The Moving Museum brings landmark show of 24 international contemporary artists to Dubai

DUBAI.- A new independent not-for-profit organization launched its travelling programme of exhibitions in Dubai with a groundbreaking show of international contemporary art. The Moving Museum presents TECTONIC, featuring 24 of the world’s most innovative voices in contemporary art, including Jeremy Deller, Ali Banisadr, Michael Rakowitz, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Eddie Peake, Slavs and Tatars, Ryan Gander, and Liz Magic Laser. Offering a rich, intricate survey of their radical approaches and recent works, TECTONIC is accompanied by a comprehensive 400 page publication, education and outreach programme, as well as collateral events and temporary exhibits across Dubai, aiming to make a significant impact on the region’s cultural community.

TECTONIC brings together a diverse pool of artists working seamlessly across mediums and disciplines, contextualizing their approaches and identifying the new direction of art in a climate of rapid change, capturing the sense of urgency that is redefining contemporary art and laying the groundwork for its future. The approximately 300 multimedia artworks range from installation, performances, sculpture, video, sound, digital and painting is on show in a 15,000 square foot venue at the DIFC. Working closely with the artists over the past year, The Moving Museum has developed solo presentations for each artist that offers a comprehensive snapshot of their practice as a whole.

Holton Rower, Back To Back And Guarded, 2012, Dollar bills and nails. Image courtesy the artist and The Moving Museum.

The Moving Museum has drawn on a network of international curatorial advisors to assemble the artist shortlist for TECTONIC. Composed of renowned experts from various disciplines, these advisors establish an ongoing source for independent advice from across the globe. In this way, The Moving Museum is led by the spirit of collaborative exchange and the artwork on exhibit reflects the spirit of the time, establishing a platform for artistic voices rather than curatorial opinions.

The exhibition is set against the backdrop of Dubai. Born out of the aspirations of the new century, the city has undergone its own tectonic transformation, establishing itself as an important cultural hub in the Middle East, while experiencing mammoth fluctuations in financial fortunes, landscape and population growth within a short period of time. TECTONIC’s presence in Dubai allows for a global gathering of compatible concerns that aims to raise questions, spark dialogues and respond to the particularities of a new environment.

The accompanying education programme offers local, regional and international audiences the opportunity to engage with the artists beyond the parameters of the exhibition. With an aim to connect with Dubai’s budding arts scene, The Moving Museum is collaborating with local non-profit spaces Traffic, Pavilion and Shelter, to host a series of outreach events connected to the exhibition including film screenings, talks, workshops and site-specific projects.

Michael Rakowitz extends his renowned project Enemy Kitchen to Dubai, under another name: Dar Al Sulh, or Domain of Conciliation, which has set up a pop-up restaurant serving his grandmothers cooking recipies in Traffic in the centre of Dubai’s industrial Al-Quoz.

“It is important that Dubai presents the backdrop to the exhibition. Despite the fluctuating turns that dominate the city’s persona, Dubai has spent the last decade attracting much of the region’s young creatives and intellectuals. We wanted to connect with this audience, bringing important information and offer new ideas to a group of people that are shaping the Middle East and developing its future,” explains co-founder, Simon Sakhai.

“‘Although Dubai has some of the region’s most international and progressive audiences, it does not yet have a contemporary art museum. This lack of an institutional infrastructure and the obvious demand for this kind of exhibition made Dubai the perfect choice for our first show,” explains co-founder, Aya Mousawi.

ARTISTS
Ali Banisadr, Asger Carlsen, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Eddie Peake , Evan Penny, Haroon Mirza, Holton Rower, Ivan Argote, James Capper, Jeremy Deller, Kasper Sonne, Liz Magic Laser, Michael Rakowtiz, Mohammed Qasim Ashfaq, Parker Ito, Rashaad Newsome, Robert Lazzarini, Ryan Gander, Saad Qureshi, Sarah Dornner, Stefan Bruggeman, Slavs and Tatars, Soheila Sokhanvari, Tom Sachs.