandi , sketch-booking and concept development with Khawla Darwish , collage on notebooks with artist Hamdan Al Shamsi ) and a traditional art workshop by artist Saggaf Al Hashmi (24 April).
Paints and Beats
Paints and Beats is a programme mixing live painting and music Held at the Cultural Foundation’s outdoor Amphitheatre, Paint and Beats is designed to create a full engagement between the public and the UAE resident artists, And to celebrate the artistic connection between Visual Arts and Music they both involve movement, lines and emotional expressions. Paints and Beats is a chance for all art and music lovers to enjoy a unique evening with the family and friends .
A Date with the Artists
The Cultural Foundation opens its doors to the public for a meet and greet with the 17 artists featured in the ongoing exhibition Artists and the Cultural Foundation: The Early Years. Guests will participate in an exclusive tour and a private dinner with the artists within the exhibition spaces of the Cultural Foundation, with a bird’s-eye view of the exhibited artworks (17 April).
Ongoing Exhibition: Artists and the Cultural Foundation: The Early Years
Cultural Foundation’s inaugural exhibition upon reopening remains on view in the central exhibition hall through 8 June. Curated by Maya Allison, Chief Curator and Executive Director, NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery, with Alia Lootah, Senior Curatorial Assistant at Louvre Abu Dhabi, Artists and the Cultural Foundation: The Early Years showcases some of the earliest work by influential Emirati artists, including Dr. Najat Makki, Hassan Sharif, Mohammed Yousif, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim, and others. Alongside these, modern sculptures and new commissions by these artists and subsequent generations are featured, including work from Azza Al Qubaisi, Jalal Luqman, and more.
In the exhibition spaces, a range of works is displayed, from large-scale paintings by Mohammed Al Astad, Abdulraheem Salim, and Salma Al Marri, to the paintings and experimentations of artists who had their earliest exhibitions at the Foundation, including Abdel Qader Al Rais, Mohammed Al Qassab, Mohammed Mandi, Dr. Mohammed Yousif, Obaid Suroor, and Abdulrahman Zainal.
An archival presentation room displays a series of works on paper related to the history of Cultural Foundation, including a range of brochures and hand-made exhibition posters from prior exhibitions, as well as photographs and clippings covering the history of the institution.
For the full April schedule, and to register for events, please visit: www.culturalfoundation.ae.
